To honour the life of their founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the 1st Port Natal Sea Scouts recently celebrated Founder’s Day, a special day observed worldwide by various scouting groups.
The festivities started off with the Scouts’ Own, a short non-denominational service, and took place in front of the Royal Yacht Club over the weekend; starting on Friday and ending on Sunday, 20 February, the closest Sunday to Lord Robert Baden-Powell’s birthday which is 22 February 1857. He passed away on 8 January 1941. Pack Scouter and Regional Team Co-ordinator for the Cubs programme, Renalda Boutle, said that the Democratic Alliance’s Ward 26 PR Councillor, Sharmaine Sewshanker, was the guest speaker at the event, where she witnessed the various activities that take place on Founder’s Day. “Councillor Sewshanker was invited so that local government sees what our club does and hopefully can also see the importance of scouting and some of the programmes can be incorporated with the City’s leadership and environmental programmes,” said Boutle.
She said that as part of the celebrations, the pack played games, did solar art and pioneering, which saw them build items with poles and ropes. “Before Covid hit, most of the Scout groups in the entire province would come together for the Midmar Raft Race. This would be an entire weekend consisting of camping, a Saturday of preparing and building rafts from poles and ropes by the Scouts and tyre tubes joined together by the Cubs. In the evening everyone would come together around a large campfire, singing songs, performing skits and making each other laugh. Then early Sunday morning the day starts with the Scouts’ Own, remembering our founder, and then it is off to the raft and tube races. “Our activities range from cooking with fire, making crafts and playing games, all geared towards enjoying the outdoors. Scouting in our country is divided into different branches: Meerkats with children aged five to six years old, Cubs aged seven to 10 years old, Scouts aged 11 to 17 years old and Rovers aged 18 to 30 years old,” said Boutle.
She said all the programmes are geared for building up a child’s self-confidence, teaching them new skills and growing them into a caring, strong and useful citizen of the world. “They are taught about caring for others, for their community, for their environment and animals. Through the methods, the youth are also taught leadership skills. Everything is based on our promise and law which is age appropriate for each level and this is where our discipline also comes from. “Scouting works on a reward system through badges, this would be through advancement which is done at meetings and interest badges which the member would do on their own time according to their own personal interests. There are elite badges too, which can be earned, but not by every member as these are extra work for a member who decides to complete it. We have gold stars for Meerkats, a leaping wolf for Cubs, a springbok for Scouts and BP awards for Rovers. The springbok and BP awards are exceptionally challenging and the deserving candidates can actually put these on their Curriculum vitae, which is favourable to employers because of the amount of work Scouts and Rovers must complete,” she said. Most groups hold their meetings on Friday evenings but the 1st Port Natal Sea Scouts run on Saturdays at the harbour next door to the Royal Yacht Club entrance from Esplanade. Boutle said she would like to thank the schools around Durban and the rest of the region who were very accommodating in allowing the Meerkats, Cubs and Scouts to wear their special uniforms this past Friday, for BP Friday. She said parents who would love for their children to join the 1st Port Natal Sea Scouts can contact her on 071-865-2195.
