Accents
One World, One Promise
San Francisco, California, US, Aug. 11--The airport's arrival area was thick with welcomers--parents, relatives, friends of the Boy Scouts who participated in the 21st World Scout Jamboree in London, July 27-Aug. 8. The event was also a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts founded by Lord Baden-Powell in 1907.
Timothy and Rose, who were in London for the duration of the Jamboree, arrived a day earlier to meet their son, Boy Scout James Raphael "Rap-Rap" Yee. Among those waiting in lively anticipation were Lolo and Lola (Rudy and me). Applause after applause filled the air as the boys arrived looking forward to their folks' hugs and kisses.
We wondered why Rap-Rap had a Philippine flag on his uniform and a patch of an Eagle Scout (the highest rank a Boy Scout can attain) when he should be wearing Jamboree Troop 409. Later we knew that several boys were in uniform other than their own because they traded their uniform with the Scouts' from other countries. Rap-Rap had two others, one from UK and one from Egypt with Middle East scripts on it.
Our grandson garbed in Scout's uniform kindled memories of our children who had been into scouting, all four of them. Rose, Randy, and Raileen had been Girl Scouts during their elementary grades, the uniform and other scout paraphernalia of the eldest being handed down to the younger, then to the youngest. I remember visiting Raileen at the campsite in Cabatuan--I think that was in 1974--where she delivered an oratorical piece titled "Sa ika-uunlad ng Bayan, Disiplina ang kailangan." Her performance earned for her a special citation from the town mayor. One jamboree I recall was in Guimaras where my son Roderick won two medals, one in oration and another as chess champion. Jetrone and Raisa, our grandkids with Roderick and Ruby, were Boy and Girl Scout too when they were in the grades.
Scouting does go down to the generations in the family. Our own parents, however, were not into scouting (none yet during their school age), but they saw in scouting a set of values that would carry the young well into adulthood. Rudy was a Boy Scout during his elementary grades and I was a Girl Scout from the grades up to college in UPIC (UP Iloilo City).
I still remember something unforgettable that happened, camping in UPIC. I and Belle Palu-ay, a dear friend and classmate from Pototan, pitched our olive drab tent in the UPIC campus where now stands the UPV auditorium. Belle and I lost our share of the meat to a dog that strayed in the campus. To stave off hunger, we begged food from fellow scouts in the other tents. Two enjoyable nights we had, the closest, rather nearest experience of "sleeping under the stars" since we were right there camped inside the school campus, not in some far-away sprawling plain, beachfront or mountainside. UPIC's open field was a minuscule compared to the site of the 21st jamboree, Hylands Park in Essex, England.
Quotable quotes abound in ONE WORD, the official newspaper of the 21st World Scout Jamboree. "Jamboree closes with a bang!!! Some 40,000 Jamboree participants and staff, one of the largest such assemblies in Scouting history, gathered in the arena for a show featuring music and dance from several cultures, well-spoken words and video memories." I'd like to add: 40,000 strong united in brotherhood.
"As of Tuesday, August 7, at 19:30, the Scouts are officially part of the Guinness World Records book… being the largest youth organisation in the world. [The] award goes to 28 million scouts in 216 countries all over the world." Scott Christie, Guinness World Records manager, who was a cub scout himself, announced to a cheering crowd: "This record will last for quite a long time. I don't see any other [youth] organisation coming close to this." Other Guinness World Records are being surpassed sooner or later.
Many expressed hope of attending the 22nd world jamboree in Sweden in four years or 2011 as, I suppose, grandson James Raphael must be hoping. (Singapore is vying for the 2015 jamboree.) The Sweden jamboree must surely be another One World gathering with the same One Promise I too made some fifty years ago, dressed in that lovely green attire, three fingers raised up high, the thumb crossing over the small finger: "On my honor, I promise to do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the Scout [Girl Scout] laws and to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." Indeed, as the slogan of the 21st World Scout Jamboree goes: One World, One Promise.
(Comments to lagoc@hargray.com)