BELIZE SCOUTS TO HOST CENTRAL AMERICAN CUB SCOUT ENCOUNTER

July 30, 2008

The Belize Scouts Association will be hosting the 5^th annual Central American Cub Scout Encounter during the Easter Week in 2009. The program was officially launched today in an effort to get more public participation and volunteers for to assist with the logistics for the camp and the camp itself.

Hilberto Riverol, Belize Scouts Association Executive Director

“The program is geared for boys and girls from ages seven to eleven and we are inviting the whole of Central America to come and participate in this program.  It will be a five days program and will be held in the Easter of 2009.  This is the launch of the program and here is where we want to use this medium to disseminate the information so the public is aware of what the Scouts Association is doing in terms of the programs for young people.  We have the program set in five different villages, we call them villages but they are basically areas.  Each area will have different activities that cater to the development of the young people; areas such as physical and religious development, educational development, physical development, and emotional development.  We are expecting at least 600 but we are open for about a thousand scouts of the region.”

This is the first time that Belize will be hosting such a regional event and the Association says that it will be a challenge but the participating cub scouts will leave the camp better prepared to create a better world.

Hilberto Riverol, Belize Scouts Association Executive Director

“This event represents a great challenge for us institutionally, culturally, and educationally.  We are determined to show the rest of Central America and other invited countries the best that Belize has to offer.  The theme for the fifth Central America Cub Scout encounter is a “Magical Adventure”.  The theme will provide each participating Cub Scout with an opportunity to live a magical adventure through a symbolic framework based on the adventure of a boy and a girl who visit an unknown world and of course this unknown world will be Belize.  This adventure takes them through different challenges and despite their young age they learn to face each challenge with courage, determination and bravery.  The event will create educational, creative, and cultural activities that apart from a learning point of view will also be fun filled and specifically challenging, useful, rewarding and attractive.”

The 5 day camp will be held at the CampOakley in Burrell Boom. But the facility is not adequate enough for the 600 children and 125 leaders that will be in Belize for the event. Since accepting to host the encounter the Scout Association have been working with volunteers to improve the facilities; but Operations Manager Randolph Johnson says that they are still in need of much more assistance. 

RandolphJohnson, Belize Scouts Association Operations Manager

“The facilities at CampOakley presently include ten cabanas, a care takers’ quarters, a main building that includes the kitchen and out door toilets, and that is far from enough.  We have received some funding and we are not presently completing two showers stalls with eighteen showers and eight toilet facilities and we are still in need of much funds to build a counsel rock, a cub’s den, an outpost for safe center and these are things we will hope to use for the activities.  We will need purified water and that is almost four thousand gallons of water and water for bathing and other purposes.  We have three tanks there but will not be enough for that amount of people.  We are saying that we need a least two hundred gallons of gasoline, a hundred gallons of diesel and about 50 gallons of kerosene.”

The association is also in need of folding tables and chairs and volunteers to assist with making the camp a reality. The association says that the camp will be costing some 150 thousand dollars and anyone wishing to assist can contact the association at 227-2168.

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