Tayside and Fife Explorer Scouts have been praised for their resilience after extreme temperatures and sanitation concerns led to the entire 4,000-strong UK contingent to be moved out of an international gathering in South Korea.
The 36 teenagers who make up the East of Scotland contingent have been arriving safely at hotels in Seoul over the weekend after being transferred 120 miles from the South Korean World Scout Jamboree site at SaeManGeum.
‘Credit to themselves, parents and Scouts’
Parents have been taking to social media to describe volunteer leaders from East of Scotland Unit 4 as “legends” as they work with UK Scouts leadership to ensure the Scouts stay safe.
The Explorers themselves have been described as “an absolute credit to themselves, their parents and East Region Scouts”.
Around 40,000 young people from around the world are attending the outdoor World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, as previewed by The Courier.
However, temperatures have soared to 35C and conditions have been described as “hellish”.
What has been the impact of conditions?
While The Courier understands teenagers from Tayside and Fife have been “doing ok”, there had been reports that hundreds of young people from various international units had been falling ill.
It’s believed concerns had been raised that the campsite, pitched on reclaimed land, is not clean and that Scouts could not safely use toilets and showers.
Torrential rain in the run up to the jamboree meant all tents had to be pitched on pallets.
UK Scouts announced on Friday it was transferring all 4,000 of its members into hotels.
Several other contingents including the USA and Singapore have also been withdrawing their groups from the campsite over the weekend to ease pressure.
An alternative “jamboree in the city” programme is now being arranged for the UK Explorers in Seoul who will return home from August 13 as planned.
In an update on the publicly accessible East of Scotland Unit 4 25th World Scout Jamboree Facebook page, the East of Scotland leadership team said: “We always talk about a once in a lifetime experience when talking about World Scout Jamborees.
“Our time on site and in Seoul definitely lives up to that.
“All of our young people whilst understandably disappointed at the news that we were being relocated back to Seoul understood that it was for the wider wellbeing of us all.
“Whilst our time was short on site, it was by no means short of fun, laughter and friendship.
“It has been a challenging couple of days for everyone but all of our young people have rose to the challenge and have taken everything in their stride.
“They are an absolute credit to themselves, their parents and East Region Scouts.”
Praise for volunteer leaders
One parent described the four volunteer leaders who are with the East of Scotland group in Seoul as “legends”.
Another follower also praised the leaders, stating: “I cannot imagine how the last 48 hours has been for the four of you, having to deal with a vast array of disappointment, emotions, tiredness and putting your own thoughts and concerns in the background and supporting and dedicating every ounce of energy into ensuring that the young people in your care receive an alternative but exciting and memorable experience.”
Another said: “Challenges are to be expected but usually never on this scale. Your resilience and dedication to the young people in the unit is amazing”.
UK Scouts ‘settling in’ to hotels
In its own updated statement on Sunday, UK Scouts confirmed that coaches of British young people and volunteers had started arriving safely in Seoul after being transferred from the jamboree site at SaeManGeum.
They would all have arrived in Seoul by the end of Sunday.
“They are settling into their accommodation,” the statement said.
“The UK Embassy has been welcoming them as they arrive.
“The UK Embassy are also supporting the UK team with developing programme activities for rest of their jamboree experience in South Korea.
“As we are the largest contingent, our hope is that this helps alleviate the pressure on the site overall.”
The statement reiterated that while they knew the development would be a disappointment for some, they would be continuing the jamboree experience in Seoul, working with Korean authorities on a programme of activities so that UK young people still get the most from their time in Korea.
Despite the move by the UK contingent to hotels, however, the BBC has been reporting that some Scouts are sharing five to a room, while up to 250 are sleeping in the ballroom of one Seoul hotel due to a lack of available accommodation.
Should World Scout Jamboree have ended early?
While the UK and US teams have the money and resources to relocate thousands of people at short notice, there are plenty of countries at the event which do not.
South Korea’s government said it was sending 60 more medics and 700 service workers to maintain the toilets and showers, with many countries staying at the site for the next week.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), the largest international Scouting organisation, said it had asked the Korean Scout Association, which is hosting the event, to consider ending the jamboree early.
The movement said that the host “decided to go ahead with the event” and assured participants that it was doing “everything possible to address the issues caused by the heatwave”.
The jamboree, described as the world’s largest youth camp, gathers Scouts from around the world every four years, each time in a different country.
Most of those attending are aged between 14 and 18, and 155 countries are represented in South Korea.
This is the first jamboree since the pandemic and is due to run until August 12.
Conversation