Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Youngsters from across Bahrain are unplugging from their devices and channelling their energies into environmental matters and outdoor activities in a bid to develop confidence and connections while also caring for the community.
Children aged 10 to 14, from different backgrounds and nationalities including South African, Brazilian, Bahraini, Indian and British, have been enjoying a taste of maritime life with the Third Bahrain Sea Scouts.
“The Third Bahrain Sea Scouts, under the British Scouts Overseas (BSO), aims to encourage the physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development of young people,” said Brazilian scout leader Francine Pinhal, who is a chef and owner of a food factory. “Children learn practical skills through outdoor activities, gain a lot of self-confidence, learn how to solve problems, and most importantly, learn that there is no need for mobile phones to have fun!”
The British Scouting Overseas is a worldwide youth movement that employs the scout method; a programme of informal education with an emphasis on outdoor activities.
“Because we are sea scouts, we gravitate towards anything to do with sea activities and water safety,” added Francine. “One of the projects we are currently working on together is the Bottle Boat which we started about a term ago.”
The youngsters will complete four sessions on how to build a boat by upcycling items. First, they will study all things related to water vessels.
“We will research the kind of vessels and how to inflate and deflate kayaks,” she continued.
“We will also visit a boat factory and once we’ve gathered information, we will head back to study and design a boat.
“Then we will go out and collect plastic bottles to make a working raft-like boat. This should be done by April and we will test it out on water and try to paddle.
“During this period, we will talk about recycling, reusing and repurposing items and in between, throw in a beach clean-up and raise awareness about the importance of preserving the environment.”
According to Spanish scout leader Karolina Kominowska, a country manager at a building materials company, British scouting in Bahrain dates back to the 1920s and different groups continued in the 1940s in Awali and the British Club.
“So BSO has more than 100-year history in Bahrain,” she said. “However, over the years, the group would occasionally close and reopen, depending on adults volunteering. This current group, which is part of the British Club, reopened in 2016.
“After Covid-19, our group became relatively small. We have about 10 scouts, seven explorers, two leaders and three scout leaders including myself, Francine and British Luke O’Mahoney who is the general manager of a sea tour services company.
“Scouts are aged 10 to 14 and explorers are 14 to 18 years old. There are also younger groups in one of the schools called Beavers (aged six to eight) and Cubs (aged eight to 10). We always need more leaders and children of any nationality are welcome.”
So far, their groups participated in overseas trips, volunteered on many events and a few of the children even achieved Gold, Diamond and Platinum scout awards over the years.
Scout badges are worn on uniforms across the world to signify membership and achievements. The highest award in British scouting is the Queen (now known as King) Scout Award.
“We would be excited to welcome more children in our group and adult volunteers,” said Karolina. “No experience is needed as the scout association provides all the necessary training ... after all, this is for the children.”
Email sea_scouts_middle_east@yahoo.com or follow BSO Bahrain on Facebook to join the group.
