ISLAMIC RELIEF EVENTS
IR at the World Scout Jamboree
31/08/07

Between 27th July and 8th August, around 40,000 scouts from nearly every country in the world converged on Hylands Park, Chelmsford, UK for the 2007 International Scout Jamboree. This was always going to be a special gathering because it also marked the centenary birthday of scouting: 100 years to the day when Baden Powel first took a group of 20 boys to Brownsea Island in 1907.

	The World Scout Jamboree: The Jamboree has been held in different countries around the world. The first seven Jamborees were held in Europe. The eighth World Jamboree was held in North America where the tradition of moving the Jamboree among the continents began. As yet, the continent of Africa is the only one which has not hosted a World Scout Jamboree.

An IR volunteer shows a visitor what its really like in a refugee camp

Islamic Relief, alongside scores of other organisations, was invited to come to the camp and raise awareness of our relief and development work with thousands of 14 to 18 year olds. Rising to the challenge to follow the scouting methodology of ‘learning by doing’, Islamic Relief set about providing a series of interactive activities:

• Youngsters were challenged to put together two jumbo jigsaw puzzles, each measuring 3 metres by 1.5 metres. Each puzzle was of a picture of Islamic Relief’s work with refugees across the world and upon completion of the puzzle, children explored with Islamic Relief staff the reality and suffering of a life gripped by poverty.

Scouts hard at work completing the giant	Scouts attempt the Refugee Coordinator challenge

• Budding relief workers were also identified through our 15 minute challenge: Could you be Refugee Camp Coordinator? Faced with a cloth map of a flood plain overlooked by mountains, scouts were charged with the task to identify the best location for a refugeecamp and then had to lay the camp out in a secure, logical fashion. Arguments whether camp graveyards should go near rivers or whether the water tank should be next to the toilet reverberated through the Islamic Relief stand. A great exercise for team building and leadership training. It also helped people empathize with the tough decisions that Islamic Relief staff are daily facing in scores of camps across the world.
  
  
  

• And then we faced our visitors with the reality of a refugee’s home: a 4 metre by 4 metre canvas tent with clothes and bedding strewn everywhere; 10 pairs of empty shoes at the tent’s entrance symbolised the overcrowding that faces millions of refugees, whilst a few children’s toys reminded the onlooker that amidst the bleakness of camp life, children still somehow had to be entertained and educated. Islamic Relief staff emphasised through this exercise the 3 challenges facing refugees left wallowing in a camp: boredom, uncertainty and insecurity.

Asked by the scouts why we do the work we do, we pointed out to them the saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

“He who goes to sleep on a full stomach whilst his neighbour goes hungry is not one of us.”

In other words, it is simply about caring for our neighbours who ever they are and where ever they may be.

Recognition of shared values often shone between the Islamic Relief staff and the visiting scouts. The scouting maxims of ‘to do one’s duty’, ‘to be prepared’ and ‘to do one’s best’ perfectly summed up what Islamic Relief expects of each of its staff as they execute theirduties in some of the world’s most inhospitable places.


The next International jamboree is set to take place in Sweden 2011 and Islamic Relief looks forward to seeing many of the friends we have made in 2007 at that next wonderful celebration of youth and scouting.