Subject: rec.scouting FAQ  #2: Scouting around the World
Date: 29 Jun 1995 07:29:26 GMT

Last-Modified: 1 Jun 1995


*** New entries in this release:
- Guide/Brownie Promises/Laws Australia
- Czech scouts, laws and promise
- Scouting in Danemark (new version)
- Update on JOTA'95 (Jamboree on the Air) and Amateur Radio Scouting
- Scouting Esperanto


*** About this Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) file:

This file contains descriptions on how scouting organizations are
set up around the world, and other worldwide information of interest.

If you have been in a scouting organization that hasn't been described
in this FAQ, or if you would like to add something to an existing
description, please do all of us the favour. Write it up, post it
on rec.scouting and send a copy to me so that it can be included in
future issues of this FAQ.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As I'm reaching the size limit for FAQ files, I had
to edit the largest articles to reduce them to their essential parts.
I also moved all references to local versions of the Scout Law & Promise
to a single article at the end of this file.

I saved the full original articles on ftp.ethz.ch in the directory
ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide .

This file is in digested format, like all FAQ files on this newsgroup.
If you're using nn as newsreader, type 'G %" to split the digest into
individual postings. In bn or rn, typing control-G should cause the
reader to skip to the next posting within this file.

There are ten FAQ files in the rec.scouting FAQ series. The FAQ files
are posted in regular intervals (one file every three or four days)
on rec.scouting, rec.answers and news.answers. They can also be
retrieved through anonymous FTP from ftp.ethz.ch 
(path: ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/).

As the FAQ files are updated regularly, make sure that you have the
latest copy in your hands. The release date of this FAQ is indicated
in the line starting with "Last-Modified:" at the top of this file.
Files older than three months should be considered as outdated.



*** COPYRIGHT NOTICE ***

This file or parts of it may be freely used, printed and re-distributed
as long as you enclose this paragraph and keep the references to the
respective contributors and to the maintainer (listed below) intact.

-- Danny "Spike" Schwendener                       dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch
   Wolfsmeute Orion/Glockenhof, Sihlstr. 33, CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland


----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: Scouts worldwide - the figures
Date: Tue, 12 May 1992 09:58:26 GMT

I just went over the 92 figures of the WOSM, and thought that they
might be of interest to this group.  I think that they will amaze more
than one here.

Members of scouting organizations, regrouped by regions:

Far East:          7'000'000
North America:     4'200'000
Europe:            2'000'000
Africa:              500'000
Middle East:         500'000
South America:       300'000
Australia/Oceania:   200'000

Note: these figures cover member organizations of the World Organization
of the Scouting Movement (WOSM) only.


------------------------------

From: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: Scouts worldwide - International Events
Date: Sat Apr 23 1994 14:42:12 MET

See the posting "International Scout Events" which is posted regularly
on rec.scouting. A copy of the latest version can be found on ftp.ethz.ch
in the directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide/ . Look there
for a file named "international-events.*".


------------------------------

From: chick@hilbert.maths.utas.edu.au
Subject: Scouting in Australia
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1992 05:55:18 GMT

Here in Oz (alias Australia!) our Scouting system works as follows:

_Section_               _Age Range_     _Oz Grade Range (approx.)_
Joey Scouts             6 - 8           Kindergarten/Preparatory-Grade 2
Cub Scouts              8 - 11          Grade 2 - Grade 5
Scouts                  10.5 - 15       Grade 5 - Grade 9/10
Venturer Scouts         14.5 - 18       Grade 9 - Grade 11/12
Rover Scouts            18 - 26         Adult (University +)

Joey Scouts is new for us - the children  don't wear full uniform,
just the scarf of their local group (all our sections are mixed
boys/girls now ... if the leaders of the local troop/unit/group
(Oz name) so decide, although males are still in the majority).
All the other sections have been around for quite a while, and
are fully uniformed.  Adult leaders may obtain their "Warrant"
(basic qualification for leadership) after they are 18.
Most of the local groups will have a Cub Scout and a Scout section
at the very least (depending on the size of the area), Venturer
units are the next most likely, followed by Joey mobs (in Australia
a joey is a baby kangaroo, and the collective noun for kangaroo
is "mob") and then Rover crews.  (This is roughly how it is in
Tasmania, at any rate.)  Some groups are big enough to support
a couple of Cub packs, but this is about the only area in which
doubling up occurs.  A number of groups make up a district (there
are 9 or 10 groups in our district), and a district is  usually a
(reasonably) well-defined geographical area.  A few districts will
make up a region, and in little ol' Tassie it takes three regions
to fill the state.


------------------------------

Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 19:44:15 +1000
From: georginaross <georginaross@acslink.net.au>
To: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch
Subject: Guiding in Australia

Girl Guides Association of Australia 

[Note: Laws and Promises have been apppended at the end of this FAQ 
 -- Danny]

Gumnut Guides (6-7 years)
Brownie Guides (7-11 years)
Guides (10-15 years)
Ranger Guides (14-18 years)
Rangers (17-25 years)

Junior Leaders (15-17 years)
Leaders (18 and above)

Lones 
Girls who have meetings by correspondence or "on air" by radio. Usually
girls who don't live near a town or there is no guiding in there town.

Extensions
Girls who have a disability and for whom the guide program needs to be
"extended" to fit them in.

Gumnut Guide Motto : Gumnut Guides care and share.     
Guide Motto: Be prepared.
Brownie Guide Motto: Lend a hand.

A unit is the general name given to groups of girls with their leaders.

A Brownie Guide Unit has girls grouped into sixes of up to six girls and
has a maximum of 24 girls.

A Guide Unit has girls grouped into patrols of up to six girls and has a
maximum of 36 girls.

Australia has a number of states and each state has a number of regions
and each region has a number of divisions and each division has a number
of districts and each district has a number of units.

The district usually belongs to one guide hall.

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts has five World Regions.
Western Hemisphere Region
Europe Region
Africa Region
Asia Pacific Region
Arab Regional Group  

Australia is a member of the Asia Pacific Region.


------------------------------

From:  rickcl@POGO.WV.TEK.com, rcraig@library.carleton.ca
Subject:  Scouting in Canada
Also-From:   Patrick De Gagne, Peter Choi, Bill Hately
Date: 29 Sep 93 23:55

[a more detailed description of Scouts Canada can be found on ftp.ethz.ch
in the directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide/ ]

Beavers 5-7

Well, Beavers are the youngest members of Scouting.  They're being
introduced to the movement thru games and fun.  Their Moto is "Sharing
Sharing Sharing". Adult members take care of all the work. Colony
leaders are responsible for delivering the program including taking the
youth members on camps.  Parents are usually encouraged to participate
in the program and are required at camp outings.


Wolf Cubs 8-11

The Canadian Cub program is similar to Cubbing in the UK.
(They are not subdivided as in the US.  Cubs play games and perform
activities that involve more instruction than what is offered in the
Beaver program.

The program, through its motto encourages youth to "do their best" and to
be responsible for what they do and say.  Members of the pack participate
in choosing program activities through "Sixer Councils".  The program is
on the most part run by the Pack Leaders with some help from the youth.
Cubs camp more often, in tents during Fall, Spring and Summer, but only in
cabins during Winter and extreme cold weather at other times of the year.


Scouts 11-14

Most of their activities are geared towards badge work, instruction and
camps.  They still play, but not much.  Scouts camp quite often and
almost always in tents or in shelter.  As well, the Scouts are
responsible with the duties of camp.  Scouts participate in small group
activites through which values of team work and the importance of each
member is taught.


Venturers 14-17

Venturers are young men and women who are challenged to democratically
plan and run their own activities. The group is accountable to an
Advisor who does just that...he advises. The Company is a group of
typically 5-10 teens (co-ed), The size varies having an executive
consisting of (but not all) President, Vice-President, Secretary,
Treasurer and a Quartermaster.

The Venturers Motto is "Challenge". Meetings vary in the operation from
"executive meetings" similar to that of a board of directors to "social
meetings" such as games or activities nights. They do all their planing
themselves, they plan trips, camps, fund raisers, social events... The
advisor is there to provide guidance and assistance and to ensure that
Scouting and legal obligations are met.


Rovers 18-26

The oldest youth members of Scouting (not counting leaders of course!).
Their Moto is "Service".   Individually or in small teams, Rovers pursue
service activities contributing to personal development.  Crews are
provided guidance through an Advisor who assists and ensures that Scouting
and legal obligations are met.  Rovers participate in social camping
activites called Moots.  A moot is a gathering of their peers for camping,
fun and friendship.


In November of 1993, the National Council of Scouts Canada officially
made Scouts Canada a fully co-ed organization.  For years, Venturers and
Rovers have been Co-ed and for the past three years,(since 1989), the
other sections have been co-ed on an experimental basis.


------------------------------

From:  rickc@POGO.WV.TEK.com
Subject:  Cub Scouting in Canada


This is from "Scouting Try It!" published by Scouts Canada.  It talks about
all their levels of Scouting.  I will just type the sections on Beavers and
Wolf Cubs.  The text in brackets are my notes.  Their address for more
information is:
    Scouts Canada
    National Council
    1345 Baseline Rd
    PO Box 5151, Stn. F
    Ottawa, Ont CANADA
    K2C 3G7

Beavers (5-7 years)

[From Stevie] "In my neighbourhood most activites are for older kids so when
my best friend Ross told me about Beavers I ran home from school and asked
Mom to sign me up right away.  The first meeting was strange because all the
other kids had vests and hats with tails on them.  Now I don't think it's so
strange, actualy it's really neat!  We do tail slaps, make crafts, go on
outings and best of all, Ross and I are in the same lodge."

Wolf Cubs (8-10 years)

[From Ryan] "When I was little my Dad would tell me stories about when he was
young.  His favourite story is about the time he went to a Cub camp and the
Cubs in his six [den] thought they had tricked Akela [Cubmaster] into taking
them on a late night hike to watch for UFO's.  When they got to the lookout
the other leaders were there with hot chocolate and cookies.  All along Akela
had planned it anyway.  So when I went to my first Cub camp I wasn't
surprised when our Akela woke us up at midnight.  But I didn't expect to be
introduced to the Scouts from our group [One unit from each age is in a
group.  This way the Scouts feed into the next old unit.] who were set up in
the next valley ready to give us a great campfire and sing song.  Cubbing is
fun, I already have 2 stars."


------------------------------

From: "JIRI DANDA" <XDANDA@dinf.fsv.cvut.cz>
Subject: Scouting in Czechia

Let  me introduce  JUNK -  the Association  of the  Boyscouts and  Girl
Guides in the Czech Republic.

Our organization was  founded by A.B.Svojsk in 1911.  JUN`AK was banned
after the nazi occupation in 1940,  after the communist coup in 1948 and
after  the  Soviet  occupation  of  our  country  in  1970.  Scouts were
persecuted,  but all  the time,  scouting had  been continued here, even
illegally. Since 1989 we have existed legally again.

At  the moment  we are  members of  IFOFSAG and  WAGGGS (they accept our
guides  as a  founder member)  and we  are not  members of  the WOSM yet
(because  of some  bureaucratic problems,   but we  had been  members as
former Czechoslovak scouting, before the separation in 1993).

We are  the merged organization  (one organization, one  administration,
but  too   different  programs  for   boyscouts  and  girl   guides,  no
coeducation). At the moment our organization has got approximately
70 000 members (our country has got 10 000 000 citizens).

We are using these age ranks :
(info about  spelling: because I  can't send the  Czech alphabet through
the Internet, instead  of the "hacek", originally a  small "v" above the
letter,  I  have  to  use  "  ~  "  before  it,  instead of the "carka",
originally a small comma  above the letters, I used " '  " before it and
instead of "krouzek", a small circle above the letter, I use " ` ")

6-11 years
vl~cata/wolf cubs and sv~etlu~sky/fire flies
(the  name for  our brownies  was  chosen  by the  book Brou~cci  by Jan
Karafi'at)

12-15
skauti/boyscouts and skautky/girl guides

15-18(25...)
rove~ri/rovers and rangers

18-...
oldskauti/oldscouts


[The czech scout law and promises have been moved to the "law and promises"
article at the end of this FAQ]

As you can see, the Czech  scouts promise is quite unusual. It's because
of the  historical background. In  1911, when our  movement was founded,
our state  didn't exist yet. The  area of the todays  Czech Republic was
part of  the Austrian-Hungarian Empeire.  Czech people didn't  like that
absolutistic state at  all (government tried to oppress  them not to use
the  Czech language  and to  speak German,  in the  last years there was
a strong police state etc.). The main supports for regime were the army,
the police and the catholic church.  These were the reasons, that in our
promise  wasn't  the  loayality  to  the  king  or  to the supreme being
expressed.


------------------------------

From: Niels.K.Jensen@imf.kvl.dk (Niels Kristian Jensen) 
Subject: Scouting in Denmark 
Date: 1 Jun 1995

[Note: this article has been summarized due to the space limitations in
this FAQ. The history and details of the different scout associations
have been removed. The complete article can be found on ftp.ethz.ch in
the directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide/  or on the World Wide
Web as URL: http://www.switch.ch/div/scouting/worldwide/denmark.html ]

Scouting in Denmark

From: nkj@kvl.dk (Niels Kristian Jensen), 1995.

In Denmark we have several Scout associations; The Danish Guide and Scout
Association (Det Danske Spejderkorps = DDS), YMCA Scouts (KFUM-spejderne),
YWCA Scouts (KFUK-spejderne), The Baptist Scouts of Denmark (Danske
Baptisters Spejderkorps = DBS), The Guide and Scout Association of Greenland
(Det Grnlandske Spejderkorps = DGS) and The Scout Council of the Faroe
Islands. There is one additional uniformed organization called FDF, but they
insist on NOT being scouts (they originate from the British Boy's Brigade).


Mixed or seperate ?

The YWCA Scouts is for girls only, all other associations are open to boys
and girls.


Uniforms

The uniform of DDS Scouts is dark blue supplemented by a scarf, coloured
according to the groups choice. The uniform of YMCA scouts is green with a
red scarf. The uniform of YWCA scouts is dark green with a yellow scarf. DBS
uses a light blue uniform with a turquoise blue scarf. The uniform of the
DGS is a dark blue anorak and chequed scarf.


Number of members

These numbers were collected in 1994, but they all stay quite stable. Both
adult leaders and children are counted.

        DDS:    36000.
        YMCA:   33000.
        YWCA:   12000.
        DBS:     2000.
        DGS:     1500.

Almost 2% of the population in Denmark are scouts.


Religion in scouting

DDS is the only Danish scout organization that does not require religion to
be a part of scouting. The only requirement being that the scouts "Find
their own faith and respect others'" (part of the Scout Law). All the other
associations are based on Christianity.


Age-divisions

DDS uses the following age-division guidelines:

         6- 8: Micro Scouts   (Danish: Mikroer)
         8-10: Mini Scouts    (Danish: Minier)
        10-12: Junior Scouts  (Danish: Juniorer)
        12-16: Scouts         (Danish: Spejdere)
        16-23: Senior Scouts  (Danish: Seniorer)

The other Scouting organizations have slightly different age divisions and
generally use more inspiring names. In general the youngest scouts are
around 6 and the oldest are above 20.


Local organization system

All Scouting organizations in Denmark are based on groups. A group is
usually a combination of a unit from each of the age groups. It is normal to
stay in the same group in all of your scouting life. Leaders ocationally
move from group to group, but scouts seldom do.

In DDS, the groups are organized in districts, that must consist of at least
600 scouts. The districts are combined in 7 so-called areas.


Leaders and Ranks

Leaders are from almost all age groups. It is not unusual that a unit have
leaders of quite different age. Leaders are both old scouts and parents. It
is not a tradition that parents follow their kids through the different age
groups; instead they tend to stay in the same unit a number of years.

There is no notion of ranks (like Star, Life, Eagle in the BSA) in any of
the major scouting organizations in Denmark. A few groups implement
something on their own, but the general emphasis is not on advancement.
There are merit badges for mini scouts, junior scouts, and normal scouts,
but in many places these are not very used. Typically, the cub scouts (mini
AND junior scouts) rarely have more than 5 merit badges, of which one is the
"knife award". These badges are often used to help the leaders and the
scouts remember that safe use of some tools require training.


History and Presentation of the DDS

DDS was founded november 19th, 1909. The girls and guides formed the DPS
(Danish: Dansk Pige Spejderkorps) october 10th, 1910. DDS was for boys and
DPS for girls until they merged in 1973. This means that most local units
now are coeducational. Every 5 years, DDS gathers in one big camp (Danish:
Bl Sommer). The peak number of people in the camp was close to 23000 in
1994.

The main object of work in DDS is to help children and young people develop
into self-reliant persons, who can assume responsibility in their own
environment and in the world around them.

The main emphasis in everyday Guiding/Scouting is put on wild life, camping
and preservation of the environment, as well as international activities.

Both YMCA and YWCA are confessional based on the Danish National Church,
which is Lutheran Evangelical.


History and Presentation of the YMCA

YMCA was founded september 28th, 1910. A referendum was held in 1982 the
result being that YMCA should be open equally for boys and girls, while YWCA
should continue as an organization exclusively for girls. Now, some 40
percent of the members in YMCA are girls.

The programme emphasizes the participation in a Chistian Scout community and
stresses living in nature, democratic education and international
understanding.


History and Presentation of the YWCA

YWCA was founded 1919. YWCA is an organization exclusively for girls (see
above).

This kind of association has many advantages, as girls from an early age
learn to accept responsibility for themselves and others, and gain the
confidence and skills to do practical tasks as well as managerial and
organisational work on a local as well as on a national level.

The association is strongly committed to promote international fellowship
and understanding among all their members.


History and Presentation of the DBS

The Danish Baptist Guide and Scout Association

- offers guide and scout programmes in accordance with the international
guide and scout promise and law. In practise, this is shown by a financial
and other support given to the Baptist associations in Burundi and Rwanda
(Africa).

- is a religious association where all local groups can only exist in close
co-operation with a local Baptist church. The Baptist Church is an
evangelical free church practising adult baptism. It is not a necessity to
be a Baptist to be a member of the association.


History and Presentation of DGS

The Guide and Scout Association of Greenland was founded in 1973 and is the
only Guide and Scout Association in Greenland. Already in 1943, however,
Scouting started in Greenland.

The Association cooperates closely with the Danish associations and has
international contacts to WAGGGS and WOSM. Among the many different
activities the following are characteristic: beadwork, the preparation of
fur, cleaning of fish.

Particular emphasis is put on wild life in a sometimes quite rough
environment. Here the Guides and Scouts learn how to survive on natural
resources. Thence most activities take place out doors.


Addresses in Denmark

All the Danish scout offices accept mail written in English.

DDS (Det Danske Spejderkorps)
Lundsgade 6
DK-2100 Kbenhavn 
Phone:  (+45) 35 26 12 11       Fax:    (+45) 35 26 12 20

YMCA (KFUM-Spejderne i Danmark)
Gammel Vartov Vej 16
DK-2900 Hellerup
Phone:  (+45) 39 29 26 66       Fax:    (+45) 39 29 16 24
E-mail: kfum.em@login.dknet.dk

YWCA (KFUK-spejderne i Danmark)
De grnne pigespejdere
Rosenborggade 3
DK-1130 Kbenhavn K
Phone:  (+45) 33 12 95 38       Fax:    (+45) 33 12 67 75

DBS (Danske Baptisters Spejderkorps)
Gammel Gugvej 21
DK-9000 Aalborg
Phone:  (+45) 98 16 62 50       Fax:    (+45) 98 11 68 50

DGS (The Guide and Scout association of Greenland)
Nunaanni Spejderit Kattuffiat
Box 799
3900 Nuuk
Greenland
Phone:  (+299) 219 55


------------------------------

From: snippala@toty.joensuu.fi (Satu Nippala)
Subject: Scouting in Finland

[Note: This article has been edited, leaving only the essential
       parts. The full article can be found on ftp.ethz.ch in
       the directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide/ -- Danny]

            GUIDING AND SCOUTING IN FINLAND

Guiding and Scouting were established simultaneously in Finland
in 1910.   The two separate Unions were merged to form a single
National Organization in  1972. The assosiation is called The Guides
and Scouts of Finland (Suomen  Partiolaiset - Finlands Scouter ry)
and consists of 18 Member Districts,   one of which is swedish-
speaking (Finlands Svenska Scouter rf - The Swedish-speaking
Guides and Scouts in Finland). The organization is affiliated to
the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) as well as to
the World Assosiation of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

The membership figure including all age-groups is around 80,000.
The members  belong to about 850 local troops of 20 to 300 members,
which form the Districts (at 10 to 140 troops per district) .
There are Guides and Scouts from the southernmost tip of the country
to far beyond the Artic Circle.

GUIDING / SCOUTING PROMOTES :
    *a positive attitude towards religion
    *loyalty to one's country
    *international understanding
    *the ideal of service
    *respect for the convictions of others
    *responsability for one's own life and the environment
    *involvement in social activities
    *a healthy way of life

THE WAYS AND MEANS BY WHICH GUIDING AND SCOUTING WORKS :
    *Ideals and Promise
    *the Patrol System
    *a Program that advances by progressive stages
    *training for Leadership duties at different levels
    *teamwork
    *learning by doing
    *the use of creative imagination
    *games and activating projects
    *outdoor activities
    *activities with international and/or religional emphasis

LEVELS

(7)-10 years : Wolf Cubs ("Sudenpentu")

Wolf cubs meet in packs of 10-20 kids. Some of the packs are  mixed,
the boys and girls sharing all activities at all stages. A Sudenpentu
Leader is over 16, with a required training and experience background.
The programme is sub-divided into five progressive stages:
    *Welcome
    *Pikkuhukka (pet name for a wolf cub)
    *Hukka (pet name of folk origin for a wolf)
    *Susi (wolf in finnish)
    *Transition stage

The Finnish Sudenpentu-members participate in traditional Guiding and
Scouting activities: outings, camps in the summer, crosscountry skiing
and skating in the winter, games, excursions, day or weekend trips,
competitions, handicrafts etc. The children also take part in various
service projects.

10-14 years : Scouts ("Vartioik{inen")

Translated, Vartioik{inen means "at Patrol age". The Programme for this
age-group is diversified  -- the way it is carried out depends on the
interests of each patrol.
Programme and Pins:
The programme for the Vartioik{inen - level is divided into three
progressive stages: the Third Class, the Second Class and finally
the First Class. There is also a number of interest badges.
The badges are made of metal. The third class badge is the symbol
of Scout movement, the second one is simply with the text :
Be Prepared and the First one is the Finnish lion - our states
symbol on the scoutflower.
The Patrol leader is called Vartionjohtaja, or VJ for short.
Their programme is divided into five sectors:
    *Guide and Scout ideology, their ideal of service
    *outdoor and camping skills
    *knowledge of Guiding and Scouting and Society
    *nature and its conservation
    *handicrafts, skills

over 15 years of age : Rangers & Rovers ("Vaeltaja")

Vaeltaja operate in groups of varying sizes.  Their leader is often
of the same age as the eldest members in his or her group. The group
plans its own programme. All Vaeltaja activities are based on developing
a positive attitude towards service. Hobbies are also very important. The
programme is based on six ideals:
    *knowledge of Guiding and Scouting and Society
    *service
    *outdoor activities, physical exercise
    *hobbies
    *nature and its conservation
    *Guide and Scout ideals
The ideal of service can be realized e.g. by participating in
voluntary rescue service teams. International activities
are also an important aspect of Guiding and Scouting, especially at
this level.


SPECIAL SCOUT UNITS include Sea-, Handicap- ("Sisu") and Radio Guiding
and Scouting units.

SPECIAL PROGRAMMES include the promotion of international understanding
and the Child and Youth Political Programme ("Nuopo").


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 94 12:02:47 +0200
From: moyen@clipper.ens.fr (Jean-Francois Moyen)
Subject: Scouting in France

[Note: this is a very concise summary, due to the space limitations
 in this FAQ. A more detailed (100 lines) description and a history
 of scouting in France can be found on ftp.ethz.ch in the directory
 ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide/ . -- Ed.]
 
France has several independent scouting organizations; I'll try to
describe most of them :

1) Groups belonging to "scoutisme francais" : they are the only one
belonging to WOSM.

1-1 Scouts de France : Catholic, boys and girls, 120'000 people. 
    5 ages : 6-8, 8-11, 12-15, 15-18, 18+. Units are not mixed.

1-2 Guides de France : girls only, 80000 people, equivalent to SdF. 
    Both are thinking about a merging.

1-3 Eclaireurs de France : Mixed, laics. Approx. 10'000 people. 
    Ages as in SdF.

1-4 Federation des Eclaireurs et Eclaireuses Unionistes de France.
    "Protestant origin, but open to everybody". 8'000 people. 
    Ages : 8-12, mixed. 12-16, mainly co'ed. 16-18, mixed.

1-5 Eclaireurs Israelites de France. Jewish, 4'000 people, ages same as
    in FEEUF.

1-6 Scouts Musulmans de France. Muslims. 300 people.

2) Groups not belonging to "Scoutisme Francais", and thus recognized
   neither by the french government nor by the WOSM :

2-1 Scouts Unitaires de France : Catholics, boys only. Ages 8-12, 12-16
    and 16-18. 50'000 people. Extreme traditionalists.

2-2 Federation des Scouts d'Europe : Catholic, boys and girls, not mixed.
    Ages as in SUF. 80'000 people. Axed toward religion, sometimes
    paramilitaristic tendencies.

2-3 Various integrists, catholics (Scouts St Georges) or protestants
    (Scouts de l'Evangile). Religiously integrist, pedagogically
    traditional. Maybe 2'000 people (?)

2-4 Various ecologist, "neutral", and so groups. Maybe 1'000 people.


------------------------------

From: kai@dpsg.sub.org (Kai Jendrian)
Subject: Scouting in Germany - DPSG
Date: 30 NOv 1993 16:37 +0100

its a little bit difficult to describe Scouting in Germany, as there is
nothing like *the* Scouting here. In Germany there are about 40 different
Scout-Organizations. Three of them belong to the WOSM, which are the
BdP (Bund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder), VCP (Verband Christlicher
Pfadfinder) and DPSG (Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft St. Georg).
I belong to the DPSG and so I only want to describe the DPSG, as I'm not
so well informed about scouting in the other organizations.

Please excuse, if you read some German expressions. These are something
like "german-scouting-specific", so there is no way to translate them
to english (or too difficult for me :)

                      *** T H E   D P S G  ***
              (Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg)

1.) History
The DPSG was founded at 7th Oct. 1929. In 1931 the DPSG had 9.000 members.
The DPSG worked on the ideals of BP. From 1933 - 1938 the DPSG had to fight
against opression through the NS-Regime. Some of their members were killed
in KZ. In 1938 the DPSG was forbidden by the government. But some scouts
didn't join the HJ (Hitlerjugend) which adaptet the methods and outfit of
scouting but had absolutely different goals! These scouts worked in the
underground 'til 1945. In 1950 the WOSM made the RdP (Ring deutscher Pfad-
finder, which today consists of BdP,VCP,DPSG)a member. Since this time the
DPSG works active in scouting and now has about (I guess) 80.000 members and
is the largest german Scouting organization.

2.) Structure 
Most of the action happens in a Stamm (to be compared to a troop I think). 
Here you see the structure of scouts in Germany:
Scouts from  8 - 11 years are called the WOELFLINGE.
Scouts from 11 - 13 years are called the JUNGPFADFINDER.
Scouts from 13 - 16 years are called the PFADFINDER.
Scouts from 16 - 21 years are called the ROVER.
Scouts older then 18 can become LEADERS.
Normally the groups meet once a week and do some camps in the year.

3.) Questions
For official questions please contact:
   DPSG Bundesleitung, Martinstr. 2, 41472 Neuss, Germany
   Phone: +49-2131-46990, FAX: +49-2131-469999
For questions and corrections concerning this posting pleases contact me by
electronic mail. This posting doesn't describe everything about the DPSG
and is only the personal opinion of the writer and not an official description.
I plan to write a more detailed description, which I'll post to rec.scouting
and which will be available on ftp.ethz.ch (okay Danny ?). [Sure! Ed.]


------------------------------

From: Olaf Tuinder <tuinder@fys.ruu.nl>
Subject: Scouting in the Netherlands (Holland)
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 11:43:27 +0200 (GMT+0200)

[Note: This article has been summarized due to the space limitations
 in this FAQ. The full text (200 lines) can be found on ftp.ethz.ch
 in the directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide/Netherlands/. --
 Ed.]

Since 1973 there is one scouting-organisation called: 'Scouting
Nederland'. Scouting Nederland has the objective: 'to promote the
Scoutingprogramme in The Netherlands, based on the ideas of Lord
Baden-Powell, .... '. The total membership figure (all ages) of
1992 is, according to the annual report: 114.845; i.e. 85.266
juniors and 29.579 adults. Scouting Nederland is a member of both
WOSM and WAGGGS.
Almost all troops and units in The Netherlands are mixed boys and
girls. All troops have a *name*, not just a number; even when
there are several troops in the same city. The description of the
Scouting sections below is based on troops that have their
activities on 'land'. Holland also has many Sea-Scout troops near
rivers and lakes and a few Air-Scout troops.

_Section_                  _Age_
Bevers (Beavers)           5-7.
Welpen (Cub Scouts)        7-10. \   The age-group 7-10
Esta's                     7-10. - } is often referred to as
Kabouters (Brownies)       7-10. /   the acronym: 'W.E.K.'
Scouts                     10-15.
Explorers                  14-17.
Jongerentak (Rover Scouts) 17-23.

BEVERS (Beavers), Age: 5-7.
The Bevers play in a fantasy world: The World of Tall Do-All
('Lange Doener' in Dutch). Tall Do-All is one of the main
characters in the Bever-programme, and he lives in a house called
'Hotsjietonia' on the rim of a village. Bevers wear a red sweater
as uniform.

WELPEN (Cub Scouts), Age: 7-10.
The Welpen-programme is based on the Junglebook-stories. Uniform:
green blouse.

ESTA'S (No translation possible), Age: 7-10.
The Esta's play in a fantasy world: 'The Land of Esta'. It is
based on the book 'The Child With The Tall Hat' ("'t Kind Met De
Hoge Hoed" in Dutch), which was especially written for Scouting by
Simone Schell in 1991. The Idea behind the story is that you
change your clothes to ....... (e.g. pirate, princess, wolf,
wizard, or *anything* else) and then play that role. Uniform:
green blouse.

KABOUTERS (Brownies), Age: 7-10.
The Kabouters play in a fantasy world: 'Bambilie'. Bambilie is a
country with some villages and a number of vaguely described
area's, which leave space for your own imagination. In each
village lives a different community ('Volkje' in Dutch) with its
own characteristics. Uniform: green blouse.

SCOUTS, Age: 10-15.
Scouts is the overall-name for members of the age 10-15. The
Scout-programme has no specific central theme, but often the
activities are integrated in some theme or project. More emphasis
is laid on techniques, skills and knowledge. Uniform : khaki blouse.

EXPLORERS, Age: 14-17.
Explorers is the name for the age-group 14-17. A boy in an
Explorer-unit is called 'Rowan' and a girl is called 'Sherpa'. The
Explorers are considered to be able to plan and carry out the
activities and projects on their own. They are supported by one or
two adults. Uniform: brique (red) blouse.

JONGERENTAK (Rover Scouts), Age: 17-23.
The age-group 17-23 is called 'Jongerentak', which can be
translated to 'Youth-branch'. A member of the Jongerentak is
called a Pivo. A group of Pivo's is called a 'Stam'. They are, for
their activities and projects, completely on their own, with no
'adult'-leader supervision. Basic uniform: brique (red) blouse.


------------------------------

From: dtchn@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Dih!-ty / Dicksen Tanzil)
Subject: Scouting in Indonesia
Date: 26 Mar 92 15:19:04 GMT

The Scouting Movement of the Republic of Indonesia has a membership
of about 15 million people (out of a population of 190 million) which
is PROBABLY the largest in the world. It is open to both sex
and is organized as follow:
        Siaga (Cub Scout/Brownie) ................ 6-10 yr old
        Penggalang (Boy/Girl Scout)............... 11-15 yr "
        Penegak (Venture Scout) .................. 16-.... (I forgot)
        Pandega (Rover Scout) .................... (Also forgot)

Indonesia Scout groups is also open to all religions and, in fact,
MAY NOT have any religious affiliation even though when it is
sponsoured by a church or a mosque.
My Scout Group is affiliated to a Church but not to Christianity.....


------------------------------

From: db14@hp825.bih.no (Vegard Engen)
Subject: Scouting in Norway.
Date: 26 Mar 92 13:03:44 GMT

[Note: Jan Pharo <jan.pharo@euronetis.no> has posted more information
 on the administrative and organizational parts of NSF. I have stored
 this article on ftp.ethz.ch in the directory 
 ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide .]

In Norway we have several scout-associations, NSF, YMCA and YWCA.
However, they are cooperating well, I think (At least so in this town,
Bergen). NSF (Norges SpeiderForbund = Norwegian Scout Association) is
mixed boys and girls, they were two separate associations, but joined
their forces in '78. YMCA (KFUM in Norwegian) is only men, as the name
suggests, however I think they are closely linked with YWCA nowadays,
and there may be exceptions, such as female scoutmasters. YWCA is the
female counterpart.

I will after this speak about NSF only, since that's the organisation
I'm a member of. Most of it will apply for the other assications too,
though, at least the major parts.

NSF is divided into 4 age-groups:
6-7:   Bever scouts (this one is fairly new, not so many have them yet).
8-10:  Cub scouts.
11-16: Scouts (I really have no other name for them. :-))
16+  : Rovers.

The lower age for a scoutmaster is 17 years, however it is possible
to become an assistant scoutmaster from the age of 16 years.
Many scoutmasters are also rovers, and scoutmasters and rovers are
often two names of the same group of scouts. There IS no official
higher age for rovers, but the natural limit is somewhere around
22-23 years, when one often go away, get married or simply get
other interests.

In Norway we belive that scouting is outing, and try to do as much
of our activities as possible in the nature. We have national camps
every 4th year, and regional camp every 4th year, in such a way
there will be two years between every major camp. In addition the
groups have camps of their own, and there is also arranged national
camps for rovers in particular, since they will often have other
interests than younger scouts. A typical size for a national camp
nowadays is 19.000 scouts, and the last regional camp in Bergen
counted 650 scouts. This was with guests, though, there is always
guest from other countries at our camps, and even at our last
regional camp we had 150 foreign guests, some even from so far
away as Spain.

Last, a little tip for all those who leave their group for studies:
In Norway we have own scout-groups for students in the larger towns,
so those who want to continue with scouting when they leave town
can join those groups. I know they have a lot of fun, and at least
the one in Trondheim is a large resource when it comes to arranging
national evenements. However, I guess Bjoern Arne can tell you more
about that (arneberg@idt.unit.no).


------------------------------

From: abw@mango.mef.ki.se (Anders Wennerberg)
Subject: Scouting in Sweden
Date: 7 Jan 1994 02:13:48 -0600

THE SWEDISH GUIDE AND SCOUT COUNCIL
(Svenska Scoutr}det - SSR)
This is a co-operative body for the Swedish Guide and Scout associations.
Over the years it had developed co-operative bodies for boy- as well as girl 
scouting in Sweden, and after the merge to co-educational associations a joint 
committee was formed in 1968 origin from these two bodies - The Swedish Guide 
and Scout Union, with the working title The Swedish Guide and Scout Council.  
In 1982 the name was changed to be solely The Swedish Guide and Scout Council.  
SSR is a member of WAGGGS and WOSM.
The Swedish Guide and Scout Council deal with most international matters as 
well as joint questions and projects concerning the five associations (~150000 
members).    All five associations have mixed boys and girls and they have 
their own leadership training within their own organisations, through the 
local troop, on a district level, on a regional level and on a national level.  
Trefoil/Gilwell courses are arranged every year.  Leaders are from almost all 
age groups.  It is usual that a group has leaders of quite different age.  
Leaders are both old scouts and parents.  I believe there is a majority of 
non-parents.  It is not a tradition that parents follow their kids through the 
different age groups; instead they tend to stay in the same age group a number 
of years.  There is no notion of ranks (like Star, Life, Eagle as in the BSA) 
in any of the scouting associations.  There are however merit badges.  The 
scout uniform differs in the five associations.  Usually half uniform is worn 
- shirt and scarf.  The Gilwell scarf is the same for the five associations 
and is worn over the collar.
Amongst other things, in Stockholm, G|teborg (Gothenburg) and Malm| there are 
Reception Teams to receive and help you with contacts into the country.  
Contact The Swedish Guide and Scout Council before you come to Sweden.
(Some facts of Sweden - almost 9 million people in Sweden, the biggest towns 
are Stockholm - capital of Sweden, G|teborg (Gothenburg) and Malm|, Sweden is 
measuring 1574 km (977 miles) from max. south-north, 499 km (310 miles) max. 
east-west and the total surface area is 449964 km^2 (173731 sq.miles), from 
south to north by road ~2100 km (~1305 miles). Sweden is a country with an 
extensive coastline, a very nice archipelago, woods, countryside, mountains 
and alp scenery.)
The council also represents Swedish guiding and scouting in the world 
associations and other members countries as well as other organizations, 
authorities and keeping in contact with the public.

   Postal address:                Visiting address:
     Svenska Scoutr}det             Igeldammsgatan 22
     P.O. Box 49005                 Stockholm
     S-100 28 Stockholm           Telephone:     + 46 (0)8 650 35 35
     Sweden                       Telefax:       + 46 (0)8 653 07 43


THE SALVATION ARMY GUIDE AND SCOUT ASSOCIATION
(Fr{lsningsarmens Scoutf|rbund - FA)
Founded 1916, 3000 members in 55 groups.
FA Scout is a branch of the local Salvation Army Young People's Corps.  The 
program is characterized by traditional scout activities with outdoor life, 
international awareness and community involvement.  But the aim also includes 
definite guidance towards making a personal decision to accept the Christian 
faith and life style.
There are four sections of activities, both boys and girls take part in all 
four.  The shirt is medium blue with a red scarf that is worn underneath the 
collar.  
Minior scout      (7-9 yrs)
Junior scout     (10-11 yrs)
Patrol scout      (12-14 yrs)
Senior scout     (15-20 yrs)
Troop leaders must be 18 years of age.


THE SWEDISH YWCA-YMCA GUIDE AND SCOUT ASSOCIATION
(KFUK-KFUMs Scoutf|rbund)
The YMCA-Scout Association was founded 1911 and the YWCA-Guide Association in 
1921.  In 1960 they merged to form The Swedish YWCA-YMCA Guide And Scout 
Association.  18000 members in 430 groups.  
Some of the scout groups originate from local YWCA-YMCA groups.  But many have 
other parents organizations.  There are Baptist scouts, Adventist scouts, 
Blue-band scouts, Methodist scouts, Swedish Salvation Army scouts, although 
most groups are independent and not in any way associated with the local YWCA-
YMCA group or with any church.
The aim of all activities is to give the members various experiences, 
understanding and knowledge of outdoor life, with consciousness of the 
environment, questions of faith and moral issues, a sense of international 
responsibility and involvement in public affairs.
There are five sections of scouting, both boys and girls take part in all 
five.  The shirt is medium blue with a white (or the group's colour) scarf 
that is worn underneath the collar.
Beaver scouts     (5-7 yrs)
Minior scouts     (8-9 yrs)
Junior scouts     (10-11 yrs)
Patrol scouts     (12-15 yrs)
Rover scouts     (16-  yrs)


THE TEMPERANCE GUIDE AND SCOUT ASSOCIATION
(Nykterhetsr|relsens Scoutf|rbund - NSF)
Scouting began as an activity within the Swedish Temperance Movement in 1927.  
Four decades it was run by two different associations, NTO's Guide and Scout 
Association and IOGT's Guide and Scout Association.  In 1970 they were united 
and became NSF.  7000 members in 120 groups.
A fundamental principle of NSF, along with the Guide/Scout law and promise, 
learning by doing, the patrol system, outdoor life and international, is 
personal temperance.  Members over 12 years of age make a temperance pledge.  
This means they do not drink any beverage with more than 2.25 % of alcohol by 
volume.
There are four sections of scouting, both boys and girls take part in all 
four.  The shirt is medium blue with a dark-blue scarf that is worn underneath 
the collar.
Beaver scouts     (7 yrs) as a trial activity
Minior scouts     (8-9 yrs)
Junior scouts     (10-11 yrs)
Patrol scouts     (12-15 yrs)
Senior scouts     (16-  yrs)


THE GUIDE AND SCOUT ORGANISATION OF THE SWEDISH COVENANT YOUTH
(Svenska Missionsf|rbundets Ungdom-scout - SMU-scout)
Founded 1931, 35000 members in 545 groups.
The Guide and Scout Organisation of The Swedish Covenant Youth is part of the 
activities within youth work of the Swedish Covenant Church.
The program is characterized by traditional scout activities with outdoor 
life, questions of faith and moral issues, learning by doing, the patrol 
system, international awareness and responsibility, community involvement and 
guidance towards a personal Christian faith and life style.
There are four sections of scouting, both boys and girls take part in all 
four.  The shirt is green with a brick-red scarf that is worn over the collar.  
Nying scout don't wear full uniform, just a yellow scarf.
Nying scout     (7-9 yrs)
Scout          (10-12 yrs)
Teenage          (13-15 yrs)
Senior scouts     (16-18 yrs)
After 18 years of age you become leader.  There is 1 sea scout troop.


THE SWEDISH GUIDE AND SCOUT ASSOCIATION
(Svenska Scoutf|rbundet - SSF)
Founded 1912, 82000 members in 635 groups.
The Swedish Guide And Scout Association is a non-political organization, which 
runs scout activities for children, young people and adults, from 7 years of 
age and upwards.
There are five sections of scouting, both boys and girls take part in all 
five.  The shirt is medium blue with a white (or the group's colour) scarf 
that is worn underneath the collar.
Beaver scouts     (7 yrs)
Minior scouts     (8-9 yrs)
Junior scouts     (10-11 yrs)
Patrol scouts     (12-14 yrs)
Senior scouts     (15-18 yrs)
Members over 18 years old are leaders and can also form a rover scout unit.  
There are about 150 sea scout troops along our coasts.


------------------------------

From: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: Scouting in Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1992 12:38:55 GMT

_Branch_                _Age Range_   _Uniform_
Wolves (Cub Scouts)        6 - 12      blue
Scouts                    10 - 18      beige
Rover/Ranger Scouts       17 - 25+     dark red
Leaders                   18 - 30+     dark green

The reason why the age groups overlap is because we move a kid to the
next level according to his/her maturity, not his/her age.

Our organization is mixed at all levels. The only thing that still
reminds of the old separation between girl and boy scouts is that girl
Rovers are (still) called Rangers.

The young age of our leaders is a tradition. Even members of the
district or national committees are rarely older than 30. The result:
more freedom at the unit level, no discrimination, and a very important
experience in leadership for  young people.

Special scout units include Sea Scouts around the major lakes and PTA
scouts for handicapped kids (PTA means "scouts despite all" in german).

The mandatory parts of our uniform are the shirt, the tie, any kind of
good hiking boots, a firelighter and a swiss army knife. Optional parts
are belt, scout jeans, hat, dagger, etc. A kid receives his/her tie and
vulgo (scout name) from his unit leader in an initiation ceremony.

Troops, patrols and packs meet every saturday afternoon for 3-4 hours.
We spend 98% of our time outside in the woods or in the field. I get
inside with my cubs three or four times a year, when the weather is
clearly unbearable (temperature below -25 Celsius or snowstorm).
Otherwise, we're outside.

The Swiss Scouting Movement is a member of J+S, a governmental
institution which promotes sports among youths. Camps for kids in the
12-18 age range are subsidized by J+S, and we also receive some basic
material (tents, denim square units, ropes) from J+S for these
occasions.  J+S is also deeply involved in leader training (because
unit leaders are basically special youth sport trainers).

A major challenge for the national committees (and every nationwide
company) is that Switzerland is divided in four language areas. As a
result, there's not too much documentation available from National.
There's no national scouting handbook per se. There's a handbook on
scouting techniques which is edited by our council and has become the
de facto reference book distributed by National. This book however
is purely technical and does not handle the human and ethical
aspects of scouting.

Every 'ordinary' scouting event is embedded into a story over here.
And the emphasis on story embedding is even higher for cub scouts, the
idea being for the kids to live an adventure instead of watching them
on TV. We end up doing the standard scouting activities out in the
woods, but the reason why we do these activities and the results they
lead to relate to pure fantasy. So when we mounted a giant eight-side
"Berliner" tent out of 62 x 62" tent units, it was because we needed a
flying saucer to escape from the planet Gorgonzola, and when we built
a hang-bridge over the river, it was the gate between the spacelab and
the station Mir, with millions of miles of empty space around us.


------------------------------

From: per@aber.ac.uk (Peter David Roberts)
Subject: Scouting in the UK
Date: 3 Apr 92 11:27:34 GMT

Scouting in the UK still follows many of the ideas of the origional
movement Over the years the age ranges and training awards have
varied and in the last 18 months the Scout Association has agreed
that if sections wish to be co-ed they may be. The Girl Guide
movement is separate and I shall leave someone else to post on
their format. UK Scouting is divided into 5 sections which I
consider in turn

Beavers
age range 6-8
no specific training program aimed at fun and companionship and
organised soley by the leaders. Lodge based.

Cub Scouts
age range 8-10.5
three stage training program(can't remember full details as it
changed  recently) also a diverse range of proficiency badges.
Run by the leaders but with inputs from the sixers in a sixers
council. Six based

Scouts
age range 10.5 - 15.5
The main training section with 4 stages of training leading up to the
Chiefs Scout Award. Again a wide range of proficiency badges available.
Program is decided by the patrol leaders council and put into practice
by the PL's with the help and expertise of the leaders. Patrol based
with emphasis on cooperation.

Venture Scouts
age range 15.5 - 20
The final of the training sections only two awards available the
highest being  the training award in scouting the Queens Scout Award.
Emphasis is on self  developement and community help. The unit is run
by an executive of its members and the main task of the leader is as
an advisor and keeping everything legal.

Scout Fellowship
age range 20+
Section usualy at the district level available to anyone who wishes to
stay involved in scouting but without taking out a leadership warrent.
Generaly more social than scouting but offering a very good source of
experience for scouters in need of specific help.

Link
age range 20+
Similar to Scout fellowship only orgainsed by the Guide association
Link also tend to be more active with social events.  Link is an
international organisation.

SSAGO (Student Scout and Guide organisation)
Based around Universities and colleges, these cater for Students.
Programmes are both active and social much like a Venture Scout or
Ranger Guide unit.

The last three sections take part in major organised scout events
(Competition hikes etc.)


------------------------------

From: bcockburn@acorn.co.uk (Bruce Cockburn)
Subject: Scouting in the UK - F.S.E.

ORG:  F.S.E. (Fe`de`ration du Scoutisme Europe`en) of Great Britain.

The F.S.E. is a very small traditional Scout organisation and has
nothing to do  with the mainstream organisation "The Scout
Association".   The F.S.E. of GB is a member of an organisation
called C.E.S. (Confederation of European Scouts), a pan-european
organisation which binds traditional Scouting organisations together
across Europe.

National Commissioner:
   Mr Richard Hyde,
   68 Glebe Road,
   Deanshanger,
   Milton Keynes,
   England,  MK19  6LU

Section: Wolf Cubs
Wolf Cubs (often shortened to just Cubs, but never referred to
as Cub Scouts) is for boys and girls between the ages of seven and
ten and a half years.  Cubs are organised into "Sixes", with a Sixer
and a Second.  The Cub syllabus is as follows:

   Tenderpad, tests to be passed before Investiture.
   First star, Second star, Proficiency Badges, Wolf Cub Award.
   Leaping Wolf, only Wolf Cub badge to worn on the Scout uniform.

[Wolf Cub Law and Promise: see separate article at the end of this FAQ -- Ed.]

Section: Scouts
Scouts is for boys and girls between the ages of ten and sixteen years.
Scouts are organised into Patrols each patrol has a Scout as the Patrol Leader
and the Assistant Patrol Leader.  The Scout syllabus is as follows:

   Tenderfoot, tests to be passed before Investiture.
   Second Class, First Class, Proficiency Badges, Explorer Cord.
   Baden-Powell Award, the only Scout Badge worn on the Rover or
   Leader's uniform.

[Scout Law and Promise: see separate article at the end of this FAQ -- Ed.]

Section: Rovers
Rovers is the section for boys and girls over the age of 16, there
is no upper age limit.  The Rover syllabus is as follows;

   Ramblers Badge, Project Badge.

Rovers use and live by the same Law and Promise as the Scout
section.


------------------------------

From: oakes@rtsg.mot.com (Ronald Oakes)
      and smh@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (s.m.henning)
Subject: Scouting in the USA (BSA)
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1992 19:28:25 GMT

_Section_       _Age Range_     _U.S. Grades_   _Unit/Program_
Tiger Cubs      (6)             1st             Pack/Cub Scout
Wolf Cubs       (7)             2nd             Pack/Cub Scout
Bear Cubs       (8)             3rd             Pack/Cub Scout
Webelos         (9-10)          4th and 5th     Pack/Cub Scout
Boy Scouts      (10.5)-17       6th - (12th)    Troop/Boy Scout
Varsisity       14-17           (9th - 12th)    Troop (Team)/Boy Scout
Venture         14-17           (9th - 12th)    Troop/Boy Scout
Career Awareness
 Exploring      (14-16)         9th or 10th     Post/Explorer
Explorers       14-20           (9th - Adult)   Post/Explorer
Sea Explorers   14-20           (9th - Adult)   Ship/Explorer
Air Explorers   obsolete
Adults          18-             (Adult)         Any (not Scoutmaster
                                                until 21)

Tiger Cubs are eqivlent to the Australian Joey's.  They are a highly
parent/son orinteated activity.  The Tiger's do meet with the cub pack.
Wolf and Bear dens make up the "traditional" cub scout program.
Webelos are a transition from Cubs to Scouts (Webelos means "We'll
Be Loyal Scouts).

About 3 years ago the Boy Scout (10.5-18) program was rearranged to
incude Varsitity teams and Venture crews within the troop for the
older boys.  The varisty program emphisizies sports, the Venture
emphisizes High Adventure.  Both of these programs are supposed to
be more Boy run than even the normal troop.  Varsity Teams may also
be  indepentant (I think).

Explorers is normally emphasized towards carreers.  However, a number
of "High Adventure," and hoby posts exists.  The Sea Explorers has
seperate positions and awards and uses sailing.  Air Explorers appears
to be the flying equivlent to Sea Explorers (I only know they exist
from looking through my Insigana Guide the other day).

At this time Girls may only join Explorer type units.  However,
unregistered girls may participate in Venture and Varsity activities.
Also, no adult position is restricted by Sex.  Personally, I suspect
that girls will be  allowed in all levels of scouting sometime in the
next 10 years.

 In addition to the normal program, scouts may be elected to become
a member  of the Order of the Arrow, an honor camping orginazation.
These activities should be in addition to normal troop, team or post
activities. The Order of Arrow is primarily a service organization.
Unfortunately many boys and adults join for the honor and forget the
obligation to service.

Alpha Phi Omega is an service fraternity orginazation that is closely
associated with scouting. See the separate message for more information.

Any boy with special needs can be placed in any program at any age and
stay in that program as long as it is appropriate to his ability.

We also have a new program called Learning For Life which is fully coed
and is designed to be used in schools.  It primarily uses lesson plans
the are related closely to life skills for disadvantaged students.
It does not use rank, uniform or anyting labeled scouting.

Traditional scout programs can also be used in schools during class
room time, but they only register the boys unless the students are
over 14.  Career Awareness Exploring is an in school program which
brings speakers into the school to describe various career choices.
It is supplemented with traditional explorer posts that concentrate
in more detail on careers.

Address for further information:

Boy Scouts of America
National Office
Irving, Texas 75015-2079

Check your phone book for the local Council Office


------------------------------

From: millard@acsu.buffalo.edu
Also-From: dmahoney@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
Also-From: oconnell@rye.cs.unm.edu
Subject: Scouting in the USA (BSA) - General Organizational & ethical Info

  Scouting began as a world-wide movement that was established in all parts of
the world, and attempts to further the education, moral standards, and ethics
of young people around the globe.  The scouting movement does much, much more
than educate boys about the outdoors and camping.  It provides a learning
institution in which a young man can acquire such things as leadership skills,
public speaking abilities, and the techniques needed to run a large scale
organization in cooperation with several other people.

  Boy Scouts of America is primarily involved in character-building and
values-training. So, unfortunately, this often can limit the extent of
their focus on backcountry activities or environmental information.
Different troops are different.  Find the best ones.

  A large part of scouting has emphasis on the outdoors.  Many of our themes,
and the skills that we teach are centered on the theme of camping, and the
respect for mother nature.  We educate these boys about such things as knots,
cooking, and firebuilding, and we also instruct them on ideals such as low
impact camping (which is being practiced more and more) basic backpacking,
and canoeing to name a few.

  In order to let many troops experience the outdoors, there are
thousands of camps located through-out the country.  The majority of these
are run by local councils (many troops in one area constitute a council, and
there are many councils in a state); however, there are a few larger camps
which are run by the national office.  One of the most popular of these
is Philmont Scout Ranch located in Cimarron, New Mexico.  This is an area of
land that has hundreds of miles of backpacking trails which runs semi-guided
trips for troops all over the nation and world.  This is typically a
wonderful experience since it promotes low impact backpacking.  The scouts
are taught about the proper equipment to use such as boots,stoves,packs,etc.
There are several other National High Adventure Bases located around the
country, such as the Florida Sea Base, the Robert Service Canoe Base, located
near the Minnesota boundary waters.

  Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are unfortunately and strangely distant from each
other.  Only Scouts and Explorers can attend the "High Adventure" bases.
Eventually, the increasing number of women Scoutmasters (they do exist)
will ask why they, their son and husband can receive what their daughter can't.
Some quasi-merger or cooperation agreement is likely in the future.

  Quite recently, scouting as a national organization has come into the
media concerning several court cases involving moral, as opposed to
environmental issues.  Specifically the evidence about discrimination in
various circumstances have come into question.   There are cases pending
in court about the dismissal of a gay scoutmaster, the refusal of the
regional headquarters to admit a young girl into cub scouts, and the issue
of religious influence on scouting.


------------------------------

From: naraht@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu (Randy Finder)
Subject: Alpha Phi Omega (USA)
Date: Fri Jan 22 1993 19:02:22 GMT

Alpha Phi Omega is a National Service Fraternity whose cardinal
principles are Leadership, Friendship and Service. Out program of service
is directed to four areas: Campus, Community, Nation, and Fraternity.
We were founded by former Boy Scouts who wanted to contine Scouting ideals
in the college setting.

We have about 350 active chapters in the United States and more than 225,000
students have chosen Alpha Phi Omega. There are about 150 chapters of Alpha
Phi Omega, Phillipines and we are interested in extending to other countries.

We were founded in 1929, until 1967 membership was only former Boy Scouts,
however today membership is now open to any college student, male or female.
We are not a social fraternity. We have no selective or exclusive membership
requirements and there is absolutely no hazing.

We maintain strong ties to its scouting roots.  HOWEVER, the BSA does not
finance or govern the fraternity in any way. Examples of Service to Scouting
include sponsoring Scout troops, staffing camporees and other functions,
cleaning up Scout camps and assisting in fundraising.

Address for further information:

Alpha Phi Omega National Office
14901 E. 42nd St.
Independence, MO 64055-9932


------------------------------

From:  szafrans@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Pam Furlong Backstrom)
Subject: Scouting in the USA (GSUSA)
Date:  2-APR-1992

ORG:  The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA)
      830 Third Avenue
      New York, NY 10022

Daisys:  5-6 years old - Usually only the kindergarten class, although
            the girls may be in first grade also. They play
            games, make crafts, and begin to learn about Girl
            Scouts.  They do not do any fund raising.

Brownies: 6-9 years old - Usually 1st through 3rd grade, they earn patches
            called Try-its by completing 4 out of 6 requirements.
            They camp, do crafts, sell cookies and have FUN!

Juniors: 9-12 years old - Usually 4th - 6th grade.  Sometimes 6th graders
            are Cadettes instead. The earn badges, and special 
            awards called Signs, and a Junior Aide patch.  They
            Begin to take more leadership responsiblity of the 
            troop.  They still camp and do all that good stuff.

Cadettes: 12-15 years old - Usually 7th - 9th.  Sometimes 9th graders are
            Seniors.  They earn badges as well as Interest
            Project patches and other awards, ie: Leadership
            awards, service training bars, Career exploration,
            Cadette challenge.  The highest award for a Cadette
            is the Silver Award.

Seniors: 15-18 years old - Usually 10th - 11th grades.  By now, the girls
            Should be running their own troop.  A good part of
            what they do is service oriented, They can continue
            to work on Interest project patches, and similar
            Awards that the Cadettes work on.  The highest award
            that a Girl Scout can earn is the Gold Award.  It
            can only be earned as a Senior. They continue to
            camp and do all the other fun stuff also.

Girl Scout Motto:   Be Prepared
Girl Scout slogan:  Do a Good Turn Daily

[Girl Scout Promise & Law: see separate article at the end of this FAQ -- Ed.]


------------------------------

From: hung@octel.com (Hung Le)
Subject: Scouting experiences in Vietnam
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 14:52:09 GMT

My name is Hung Le, and  I'm a  former cub scout, boy scout,
venturer, rover scout and scouter of BSVN (Boy Scout of Vietnam).
Currently,  I'm  with  the  Santa Clara County Council, BSA
as a unit commissioner.

I would like share with all fellow scouts out there on  the  Net-
work some personal experiences that I have had with the scout or-
ganizations, especially with the BSVN. These experiences  are  so
valuable  to my life and my children as well... When I joined the
Boy Scouts of Vietnam, my country was  torn  apart  by  the  war.
Everywhere  I  went, there were always fighting leftovers. It was
dangerous to travel, abeit going camping, but even so, we managed
to  have  wonderful  times,  troop  leaders were very creative in
finding places for kids to camp,  to  have  a  meeting  location.
Scout  meeting  was  always  outdoors,  in the open air. A lot of
times we went camping without a scoutmaster because of the  mili-
tary  draft. During my 6 years as a boy scout, I had three scout-
masters and their average age was about 19 years old.

I remember taking my Panther patrol (yes, a Blank Panther), on  a
trek  to a remote waterfall. Each member had to be separated by a
distant of 10 meters, so that a bobby trap grenade would not  de-
cimate  the whole patrol. I learned valuable survival skills from
the boy scouts, during the war, not only to help myself, but help
to  my family and other beings as well. Beside learning knots and
semaphores, we also learned camouflaging, how to recognize  booby
traps, different type of ordnance (by default), and servicing re-
fugee camps.  Servicing refugee camps was a constant activity for
the  troops and the posts. Sometimes the pack would chip in their
help in making greeting lines for some big  shots  who  come  and
visited  refugee  camps. During the Tet offensive of 1968, my ex-
plorer post managed a makeshift refugee camp  in  Dalat  province
for  more than 3 months. This included security for people in the
camp (A lot of problems came from rowdy bands of government  sol-
diers trying to intimidate the female refugees, but when they saw
the scouts, they thought another military unit was  handling  the
refugee  camp). This also included searching for food (mostly, by
contacting GI units and the government in the area) for refugees.
Sanitation  was  always  the  biggest task of the day: Talk about
cleaning the out-houses for refugees!!!  At  times  we  organized
'dare-devil'  teams  to go into battle areas to retrieve civilian
and, sometimes, military bodies to bury or to take  back  to  the
city morgue. The morgue was always full during those days. In the
city, there was another youth group organized by the  Red  Cross,
and we competed with them in collecting the wounded and the dead,
along with other war trophies.  One time we collected a  "broken"
bomb  and  decorated  it  as a gate for our refugee camp.  It was
quite a deterrent for those who passed through that gate.

The war also took a personal toll in my life. My very first  cub-
master  was  blown  up  in his Jeep from an ambush. I went to his
funeral without seeing his face since there were nothing left  to
see. The second cubmaster was killed and left behind his pregnant
wife and two small girls. The third cubmaster  spent  almost  ten
year  in  the  re-education  camps. My first patrol leader volun-
teered for Airborne division at the age of 17, and came back in a
light casket.  His mother told me that after he was killed in the
DMZ area, he had to wait for a few months for  transport  of  his
body  back  home...  There  were  so many Vietnamese scouts in my
area that I know never made it to 18th  year  birthday.  Frankly,
without scouting, it would be very hard for me to find solace for
those senseless killings. Looking back, I admired all of my scout
leaders.  They  were true men (unfortunately, I never had any fe-
male leaders, even at cub age) of their word,  who  lived  up  to
scout  promises  and  scout  laws.   At times, they weighed their
lives light as a feather, but sometimes, as heavy as the  biggest
mountain in the north.  At that time, deserting from the Army was
rampant, but I rarely saw or heard of scouts were deserters.

Even in that bloody environment, I had a  blast  when  I  was  in
scouting.  I  had so much opportunities to learn about myself and
about other people. Nowhere else in life have I found  such  deep
and emotional relationships. It was not unusual that my whole pa-
trol attended Christmas mass with one Catholic member, although 6
out  7  members  were  Buddists.  My favorite patrol member was a
Chinese who came to the scout meeting with Chinese  goodies  from
his  father.  Many times my patrol went camping near the National
Military Academy so that at night times, we  could  look  at  the
sky,  watching  the  yellow flares in searching for communist in-
truders. During teen age, I traveled up and  down  the  coast  of
Vietnam,  hitch  hiking with two other scouts to the Delta areas.
We spent two days in a notorious, scary Cambodia village near the
border  with Vietnam, and had a chance to observe how people were
trafficking at the border. A few times, my troop went camping out
of town by trekking to the military airstrip. We got in there be-
cause we knew well the soldiers at  the  entry  post.  Besides  I
heard  that the American Senior Military Advisor there was also a
former eagle scout. We waited for the  next  empty  cargo  plane,
asked  the  pilot  where is his next stop, then asked for a ride.
Many times we had to camp at the dirt spot nearby. It was  adven-
turous and a lot of fun, and a lot of disapointment too.

During the Spring offensive of 1972, I went to the national  jam-
boree with more than 10,000 scouts camping in one of the very hot
spots near Saigon.  The GI Star and Stripes newspaper  called  it
the  "Warboree".  Every  night, there were skirmishes between two
ranger batailons and the local communists from  the  neighborhood
village.(It  was possible that some of the local boys also parti-
cipated in the Jamboree). The opening night  was  festooned  with
"Fire  Dragons"  tracers,  shot  from  C-47  aircraft circulating
ahead. Laying their backs on a  green  grass  field,  the  scouts
tried  to  decifer  beautiful  colors  from  different flares, or
'pfuff pfuff' noise from different types of gunship  helicopters.
Unforgettable experiences!!

The Boy Scouts of Vietnam Association, ceased officially to exist
as  a  member  of the World Scout Bureau when the communists took
over the South in 1975, but thousands of  Vietnamese  still  join
scout  organizations  in  the country they resided in. Many scout
units were formed in the refugee camp  in  Philippine,  Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.  I believe in France, there is
an official Vietnamese  Scout  Association  operating  under  the
Scout  Federation  of France. It is estimated that there are more
than 3000 Vietnamese scouts in Vietnamese scout units world-wide.

In 1990, we had the Third International  Vietnamese  Jamboree  in
Cutter  Camp, Boulder Creek, California, with more than 700 Viet-
namese scouts from 6 countries. The event was also to commemorate
the 60th anniversary of the Boy Scout of Vietnam.


------------------------------

From: chris@scout.demon.co.uk (Christopher T Wilkinson)
Subject: Network Russia

After the downfall of the USSR, scout units are emerging again in all
the former Soviet republics. Scout UK has launched several programs to
help the development of scouting in Russia. One of the visible products of
this project is a publication called Network Russia.

Network Russia's goal is to encourage assistance to Russian Scouting
and to ease relations and exchanges.  You can get at least 3 copies of the
printed edition each year by sending 2-50 to Network Russia, Oxfordshire
County Scout Association, 22nd Oxford Scout HQ, Meadow Lane, Donnington,
Oxford OX4 4BJ. To get a copy of the premier issue, ftp to ftp.ethz.ch and
look in the directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/misc/ for the file 
"network-russia-9306".


------------------------------

From: michell@canada.hp.com, MIDDELKOOP@FEL.TNO.NL
Subject: Scouting on the Air: Radio Amateur Scout Technical Info

Date: 15 Feb 93 16:05:59 PST
The information I have is that there are two International Scout Nets
operating regularly - the European one on 14.290khz on Saturdays at
0930 GMT and the World net on Saturdays on 21.360khz at 1800 GMT.  I
received this via JOTA in 1988 (I have been organizing a JOTA station
for the District for the last 8 years and have been an Amateur Radio
for the last year). 

Date: 26 Apr 1995 
SB SPCL ARL ARLX036 ARLX036 
BSA Net/JOTA news

Boy Scouts of America is establishing a new net called BSA Net,
International. It will meet every Sunday at 2030 UTC on 14.290 MHz.
KB8OCC will act as net control.

Thanks to David Michelson, KB8OCC, for the preceding information.



------------------------------

From: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: Scouting on the Air: JOTA (World Jamboree On The Air)
Also-From: David Miller, Peter Swynford
Date: 3 Mar 93 10:23:38


Dates have been set for the 1995 Jamboree On The Air operating event.
JOTA is an annual event in which Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and Guides
from all over the world speak to each other by means of Amateur Radio.
JOTA 1995 will take place Saturday October 21, at 0001 hours local time
to Sunday October 22, at 2359 hours local time.

As every year since 1993, a JOTI (Jamboree On The Internet) will be held
as off-stage event during the JOTA. To participate, connect to the
Internet Relay Chatter (IRC) by using the irc client on your local
host or by telnetting to <host name to be supplied>. There will be
a channel named "Scouting" (I think) where JOTers will meet
during that time.

JOTA is a worldwide event.  Units may operate for 48 hours, from
Saturday 00.00 h until Sunday 24.00 h local time.  Due to the world's
time differences, this period is not the same for everyone.  To
determine the times at which you can most likely contact a certain part
of the world, calculate a time difference and ask your amateur radio
operator about the radio propagation prediction (a sort of weather
forecast for radio waves).

Any authorized frequency may be used to establish a contact.
Just call "CQ JAMBOREE", or answer Scout stations who are calling
to establish a contact. National radio regulations must be strictly
observed (in most countries, a licensed amateur radio operator must
be present and a logbook must be held).  To find each other easily,
listen on the agreed World Scout Frequencies listed below.

Another hint to inprove your success rate: in the weeks preceding
the event, keep an eye on rec.scouting for other stations and arrange
meeting times and frequencies with them in advance.


                      World Scout Frequencies
               Band    SSB (phone)          CW (morse)
               80m      3.740 & 3.940 MHz    3.590 MHz
               40m      7.090 MHz            7.030 MHz
               20m     14.290 MHz           14.070 MHz
               17m     18.140 MHz           18.080 MHz
               15m     21.360 MHz           21.140 MHz
               12m     24.960 MHz           24.910 MHz
               10m     28.990 MHz           28.190 MHz

                Also worth listening to in the UK
                2m    144.325 MHz SSB
                2m    145.325 MHz FM

World Federation of Great Towers
================================
The World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT) is an organization in which
large towers all over the world co-operate for special activities.  It
was founded in 1989 with the aim to stimulate communication and
exchanges of all sort between the people of the world.

The WFGT invites Scouts to take part in the JOTA from the top of their
Towers.  Amateur radio stations will be installed on the towers and
professional communication facilities to contact the other towers will
be made available also.

The following towers are expected to take part: Centrepoint Tower in Sydney
(Australia), Donauturm in Vienna (Austria), CN Tower in Toronto
(Canada), Empire State Building in New York (USA), Tour Eiffel in Paris
(France), Euromast in Rotterdam (Netherlands), Ostankino Tower in Moscow
(Russia), Blackpool Tower in Blackpool (United Kingdom) and British
Telecom Tower in London (United Kingdom).

Some of these stations may use special call signs as well.  It is
usually planned to establish a television link between New York, Paris and
Moscow at some time during the weekend.  This will make it possible for
the scouts at those towers to have a forum discussion.  Further details
are not yet known, but can be obtained from the World Bureau's radio
station HB9S during the JOTA.


------------------------------

From: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: Scouting on the Net during JOTA (World Jamboree On The Air)

(Note: more details on JOTA can be found on ftp.ethz.ch in the
directory ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/worldwide)

These were the three announced Internet Happenings that were held 
during JOTA 94 (October 15-16, 1994):

A. JAMBOREE ON THE IRC (JOTIRC or JOTI)

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat.  IRC is devoted to just "type-talking"
with other users around the world.  You join what they call a channel
(similar to AOL's rooms, if you're familiar) and type words which appear on
the channel.  Everyone on that channel receives your words and can respond. 
The software needed is basically a client.  Clients can be obtained from many
ftp sites.  See Scott Yanoff's "Internet Services" list on
alt.internet.services for public IRC clients, or find out if your own system
has the client installed by typing the following from your UNIX prompt:

    irc
    /join #scouting

For more information on IRC, anonymous FTP to:
cs.bu.edu:/irc/support/tutorial*

One of the permanent channels on IRC is #scouting, which will be the
central meeting point for JOTIRC participants.


B. CIBER CAMPAMENT

The mexican scouts have set up a local chat server called "Ciber
Campament". While it is set up for JOTA 94, the server is already up
and running today.

To connect, telnet to 129.108.3.7 on port 7777 (type  
'telnet 129.108.3.7 7777' from your UNIX or PC host, or use NCSA
Telnet from a Macintosh). You can log in with any alias and any
password.


C. E-MAIL JOTA 94

Mosman District Scouts, located in Sydney Australia, invite you and
the girls and boys in your Scout/Guide unit to participate in EMAIL
JOTA'94.

At 1st Balmoral Sea Scout Hall Mosman District Scouts, Guides,
Brownies, Cubs, Rovers, Rangers, Venturers and their Leaders will be
broadcasting on 2 or 3 amateur radio rigs provided by alocal radio
club.  There will also be a dial-up phone link between a UNIX
computer called 'scoutnet', and a commercial UNIX email service
connected to the Internet.

In the weeks leading up to JOTA which happens worldwide on during
October Scouts and Guides will be able to use the email service to
pre-arrange times and frequencies for radio contact with other
Scouts/Guides.

For more information on this event or to get in contact with 1st
Balmoral, contact John Young at yo@sydney.sgi.com.



------------------------------

From: Allan Fineberg <fineber@pilot.njin.net> 
Subject: Scouting Esperanto 
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 95 16:49:46 EDT

[Note: a more complete version of this FAQ is posted as separate file
 once a month on rec.scouting and may be retrieved through anonymous FTP
 from ftp.ethz.ch:/rec.scouting/faq ]

What is Esperanto?

Esperanto is the easy-to-learn language devised by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof, of
Warsaw, Poland, at the end of the 19th Century. Zamenhof saw the need
for the peoples of the world to be able to transcend the barriers of
language.  Esperanto is used as a second language for communication
between language communities.

Is Esperanto supposed to replace the national languages?

No.  It is a neutral bridge-language between people of different
language communities.

What is the connection between Scouting and Esperanto?

In his book, "Scouting for Boys," Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Scouting's
Founder, recommends the use of Esperanto as a "secret language" among
scouts.  The first steps to create the Skolta Esperanto-Ligo (Scout
Esperanto League) took place in 1918, after the appearance of Alexander
William Thompson's booklet proposing such an organization.  Since then,
SEL has held its own international camp-outs, and participated in World
Scout Jamborees. For the World Jamboree in August in the Netherlands, an
international group of SEL  activists is organizing an activity in which
participants will learn the basics of  Esperanto using a space-age
learning tool, "Esperanto-Elektro."

Why is Esperanto called a "neutral" language?

It is neutral in the sense that it has no political, cultural or
national/ethnic "baggage" that it carries with it. This cannot be said
for the various national languages, each of which carries with it its
won particular agenda, be it political, cultural, religious, commercial
or otherwise. The only agenda Esperanto has is to serve as a
bridge-language between all peoples.

Who can give me information about Skolta Esperanto-Ligo?

La Skolta Mondo, the official publication of SEL, appears four times a
year. The editor of La Skolta Mondo (Scout World) is Anna Margareta
Ritamaki.  Her e-mail address is:   A.RITAMAKI@sheffield.ac.uk until
June. As of June 1st, her e-mail address will be: aritamaki@finabo.abo.fi 
By prior agreement with her, telefaxing is available.

The General Secretary of SEL is Hector Campos Grez.  His snail-mail
address: Casilla 331, Curico, Region 7, Chile. Fax: +55-75-312137.

How can I learn Esperanto?

Get the SEL textbook "Jamborea Lingvo," by J.L. Hammer, illustrated by
the noted Netherlands graphic artist Melle Hammer. It is available from:
SEL, Postbus 433, NL-1500 EK Zaandam, the Netherlands. Cost: 6 Netherland
Guilders + postage/handling This book is also available through many
Esperanto book services, such as that of Esperanto League for North
America (elna@netcom.com). In many countries, SEL runs special courses
just for Scouts. Or, get an Esperanto textbook at a public library or
bookstore. Find out if an Esperanto course is being offered in your
area. Take the Free Esperanto Course that is available by e-mail. The
Administrator of the FEC is Marko Rauhamaa. He can be contacted at:
Marko.Rauhamaa@tekelec.com The same course is available by snail-mail,
from several national Esperanto associations. A wealth of information
about Esperanto is available at the following WWW sites: 

Document URL:
Flavaj Pagxoj (Esperanto Yellow Pages/in Esperanto)
ftp://ftp.cs.chalmers.se/pu/users/martinw./fla-pa/flavaj pagxoj.html

Yellow Pages (Esperanto Yellow Pages/in English)
ftp.netcom.com/pub/el/elna/Yellow Pages

What does Esperanto look like?

Esperanto estas neutrala ponto-lingvo. D-ro Zamenhof kreis Esperanton
por helpi al internacia, intergenta komunikado. Bela, facila, Esperanto
estas la racia solvo al la monda lingvo-problemo.

Scouting Terms..........Skoltisma Terminaro
Scout                   Skolto 
Girl Guide/Scout        Skoltino 
Cub Scout               Lupido
Scout Leader            Skoltestro 
Camp                    Tendaro 
Be Prepared!            Estu Preta! 
Thinking Day            Interpensa Tago

[Thanks to Anna Margareta Ritamaki, Editor of La Skolta Mondo, who
provided much of the material upon this FAQ is based.]

------------------------------

From: johnw@psychnet.psychol.utas.edu.au (John Wanless)
Also-From: many, many other contributors
Subject: Re: Laws and Promises around the world
Date: 19 April 1995 (update)

Fellow Scouters,

These are a listing of the  Promise and Laws that have been posted to
me and Rec.Scouting with corrections as at 1/11/93 [Plus additions
as of 93/11/12 and ongoing-- Ed.]

Again I apologise in advance for any further mistakes and ask for
copies of any variations that you can send me which I will post up in
addition to these given. You can email me direct direct  or post to
Rec.Scouting.

I am also missing the following, can anyone email these to me please,
Czech Scout Laws
Finland Scout Laws
Greek Scout Laws

*** Australian Cub Promise (8-10 yrs)
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to my God, and
to the Queen of Australia
to help other people, and
to live by the Cub Scout Law

*** Australian Scout Promise (10-14 yrs)
(as from September 1st 1989)
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best,
to do my duty to my God, and
to the Queen of Australia
to help other people, and
to live by the Scout Law

*** Australian  Brownie Guide Promise (7-11 yrs)
I promise that I will do my best:
To do my duty to God
To serve the Queen and my country
To help other people and 
To keep the Brownie Guide Law.      

*** Australian Guide Promise (10-15 yrs)
I promise that I will do my best:
To do my duty to God
To serve the Queen and my country
To help other people and 
To keep the Guide Law. 
     
*** Australian Ranger Guides and Rangers Promies
My further responsibility as a Ranger Guide (Ranger)
is to take the Promise into a wider world.

*** Canadian Beaver Promise (5-7 yrs)
I promise to love God
and to help take care of the world

*** Canadian Cub Promise (8-10 yrs)
I promise to do my best
to love and serve God
to do my duty and to the Queen
to keep the the law of the Wolf Cub pack
and to do a good turn for someone every day

*** Canadian Scout Promise (11-13 yrs)
On my honour,
I promise to do my best
to love and serve God,
my Queen, my country, and my fellow man,
and to live by the Scout Law.

*** Canadian Venturer Promise (14-17 yrs)
On my honour
I promise to develop myself so that I may better
  * love and serve God,
  * respect and help my fellowman,
  * honour and render service to my country.

*** Canadian Rover/Scouter Promise
On my honour,
I promise to do my best
To do my Duty to God and the Queen,
To help other people at all times,
And to carry out the spirit of the Scout Law.

*** Chile Scout Promise
I promise on my honor
to do all that I can
to do my duty to God and my Country,
to help others at all times,
and to obey the Scout Law.

*** Czech Promise
On my honor I promise that I will do my best,
to serve the highest Truth and Love faithfully all time,
to fulfill my own duties and to observe the Scout/Guide laws,
to be prepared to help my country and my neighbors by all my
soul and body.
(optional "May God help me so.")

*** Finland Promise
I will love,
my God and my fellowmen,
my country and mankind,
in my life I will carry out Scout ideals.

*** Greek Promise
On my honour I promise,
to do my duty to God and the country,
to help every person at all times,
and to obey the Scout Law.                   .

*** Hong Kong Grasshopper Scout Promise
I promise to be a Grasshoper Scout,
to love God, to love people and to love Hong kong.

*** Hong Kong Cub Scout Promise
I promise that I will do my best -
To do my duty to God and to the Territory
To help other people
And to keep the Cub Scout Law.

*** Hong Kong Scout Promise
On my honour I promise that I will do my best -
To do my duty to God and to the Territory
To help other people
And to keep the Scout Law.

*** Malaysian Scout Promise
bahawa dengan sesungguhnya,
saya berjanji dan bersetia,
dengan seberapa daya-upayasaya akan,
taat kepada raja dan negara
menolong orang pada setiap masa
menurut undang-undang Pengakap.

*** Norwegian Scout Promise
I promise to do my best to serve God,
help others and live according to the Scout Law.

*** South African Promise
On my honour, I promise that I will do my best,
to do my duty to God and my country,
to help other people at all times,
and to obey the Scout Law.

*** Swedish Scout Promise
we have a scout promise that says (in english transation)
I promise to do my best to follow the scout law.

*** Swiss Scout Promise:
I promise that I will do my best to live by the Scout Law.

(optional addendum for religious scouts:
I ask god and my friends to help me reach this goal).
Important note: None of the two texts play an important role in
the life of a swiss scout.  A scout promise is considered as something
very special. It is only meaningful if you really, really, really
plan to keep that promise.
It's a good guideline for the scout leader, though.
In day-to-day life, a swiss scout learns to live by the law in a
very natural way, by following the example of his/her leader and
his/her companions.

*** UK Scout Promise (B-P's original)
On my honour I promise that I will do my best,
to do my duty to God and the King,
to help other people all the time,
to obey the Scout Law.

*** UK Scout Promise (current)
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God
and to the Queen,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.

*** UK Cub Scout Promise
I promise to do my best
to do my duty to God and the Queen,
to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law.

*** UK (?) Scout Promise (F.S.E.)
(a European scouting body in Great Britain)
On my honour I promise that I will do my best,
to do my duty to God, the Queen,
my country and Europe,
to help other people at all times,
and to obey the Scout Law.

*** UK (?) Wolf Cub Promise (F.S.E.)
I promise to do my best, To do my duty to God, the Queen,
my Country and Europe, To keep the law of the Wolf Cub
Pack, And be helpful each and every day.

*** USA Promise (Boy Scouts of America)
On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty,
to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law,
to help other people at all times,
to keep myself physically strong ,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

*** USA Promise (Girl Scouts of the USA)
On my Honor, I will try to serve God and my country
to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law

*** Australian Cub Scout Laws
Cub Scouts are loyal and obedient
Cub Scouts do not give in to themselves

*** Australian Scout Laws
A Scout is trustworthy
A Scout is loyal
A Scout is helpful
A Scout is friendly
A Scout is cheerful
A Scout is considerate
A Scout is thrifty
A Scout is courageous
A Scout is respectful
A Scout cares for the environment

*** Australian Brownie Guide Laws
A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a good turn every day.

*** Australian Guide Laws
A Guide is loyal and can be trusted
A Guide is helpful
A Guide is polite and considerate
A Guide is friendly and a sister to all Guides
A Guide is kind to animals and respects all living things.
A Guide is obedient.
A Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties.
A Guide makes good use of her time.
A Guide takes care of her own possessions and those of other people.
A Guide is self-controlled in all she thinks, says and does.

*** Canadian Scout Laws:
Beavers:  A Beaver has fun, works hard and helps his/her family and friends.
    motto: Sharing, Sharing, Sharing

Wolf Cubs:  The Cub respects the Old Wolf, The Cub respects him/herself.
    motto: Do your best

Scouts:  A Scout is helpful and trustworthy, kind and cheerful, considerate
    and clean, wise in the use of his/her resources.
    motto: Be prepared

Venturers:  No law.  The company can put moral standards, if they so choose,
    into their company bylaws.   
    motto: Challenge

Rovers and Adults:  The Scout Law.
    motto: Service

I should point out that the people in our National office have not yet changed
(officially) the Laws to reflect gender inclusion.  The present ones only
refer to "him", "himself", etc.  However, most of us use the "her", "herself"
or a neutral word when appropriate.  


*** Chile Scout Law
The Scout places his honor in being worthy of trust.
The Scout is loyal.
The Scout is useful and helps others, without thinking of compensation.
The Scout is a friend to all and a brother to any Scout.
The Scout is courteous and gentlemanly.
The Scout loves Nature and protects animals and plants.
The Scout smiles and sings in difficult times.
The Scout is obedient.
The Scout is thrifty.
The Scout is clean and pure in thought, word and deed.

*** Czech Scout/Guide Law
A Scout/Guide
1. speaks the true
2. can be trusted and is loyal
3. is useful for the society and helps others
4. is a friend to all people of good will and a brother/sister of all
   Scouts and Guides
5. is courteous
6. protects nature and valuable human products
7. obeys his/her parents, superiors and Scout/Guide leaders
8. is of cheerful mind
9. is thrifty
10.is pure in thought, word and deeds

*** Norwegian Scout Law
A Scout is open to God and His word;
A Scout accepts responsibility for himself and others;
A Scout is helpful and conciderate;
A Scout is a good friend;
A Scout is honest and thrustworthy;
A Scout knows and protects the Nature;
A Scout thinks and acts independently, and tries to understand other people;
A Scout does his best in difficulties and troubles;
A Scout is thrifty;
A Scout works for peace and understanding between people.
('himself' also means 'herself')

*** South African Scout Law
Our actual laws are based on an abbreviated version of the British laws:
1.  A Scout's Honour is to be trusted
2.  A Scout is loyal.
3.  A Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others
4.  A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout
5.  A Scout is courteous
6.  A Scout is a friend to animals
7.  A Scout obeys orders
8.  A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties
9.  A Scout is thrifty
10. A Scout is clean in thought, word and deed.

We use a rhyme to remember the laws:
  "Trusty, loyal, helpful,
   Brotherly, courteous, kind,
   Obedient, Smiling, Thrifty,
   Clean in body and mind"

*** Swedish Scout Law (english translation, with no warranties)
1.   A Scout is reverent to God and His word.
2.   A Scout is honest and trustworthy.
3.   A Scout is friendly and helpful.
4.   A scout is considerate and a good companion.
5.   A scout overcomes difficulties with humour. 
6.   A Scout learns to know and protects the Nature.
7.   A Scout accepts responsibility for herself/himself and others.

*** Swiss Scout Law (english translation, with no warranties)
A scout is honest towards him-/herself and the others
A scout stands to his/her belief [whichever it is]
and respects the belief of others.
A scout takes care of the nature and all living beings
A scout helps wherever he/she can
A scout is a good companion
A scout keeps his/her self-control
A scout can integrate him-/herself in the community
A scout overcomes difficulties with humor
A scout can renounce
A scout is ready [willing] to take responsibility.

*** UK Scout Law
1. A Scout is to be trusted.
2. A Scout is loyal.
3. A Scout is friendly and considerate.
4. A Scout belongs to the world-wide family of Scouts.
5. A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
6. A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of
   possessions and property.
7. A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.

*** UK Cub Law
Cub Scouts always do their best, think of others
before themselves and do a good turn every day.

*** UK (& other?) Cub Law (F.S.E.)
The Cub honours his parents and obeys his leaders,
Always does his best and is a friend to all.

*** UK (& other?) Scout Law (F.S.E.)
1.  A Scout's honour is to be trusted.
2.  A Scout is loyal to his Queen, his Country, his
    Scouters, his Parents, his Employers, and those under him
3.  A Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others.
4.  A Scout is a friend to all, and a brother to every other
    Scout, no matter to what country, class or creed the other belongs.
5.  A Scout is courteous.
6.  A Scout is a friend to animals and to all other created things.
7.  A Scout obeys the orders of his parents, Patrol Leader,
    or Scout Master without question.
8.  A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties.
9.  A Scout is thrifty.
10. A Scout is clean in thought, word and deed.

*** USA Scout Law (Boy Scouts of America)
A Scout is...
   Trustworthy,
   Loyal,
   Helpful,
   Friendly,
   Courteous,
   Kind,
   Obedient,
   Cheerful,
   Thrifty,
   Brave,
   Clean, and
   Reverent.

*** USA Scout Law (Girl Scouts of the USA)
I will do my best:
   to be honest
   to be fair
   to help where I am needed
   to be cheerful
   to be friendly and considerate
   to be a sister to every Girl Scout
   to respect authority
   to use resources wisely
   to protect and improve the world around me
   to show respect for myself and other through
      my words and actions

*** Rover Prayer
By the spirits of the just,
Made perfect in their suffering,
Teach us in our turn Oh Lord,
To serve thee as we aught,
To give and not to count the cost,
To fight and not to heed the wounds,
To toil and not to seek for rest,
To labour and not to seek for any reward,
Save that of knowing that we do thy will.


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End of rec.scouting FAQ #2
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