The Real Heart of Scouting

Greetings from The Heart of Scouting

A late start, as I had to take a dog belonging to a friend to the vet, before heading off to the Park with Christopher. No other Scouts were available, but that was their loss. During the Centenary Camp, Christopher had used the oven in our campsite, only to discover that the baking dishes had come out of the oven covered in black soot. On inspecting the oven we found that a section had burnt through from the eight years of use. Time for a replacement. Fortunately, I had acquired a new drum to turn into an oven and had already done some work on it. This drum was intended to replace the oven at Headquarters as the existing one had also burnt through and was needing to be replaced as a matter of urgency as we use it nearly every weekend. Now, which oven was to be replaced first , the one in our campsite or the one at Headquarters? Christopher was undertaking his Jobman's Badge, so here was a first class task for him to do for his badge, a real necessary 'live' job.

I had not completed converting the drum into an oven, so part one of the task was for him to complete the work in the workshop at the Park and then to put it into place. We decided that he should have a trial run and so he was to first do the one in the Troop's campsite, where I could help him if necessary. So Chris set to work with drilling machines and files, spanners and hacksaws and completed converting the drum into a useable oven under my supervision. This he successfully did on the Saturday afternoon. Feeling justifiably proud of his effort, he no doubt slept soundly that night.

Click to enlarge:- Friendly Monkey ontop of the oven

Early on Sunday morning, we didn't climb Shumba, Chris went to our campsite in the Bowl and demolished the brickwork holding the old burnt-out oven, whilst I undertook some small tasks at Headquarters and then to save time I collected building sand for Chris from the quarry and ferried it to our campsite. Chris learnt to mix mortar proportioning out sand and cement and adding just the right amount of water. By mid-morning the brickwork surrounding the new oven was taking shape and by afternoon tea time the job was complete. A big job done by one, lone young Scout in one day. Even more impressive, as the oven was positioned/hidden in amongst the rocks in our campsite.

A most important realization, is that Chris now appreciates that when he looks at what has been constructed over the many years Gordon Park has been in existence, a lot of hard work, voluntarily undertaken by many people, has gone into even the smallest of tasks to make Gordon Park a truly fantastic camping ground. The real meaning, the worth and the satisfaction of Scouting has taken on a new dimension; the whole concept of Scouting has become alive for him. Much more than just personal fun has been achieved, a sense of pride and of putting one's skills to use for the benefit of others. This is, "The Real Heart of Scouting".

Well done Chris.

Temperatures for the week ending 30 August: 36 F or 2 C and 84 F or 29 C.

Cheers

Norman
Bulawayo, 31-Aug-09