Malaysia has its own scouts and guides associations. In addition to those, there are a few international scout groups including from the Boy Scouts of America and The Scout Association (UK). British Scouting Overseas has four groups in Kuala Lumpur itself!
The 2nd Kuala Lumpur group started in October 2014 with just 12 Beavers and 12 Cubs following roughly the same programme together as there was only one leader with experience. The group has now grown to 20 Beavers, 25 Cubs, 16 Scouts and 5 Explorers with a fantastic team of 10 enthusiastic leaders offering lots of camping and adventures, including their first foray into international camping. The group has a mix of Scouts from various nationalities and a big diversity of ethnic, cultural, religious and geographical background.
The group commits to providing a whole range of activities focusing on adventure, environment and community service with a home for abused and neglected girls while also encouraging more traditional Scouting activities such as pioneering, camping, backwoods cooking, hiking, wide games, survival techniques and all other requirements to obtain the challenge badges and Section awards.
Being located in the tropics means that sometimes activities must be postponed due to heavy thunderstorms but generally they run a lot of outdoor activities, many of them with the other KL BSO groups. One of the main difficulties is to find activity or camp sites that are suitable for the scouts, so there is a lot of asking and researching involved in preparing activities.
While the Rest of the World district is the largest, their groups can feel a bit isolated. However with four groups in KL and a few more in nearby countries as well as the efforts of Jon (DC) and Victoria (DYC) there is a real sense of being part of something wider. The Facebook page helps them feel as a real District they can see what the different Groups are doing and the district activities have been absolutely amazing. A tip? “Don’t be afraid to ask for help / support if you are feeling isolated; in BSO, especially RoW, we can feel very alone, but there are people there to help who understand our unique circumstances.”
A Scout Leader from 2nd Kuala Lumpur told us their best moment so far:
“Had a fabulous afternoon at our recent camp in Singapore when we met up with some 2nd Singapore Scouts and Leaders who came along. They had introduced us to the campsite so it was lovely to put faces to names. Kids had a fabulous time, and it was a great opportunity for our Young Leaders to tick off some Mission requirements as they led most of the games. Everyone mucked in and go on really well. Organising our Singapore trip was daunting, but so worth it!!! 🙂 ”
Find more about the group through their social media at http://2ndkualalumpurscouts.weebly.com
Share:
