Overview of Scouting in Mauritius
The Scout Movement is a voluntary non-political educational movement for young people open to all without distinction of origin, race or creed, in accordance with the purpose, principles and method conceived by the Founder, Lord Robert Baden Powell. Scouting is also an expanding world Movement for young people, with more than 25 million members in more than 150 countries and territories.
The
Aim of the Mauritius Scout Association:
" To encourage the physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual development of young people so that they may take a constructive place in society"
The
Scout Promise
" On my honour, I promise that I will do my best, to do my duty to God and to my country, to help other people and to keep the Scout Law."
The Scout Law
A Scout is to be trusted;
A Scout is loyal;
A Scout is friendly and considerate;
A Scout is a brother to all Scouts;
A Scout has courage in all difficulties;
A Scout makes good use of his time and is careful of all his possessions and property;
A Scout has respect for himself and for others;
As the french language is fluently spoken by the mauritian people (english remains the official and academic language), the french version of the Scout Promise and Law is almost exclusively practised and is given as follows:
La
Promesse Scoute
" Sur mon honneur je promets que que ferais de mon mieux, pour servir Dieu et mon pays,d'aider mon prochain en toute circonstance, et d'observer la Loi Scoute."
La
Loi Scoute
Un Scout inspire confiance;
Un Scout est loyal;
Un Scout est amical et chevalresque;
Un Scout est le frère de tous les Scouts;
Un Scout affronte les difficultés avec courage;
Un Scout fait bon usage de son temps et prend soin de ses biens et ceux des autres
Un Scout se respecte et respecte les autres
The Motto of the Mauritius Scout Association is : "Be Prepared" (or in french: "Toujours Prêts")
Other principles and policies of the Association
Membership of the Association is voluntary. There is no discrimination as to admission for any reason of race, creed, sect or social class.
As the Scout Promise implies a duty to God, any prospective member of Scouting must believe in the existence of God before being accepted in the Movement.
The Association recognises all religions and expects every scout to belong to some religious denomination and to understand his duty to his religion.
The Association is not connected with any political party but every member may have individual freedom of thought and action in political matters, provided that the aims and policy of any party to which he may give allegiance does not conflict with the values of Scouting.
The Association is not military. Technical military training are not given to members of the Association.
Past Present and Future of Scouting
The Movement exists in Mauritius since 1912. The Mauritius Scout Association was founded in 1971. It is a member of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement and of the Africa Region where we want to take a more active part.
The organisation welcomes boys and girls aged from 7 to 25 under adult supervision. Scout activities are generally done out of doors in close contact with nature. This is why Scouts normally work for nature conservation and protection of environment or seen on outings and expeditions. One other important element of Scouting is service for others.
The most popular Scout activity remains the annual Camp held during the winter school holidays in August. Most of our camping take place at the sea-side which is also very attractive for tourists. Our organisation possesses its own national headquarters at Trianon, Quatre Bornes.
Our Assocation's actual total membership is now 3 200. It is in fact the most important non-governmental youth organisation in the country. Scouting is recognised in our society as one n.g.o. inculcating positive thinking and values, self-reliance, good manners and a sense of responsibility in young people. About 90% of our members are of creole or afro-european origin and of christian faith. The remaining youth members are either hindu, muslim, or tamil faith and mainly of asian origin.
A great challenge of our Association is to encourage much more youth of non-christian faith to join and who represent more than 70% of the population. One target of our 5-Year Development Plan is to cater for about 15 000 youth members by 2004 so that more young people benefit from the traditional human values of Scouting and all the good stuff of the Scout programme so that they become constructive citizens...
Email: nasj@intnet.mu
