David Branagh, Aarron Mark, Stephen Boyd, Kathryn McCracken and Elaine McGall have recently returned to Northern Ireland from the 11th World Scout Moot in Mexico.
4000 scouting young people from across the globe came together to share the experience of a lifetime at this event. The Moot is designed specifically for young adults in Scouting and offers participants the opportunity to develop as individuals and to gain experience to help them become better leaders and more active members of their local, national and international communities. It also enables participants to develop a better understanding of other people and cultures.
Community service is a key part of the Moot giving participants the opportunity to learn new skills and make a real difference to real communities in Mexico and back home.
David writes "I see the Moot as a great experience for me as a young leader in the Scouting movement and as an individual. I have been in scouting since I was knee high, and a leader for over 5 years. I believe that travels serve to open a new world - the real world - to the eyes of those that participate in them and those that they touch."
The moot started and ended a few kilometres from the amazing site of Teotihuacan. This is the third largest pyramid in the world, the centre of a 6th century community of 200,000 people. The site is 50km north of the present day centre of Mexico city.
The base for the camp was a large complex which had previously been used by the Scottish football team as a training camp. It included a camping area, swimming pool, games areas, restaurants, a lake and some hotel rooms. The opening ceremony was held in the football stadium on July 11th. As well as some formal speeches there was a display of traditional and modern dance from Mexico and entertainment from Mariachis. These men (mostly) are a mix of trumpeters, violinists, guitarists and singers, usually all dressed in smart cowboy-like costumes. They are available for hire in most towns and cities in Mexico.
There were five different sites for the main part of the moot with each person visiting 2 of the sites. My first site was Querétaro, about 220km north of Mexico city. Here we were staying with Mexican families who had volunteered to host a group of international scouts. Staying with the same family was Paw from Denmark, Eva from Sweden, Lizbeth from Mexico city and me. The family did not speak a lot of English so often communication was a bit difficult.
Our first full day at Querétaro involved a cultural tour of the town itself, this included visits to numerous courtyards, churches, and government buildings. It was a hot day. The second day was our community service day. We did this in our international teams made up of 10 people from 10 different countries. The theme was the rights of children and we were each parent to 2 children, about 5 or 6 years old, for the day. We moved round bases playing games and doing activities with the children.
The next day was our activity day - we had chosen to go rock climbing at Peña de Bernal - a rock monolith 40km from Querétaro. As it turned out the proper equipment was not available but we enjoyed a hot walk half way up the rock and the stunning views that this gave. In the evening we attended a local night-club and on Sunday 16th July we were serenaded as we left Querétaro by more Mariachis.
Our second site was Pachuca in the state of Hidalgo. Once again we were welcomed with music and speeches and got settled into what was basically a large warehouse subdivided with cotton sheeting. With 800 people under one roof it earplugs proved very useful when getting to sleep! At Pachuca our first day was community service - we were helping to build an adventure playground in a remote mountain village. Previous teams had constructed a frame and our main task was to weave netting from rope to make a 'web' for the children to play on. This took all day but when we were finished it was very rewarding to see the local children clamber over it in excitement. The next day was an activity day and my teams' activity was a number of incident bases around a lake that had to be visited by rowing boat. Activities included making face masks, traditional games, and playing volleyball with water balloons! For our cultural day we visited Tula, another of the many archaeological sites in this area - this one was the probable capital of the Toltec empire around 1000AD. Here there were a number of pyramids topped with carved 4.5 metre stone warrior figures, as well as game courts and altars for sacrifices to the gods. From Pachuca it was back to our base site at Teotihuacan and two days of activities before the closing of the moot. One of the days was spent at the Global Development Village - this is a now key part of Moots and Jamborees and is supported by UNICEF and many non-governmental organisations (NGO's). The idea is to provide activities and information relating to communities, human rights, the environment, communication and spiritual development. All participants had to complete a number of activities to earn a special pin.
In the evening there was the 'show of nations'. This was an event for all the countries represented at the Moot (of which there were over 50) to showcase their homes by pictures, traditional costumes, games and food. Some contingents had 350 participants at the moot (Mexico and Argentina) while others had only one person (Armenia, Trinidad and Tobago). The second day was spent in Mexico city. Having already visited the main plaza (one of the biggest in the world) before the Moot we decided to spend the day at the anthropology museum. This is a huge museum with some of the best artefacts on show anywhere in the world of many of the pre-Hispanic cultures that had inhabited Mexico.
The closing ceremony of the Moot was both a joyous party and a sad end to a magnificent moot. The spirit of the moot was symbolically passed on to China (Taiwan), where the next Moot will be held in 2004. There was music, dancing, the Moot song, farewells and the formal closing. This was all topped by fireworks and a cake for all 4000 participants. Although this is a brief description of what happened it does not represent what was achieved at the Moot. A Moot is a 'people' event and the slogan of this moot was "Tradition for Tomorrow". Often activities ran late, or we had to queue for food and it was at these times, as well as during the activities that friends were made. Just to talk to another person, to find out where they are from, what their home is like, what scouting is like in their country, what problems young people face in their country, what their hopes and fears are for the future:
In Armenia there is no such thing as running hot water. The Honduras contingent spent a night in a Mexican jail because of diplomatic problems between the two countries. Michael from Trinidad and Tobago found temperatures of mid- 20s very cold. Paw from Denmark had spent a year in the royal bodyguard as his national service. These conversations soon developed into friendships - real friendships - as both sides discovered their similarities. Now these friendships can be maintained across the globe for the rest of our lives via email and post. The range of people who attended the moot included those still at school, those in jobs, those in university, those doing doctorates, and all involved in Scouts or Guides. Ages ranged from 17 to 26, but did not matter at all.
An amazing country, an amazing event, but most of all a great opportunity to meet some amazing people. There were no barriers, no fear. All it took was a friendly smile and a new friend could be made. If only our local community could be like this... if we could see beyond the street that you live in, the clothes that you wear, the language that you use, the colour of your hair. If everyone was a little more willing to be helpful, to be friendly, to want to learn about other peoples, maybe this country would not be in the state it is in. One of the aims of the moot was "To discover the importance of participation in the development of a better future for all" and this we did through activities, service, conversation and sharing. The next World Scout Jamboree (for 14 to 18 year olds) will be held in 2003 in Thailand. The next World Scout Moot will be held in 2004 in Taiwan. There is an Australian rover moot at the end of 2001 in Queensland. I am grateful to the following organisations and companies for assisting towards the costs of attending the Moot: North Eastern Education and Library Board, Nortel Networks, South East Antrim Scout Council, Northern Ireland Scout Council and County Antrim Scout Council.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at d_branagh@hotmail.com