Jamboree

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Steven L. Shields

Jamboree

Posted : 2023-08-22 16:35

Updated : 2023-08-22 16:35

By Steven L. Shields

"Jamboree" is the quintessential Scouting camp experience. Scouts, of course, do a lot of camping, hiking, and other skill-set learning. Every few years, though, thousands of Scouts gather from around a region or country, or in the case of the 2023 World Scout Jamboree held in Korea this month, from more than 150 countries. Scouts can be assured of some things regardless of the venue and the attendees. First, an exciting camp experience where they can compete and share skills and knowledge with thousands of other Scouts. Second, new friends from faraway places are sure to be made. Some of those friendships can be lifelong and life-changing, too.

I am an Eagle Scout (since I was a Scout in the United States). Eagle Scout is the American version of the highest rank youngsters can earn in the organization. Each country where Scouting is organized has its name for the highest rank. Here in Korea, Tiger Scout is the highest rank. I spent my teen years in Scouting, and then when my son was a child, I got involved in Scouting again as an adult leader and served in just about every local position typical for adults in a community-based Scout troop. My son and many of his school friends were in the Scouting program together, and those boys still share an unbreakable bond almost thirty years later. When I was the Scoutmaster of the troop, thirteen of the boys achieved and were awarded their Eagle Scout ranks. Of course, it was not my work to get them there, but a whole cadre of moms and dads who were committed community members and worked hard to give their children a good Scouting experience.

Despite those years of activity, I only got to a Jamboree once. I was almost 14 years old and a newly minted Eagle Scout. I did various fundraising projects for over a year to earn enough money for the trip. We did bake sales, sold brooms and brushes door-to-door, held car washes, and I can't remember what else.

The Jamboree was held at a park in the mountains of Idaho (a state in the U.S.), so I wasn't far from home. We traveled to the venue from our region in several large tourist buses. We did some sightseeing along the way, camped out every night in a city park, we ate packed, cold meals of sandwiches and fruit. And we probably didn't shower as often as we should have. After four or five days on the road, we arrived at the Jamboree venue and hiked from the parking lot to our assigned campsite. We slept on the ground in tents. We had a kitchen area, with everyone assigned KP duty in turn. A fire pit in the center of the campsite was also used for cooking. Showers and toilets were down the trail a short distance. We had events, activities, and special guests every day. The setting was appropriate for a camp housing 40,000 kids and leaders. The huge lake at one end of the valley, the soaring mountains, and the majestic pine trees are unforgettable. What a stark contrast to what was billed as a "great" campground in Saemangeum earlier this month.

Much of Scouting is about nature and the great outdoors, with fresh air and the scent of campfires filling the evening. A large expanse of flat dirt with no trees, hauled in from who knows where to fill in the ocean and destroy the natural habitat of coastal wetlands, is so far detached from the principles of Scouting as to be a head slapper. Anyone who knows anything about Scouting knows this principle without thinking. While the heat wave was a surprise that caught everyone off guard, why the World Scouting Organization did not question the location surprised me more.

The media has done more than enough coverage of the Saemangeum disaster, so I do not need to make further criticism. I did find it sadly typical, though, of politicians and the extreme buck-passing that has been going on, with everyone pointing fingers at the others, no one stepping up to the plate and putting into practice the Harry S. Truman principle (on his desk in the White House, he had a placard that said, "The buck stops here").

Scouts being Scouts, though, the dozens of young people I've talked with this past week as they finished their Jamboree here in Seoul said they made many new friends and were "prepared" to make the best of things. And they did just that.

Rev. Steven L. Shields {slshields@gmail.com} has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. He is the president of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea. He served as copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect The Korea Times' editorial stance.