Scout experience presents their results in tijuana.

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 On June 25^th, in the city of Tijuana, Scout Experience Ready for Life project presented their results to partners, members of the municipal and state departments, entrepreneurs and civil society organizations. This event was complimentary to the one that took place in Mexico City on April 23^rd, to members of the international cooperation sector and representatives of the federal government.

Outstanding guests during the event were Mrs. Brenda Ruacho, current president of DIF in Baja California, Rodolfo López Fajardo, secretary of Municipal Social Development, in representation of Jorge Aztiazarán Orcí, municipal president of Tijuana, as well as, Jason Vorderstrasse, political affairs consul of the United States of America in Tijuana and Claudia Delgadillo, president of the Baja California scout province. All of them represented their institution’s vision in the topic of social prevention of crime and delinquency, focused on youth.

Raymundo Tamayo, institutional development director of Asociación de Scouts de México, A.C. and of the Scout Experience, Ready for Life project, presented the main advancements, explaining how over 200 children and young people have transformed their communities by receiving support in the areas of violence prevention, human rights, physical and mental health, stress management, self-esteem and communication, numerous times a week. In addition to the aforementioned beneficiaries, other 5,000 children and young men and women have participated in scout activities that allow them to develop their potential.

During the presentation, products of educational innovation that generate social impact within the project were displayed, such as, a crowdfunding website, a scout collective learning platform and a digital report. Additionally, opportunities of youth leadership development were presented through the international volunteer program, in which over 800 young men and women from different parts of the world have participated with 12,000 hours of volunteering towards the development of young people in Tijuana.

Before concluding the event Mrs. Brenda Ruacho, Mr. Vorderstrasse and Mr. López Fajardo were named honorary scouts, and were awarded for their friendship and commitment that benefits young people in vulnerable communities.

The event ended by inviting the attendees to continue supporting and uniting efforts that benefit young people and are able to create social impact and transform their reality.

 

Marie strengthens human rights of young men and women in scout experience.

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Marie Cazin is a 22 year old young woman from France, who joined Scout Experience, Ready for Life as part of the international volunteer program with a clear goal, to establish and advocate a human rights culture with children and young people in the project. This is part of her research for a human rights master program in her home country.

The outreach of Marie´s projects spreads to two of Scout Experience’s groups, 101 Mariano Matamoros, 102 Camino Verde, where she has implemented various workshops and weekly activities in which human rights are promoted within Cub scouts (children from 7 to 11 years old), scout Troop (young men and women from 11 to 15 years old), specifically with a gender focus, drug abuse prevention and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

Marie is careful that the message transmitted to the young people is age appropriate, therefore, she uses different dynamics, such as, storytelling, questions and debates. These types of activities helps the learning process to be meaningful to those who receive it, which is fundamental, since the first conclusions of this social intervention exposed unfamiliarity with the topic of human rights among the young men and women that are part of the project.

Furthermore, Marie is now designing a plan with the area of monitoring and evaluation to send text messages to parents to raise awareness about children’s rights. She continues her search for more ways of strengthening the efforts already done in the project.

Marie’s work is another example of how the project´s volunteers have left a legacy not only with the beneficiaries, but have also contributed to the violence prevention program in Scout Experience, Ready for Life.

Scout pride, achieving sustainability within the groups.

Being a scout is something to be proud of without a doubt, and it is experienced by being part of the largest youth organization, having the opportunity to make new friends and grow as a person while contributing to creating a better world. Most importantly, the scout movement creates in each person a particular set of reasons to be proud.

Based on this premise, the Scout Experience, Ready for Life team launched the campaign #elorgullodeserscout (scout pride) on social media, where experiences from 18 members of every section from the three groups created in the project are broadcasted. Each of the participants shared their personal story and opinion since they became part of the scout movement, how it has changed them and invited people to donate in benefit of their groups.

Anyone can relate to the message delivered by the children, regardless of being a scout or not. To those who are or were part of the scout movement, listening to the testimonials allows them to reminisce and relate to them. For those who have never been scouts, they can interpret a general concept of the benefits that they receive while being part of the Scout Experience.

It is common to find in the majority of the messages their fondness of learning and making new friends, but they have also shown interest in specific activities such as human rights, caring for the environment, helping their community, amongst others. We kindly ask you to visit the following link and listen to their testimonials at:

You are also welcome to join #elorgullodeserscout (scout pride) campaign and contribute with a donation to the group of your choosing in a quick and easy manner, with a credit card, debit card or cash in our crowdfunding website http://donativos.scouts.org.mx in order to continue creating social impact by achieving the sustainability of these groups and the development of young scout leaders.

Ricardo returns to school as part of his advancement trail.

Ricardo Escárrega is a 15 year old Venture Scout from group 101 in Mariano Matamoros. “Rica” as he is known by his friends, is young man that has grown significantly since becoming part of the Scout movement.

One of the highest points in his scout life was returning to his studies. Ricardo had abandoned school a few years ago after being expelled because of bad behavior from the elementary school he attended and he had not made an effort to return.

What does the future hold for a young man that has not completed elementary school? Facts prove that there are not many options of personal development, or social integration, which is the reason why Scout Experience, Ready for Life became an amazing opportunity for Ricardo; a place where someone is able to interact in a friendly manner with other peers and have other ways of personal development.

Ricardo has had an important advancement as a Venture scout. Nowadays he is at the pathfinder stage which leads him to ask himself, what is his role as a young man in his community? Being witness to Rica´s growth, the leaders of group 101 decided to give him a challenge, to return to his studies and finish elementary and middle school through the Instituto Nacional de Educación para los Adultos (National Institute of Education for Adults), which has a program for regularization and reception of education certificates for people who did not attend school in a traditional way.

A few months have gone by since Ricardo has been studying for the exam that he will present in the coming weeks. If he passes them all, he will receive the necessary certificates to be able to enroll in high school. Rica has the confidence that he will achieve a high score during the test since he has made an enormous effort and has also received support and tutoring from one of the project’s volunteer, Polly Rakshi.

This is a big step for Ricardo, who is close to entering the next phase of his advancement trail, which ends with the Summit award, the stage of completion within the journey of the Venture scouts, where next to his peers; they will be ready to live their own adventure, well prepared for life.

Cub scouts in Mariano Matamoros receive the ecology award.

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World Environment Day was celebrated on June 5^th with initiatives and activities, training and raising awareness amongst people about the importance of taking care of our planet.

Caring for the environment is not an unknown subject for the scout movement. One of the skills that are offered to children is ecology and in order to receive the award, projects must be implemented or efforts must be made towards helping the environment.

The three groups that originated from Scout Experience, Ready for Life carry out different ecology related activities in their day to day activities to improve their community. An example from that is what the cub scouts, part of the Impessa pack, from group 101 Mariano Matamoros are developing.

25 children from the Impessa pack actively participate in reforestation programs in the scout park of Mariano Matamoros and have also implemented a recycling program.

An additional motivation in ecological topics for the children has been the participation of Alianza Kawi that has guided and trained them in numerous ecology matters; therefore, scouts in Mariano Matamoros will continue to create social impact.

Laura, a volunteer that is building a future for Mariano Matamoros.

 

Laura Navarro is a volunteer from the Jalisco Scout province that has been truly committed to the Scout Experience, Ready for Life project. She, just as many others scouts in the country, has traveled to Tijuana to be part of the Volunteer program of Scout Experience.

Group 101 in Mariano Matamoros was the first opportunity Laura had to interact with young men and women from the project. By participating in activities she became more and more involved with the group, consequently she decided to serve the community by using the skills she had developed as a student of architecture at the University of Guadalajara. She designed a construction plan for a scout park on the land that was assigned to ASMAC by the Baja California government.

Laura’s initiative was transformed into her final thesis in order to receive her diploma and with the support by the leaders of group 101, they started a dialogue of the community’s needs to include them in the project, which would in turn, promote community unity. These needs were combined with the needs that scout group 101 in Mariano Matamoros had, therefore a first proposal for the “Scout Park” was presented.

Laura’s work was supported by another volunteer from Jalisco, Omar Morales and together they modified the project and the Scout Park, so that it may also be used as a community center. The Park will have 5 units: an administration, a multipurpose room, media center, classrooms and a space for services. A court for different sports and a recreational area will also be added to encourage community interaction.

Laura´s effort is another example of the way Scout Experience’s volunteers have contributed to development in the communities, where the project is implemented, and towards young men and women’s personal development.

Development and joint activities at successful Camporee.

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One of the most traditional events in the Baja California scout province is the International Camporee, which celebrated its 27^th edition on May 16^th and 17^th, 2015 at Rancho Ciénega Redonda, located on the highway between Tijuana and Tecate, an idyllic space for outdoor living.

The International Camporee sets an environment of binational camaraderie between scout brothers and sisters from the Baja California province and the Boy Scouts of America. On this edition the event had additional international presence since scouts from the Philippines, Nigeria, Guides from México and the international volunteers from Scout Experience, Ready for Life project, participated.

During the Camporee the bonds of brotherhood that unite both members of the scout movement, were strengthened. The main objective of the event is to eliminate cultural and language barriers that may exist between both countries, they focus on the collective ideal of building a better world. The 2015 edition of the Camporee was remarkably successful, surpassing by far the expected assistance of 500 participants.

Many activities and challenges took place during the Camporee, but they were mostly based on three types of activities: creative and team games, physical activities and outdoor living games, where all of the assistants participated. As it has been happening in the last few province events, the participation from Scout Experience groups´ 101 Mariano Matamoros, 102 Camino Verde and 103 Granjas Familiares has become more natural and fluid, obtaining different awards.

Events such as the Camporee are remembered forever, causing a profound positive impact on young men and women, as they continue to build a better world.

Venture scouts from Camino Verde inspire children and young people in an orphanage.

The young men and women that are part of Group 102 Camino Verde’s Venture scouts, guided by their sense of leadership, decided to act towards benefitting other young people in their community and the city of Tijuana.

Venture scouts Titanes had the initiative to approach Emanuel Orphanage, an organization that has been working for over 20 years in the city of Tijuana; its work is aimed towards children and young people that have suffered abandonment, physical abuse, sexual abuse or homelessness, it offers diverse activities and allows them to meet and have new friends.

Emanuel orphanage is located in two different places. The first visit took place inside the orphanage premises located in El Rubí. It was a new opportunity to experience new friendships and knowledge with young people in a vulnerable situation that could potentially be benefitted by the young scouts’ involvement.

The partnership with Emanuel orphanage will continue in the following days, a visit will take place at the Emperadores location, a shelter for girls only, next to Camino Verde. In their next visit, besides organizing joint activities, they will also extend an invitation to join scout group 102 and together build a better world.

The Titanes team´s initiative sets an example on the new way the young men and women live the Scout Experience; they identify themselves as leaders and decide to create social impact, by transforming from being beneficiaries to becoming agents of social change in their communities.

Scout Experiencie groups dedicate the month of may to mothers.

The scout groups decided to celebrate mothers on different dates throughout the month of May. The first group to have a celebration was group 102 in Camino Verde, by having an event on May 9^th, where different artistic presentations by each section were shown to honor their mothers. The meal that was offered was created with the help from different families that contributed with a dish or treat; there were also games and a traditional piñata that made it a very special occasion.

A week later, there was a celebration from group 101 in Mariano Matamoros where the mothers enjoyed a nice meal and reflected on the importance of scouts in their lives and in their communities, while also having the opportunity to learn about the activities their children carry out regularly.

To close the Mother´s Day celebration month, group 103 in Granjas Familiares organized a breakfast on Sunday May 24^th in the scout center. They had a raffle during the event with prizes that included items and non-perishables donated by parents of the scout group. This event helped the communication and relationship between mothers that had not had the opportunity to share experiences before and create a strong bond and commitment to involve other mothers with the scout group activities.

At Scout Experience we acknowledge the importance mothers have in the development of young men and women that decided to explore their potential through the scout movement. We congratulate all of you for being the foundation on which they build a strong relationship with their communities!

Saúl generates financial and environmental sustainability within his group.

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On a previous newsletter edition we presented some of the fundraising activities that groups originated from Scout Experience, Ready for Life have accomplished to participate in camps and to achieve their financial sustainability. In this article we are presenting Saul’s story, a member of the Dragons troop from Group 101 in Mariano Matamoros, who decided to make an additional effort and not only to raise money but also to contribute to the environment in his community.

Before learning about the transformation Saúl has gone through in this year it is important to mention his background. In the beginning of 2015 his parents decided to take him to the scout center expecting that Saúl would improve his social skills and would make new friends, he was a quiet and introverted young man with little interest in becoming involved in other activities, but was also creative and responsible.

The first few weeks with the scout group were not easy for Saúl, he struggled in relating to his peers, but with the support of the group’s chiefs he became more and more outspoken. His scout mates accepted him as a member of the Dragons patrol in return of him becoming more social; it all came together in a natural way. Nowadays, Saúl is a young man who has many friends, which has helped his creativity and many ideas create a bigger impact.

While observing the group´s fundraising plans, Saúl saw the opportunity to combine taking care of the environment, a subject his enthusiastic about, with raising money for his group, which is the reason why he started recycling aluminum cans, plastic bottles and other disposable materials that he sold in order to obtain money for group 101. He also made a presentation explaining how the rest of his peers can raise money by doing this type of activities. He received an ecology badge in return for his efforts.

Saúl has set an important example for the financial sustainability in his group and the environmental sustainability in his community. He is also friendlier, confident in his leadership skills and keen in searching for information to solve problems and to set an example for his peers. He also motivated his parents into becoming more involved with the group by promoting training in environmental care within the members of the group. He is considered another case of youth development and social impact that Scout Experience, Ready for Life has accomplished.