Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, January 3, 2024
Troop containers full of gear arrived onsite, marquees were up, and some adventurous programme gear had all arrived and set up well in time. Mystery Creek Event Centre in Waikato came alive during the last few days of the year with the presence of enthusiastic Scouts, Venturer Actives, Jamboree support team, leaders and staff.
The first Scouts Jamboree in four years is currently underway in Waikato with over 4000 scouts setting up camp and participating in a plethora of activities, challenges and tasks, highlighting their skills, wit, resilience and teamwork.
About Jamboree
A Jamboree is a large Scout Camp held every three years at different sites in New Zealand and attended by around 4000 or more Scouts, Leaders and staff.
It runs for about seven days, plus travel to and from the site. In effect, it is a week-long Scout Camp extended by a couple of days but with an extra trip.
The Jamboree is usually rotated around the three different sites, one on the central or northern North Island, one on the lower North Island, and one on the South Island. This year the event is taking place in the Waikato region.
Most Scouts only get one chance to attend a Jamboree as a Scout but have the option to return in three years as a Venturer and serve as a member of the Jamboree Support Team, formally known as the Venturer Service Team.
Event this Year
For the 23rd New Zealand Scout Jamboree, the spacious surrounds of the event venue have been transformed into a vast tent city for the duration of the nine-day event, which is taking place from December 30, 2023, to January 7, 2024.
Most of the scouts are aged between 11 and 14, including a few scouting enthusiasts from countries like Fiji, Australia, Hongkong, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Jamboree Director Lawrence Fauatea said, “We had a short period, 18 months because of Covid, to get the team around. It was fantastic, in the sense, that almost everyone we approached for help said yes.”
Organising the Jamboree is a huge logistical exercise and requires a specialised team working across various areas from food supply to health and safety.
The range of activities this year included water slides, an adventure course with a large mud bath, quad biking and water sports. Programmes are based in the outdoors as much as possible, are educational in nature, and are fun.
Mr Fauatea said, “ We have four sub-camps where our International and local Scouts will connect with one sub-camp dedicated to our ‘venturer actives’, housing 200 participants. There will be a movie night, International night, reunions and a huge number of tasks that have been planned by the team this year. Our specialised Adventure team led by Guy Beatson has developed the ideas over the last 18 months to come up with this Jamboree’s programme.”
Activities are based onsite around Mystery Creek and at two specialised adventure locations at Lake Karapiro and Waipari Climbing Centre.
For the first time this year, scouts also tried their hand at driving a digger. This activity is strictly supervised to high safety standards to ensure the well-being of both scouts and their one-on-one instructors.
(Image Supplied)
Character Building for Youth
Scouts learn to look after others by taking turns as the duty patrol responsible for cooking and cleaning for the rest of their troop at least once during the Jamboree.
For Scouts, it is a life-changing experience as their self-reliance and self-confidence increase hugely through being away from home for at least seven days or longer. A positive vibe can be felt right across the vast Jamboree site. The scouts have been kept busy not only with activities but also with new experiences, activities and exposure to new skills that can help them once the camp is over.
Scouts also make connections with those from other troops, which can develop into long-term friendships that are an integral part of the worldwide scouting family.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
