Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Found the Scouts in Kiribati

Yesterday, as we travelled the island to Bairiki, we saw the Cub Scouts along the side of the road! On our way back we stopped and asked the leaders (a couple of them Australian) about how we can join them. They invited us to a meeting that night to welcome the Australian that had just arrived that day and we would meet the leaders then. We were very excited to get involved so quickly. We left Parker home with Grandmama and we headed over to the maneaba for the meeting. Of course, we are in Kiribati so even though we arrived 15 minutes after the time they told us, we were still the first to arrive, and the keeper of the maneaba didn't know about the meeting. Luckily, as we turned to go ask others, the two Australians showed up in their scout uniforms. So, we sat by the lagoon and talked while we contemplated Kiribati time keeping and learned about Scouting in Australia and America. We also watched an amazing moonrise and a lightning show. Others began arriving shortly after and our 6:30 meeting finally began around 9:00. We met all the leaders of Cubs, Scouts, and Venturers from the island, and enjoyed a good dinner. The leaders entertained us while we ate, then the boys did their Kiribati dances and told a couple of jokes while they ate. There will be a clean-up and bar-b-que on Saturday that we can join in. Their regular meetings will resume when school starts back after the Independence. We look forward to the boys making more friends and working on their Scout requirements. The Kiribati also have a cool flag patch that says Kiribati Scouts that they wear on their uniforms. I'm going to see about getting a couple for the boys.

1 comment:

  1. Scouting around the world. Be sure to get the "cutting toddy" and "boat racing" merit badges.

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