Scouting is a movement that provides young people with opportunities to participate in programmes, events, activities and projects that contribute to their growth as active students thus enabling them to become agents of positive change who inspire other to act.
Scout students at Nduundune Comprehensive school for the longest time have lacked scouting uniforms to help them fulfil their duties and make them have a sense of belonging. The expensive uniforms made it difficult for the parents to be able to afford them leaving students to participate in activities without uniforms and that made them feel left out whenever they saw other children donning their uniforms.
“We did not have scout uniforms and that made us not advance to the next levels of our competitions. We also were not happy, and we did not have the confidence because we did not look like the others,” says Joan, scout student.
“The students were very demoralized especially when we go to competitions and see that other children had uniforms, and they did not have. That took away their confidence because they felt like they did not belong in those forums and felt odd one out,” added Madam Eunice, scout teacher.
We supported the school with scout uniforms which had proven hard to acquire given that the uniforms are very expensive, and most parents were not able to provide uniforms to their children. From the support, they were able to proceed to the regional levels of their competition, cultivating more confidence in the students. Through that more students have expressed their interest in joining the club activities.
“When we got the scout uniforms, we were very happy, our team qualified to participate in the regional competitions and that made us very happy. It was my first time travelling to Kitui and that made me very happy that I was able to go, and this time fully dressed like the other scouting members. We belonged and did not feel left out,” says Joan excitedly.
Scouting isn’t just an extracurricular activity. It’s an activity that instills discipline in the children who get to serve as role models to the other students in school. It helps improve their character and makes them have good behaviors. It instills leadership skills to the students even at a young age and creates team work among the members. The sounds of their chants are an expression of the teamwork that goes into ensuring that everything they do is successful
“I always tell parents that scouting isn’t just any other activity, it helps cultivate discipline because the children are becoming role models to the other students through their school performance where they are excelling well. I have seen an increase in the number of students expressing their interest in joining the club. I honestly wouldn’t mind if the entire school wanted to join scouting. I am very happy, and the students are happy,” adds Madam Eunice.
We work to ensure that children in our communities are educated and confident.
