The Scouts’ Movement in Anguilla has been given a boost and will continue to thrive as a result of the participation of two of its leaders in two important events. Cub Scout Leader Sandra Fahie and Scout Leader Mario Bryan were in The City of Knowledge, Panama participating in the Caribbean Chief Commissioners of Scouts Conference which took place from October 25 to 27th. Among other topics, participants had the opportunity to share best practices and to discuss the many challenges they face in recruiting and retaining young people and adults in their organisations. In addition, reports were presented on international and regional events; past and upcoming. These included the 13th Caribbean Cuboree which was hosted in Suriname in 2013 and the 15th Caribbean Jamboree in Curacao in 2014, which cubs and scouts from Anguilla participated in. Upcoming events in which Anguilla will participate include the World Scout Jamboree in Japan and the InterAmerican Scout Summit in Mexico in 2015, the 14th Caribbean Cuboree in Guyana and the 26th InterAmerican Scout Conference and Youth Forum in the United States in 2016.
The Commissioners’ Conference was followed by a Professional Course for Scouters from October 28th to November 1st as training of adults is an important part of Scouting, There is always the need to ensure that the adult leaders have the skills to work with the young boys and girls as well as manage the adults in the organisation. Topics presented included: Governance and Administration, Financial Development and Management, Communications and Inter-institutional Relations, International Relations, Operations, Risk Management, Finances and Ethics, Measuring Instruments and Quality Audits.
Being a not for profit organisation of committed volunteers, Anguilla’s participation in these two events was made possible through financial assistance from the United Kingdom Scouts’ Association of which Anguilla is branch and a grant to the regional office through a Messengers of Peace Project. Other islands and countries that attended were Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Colombia, Curacao, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago.
– Contributed
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
