40th Scout Camporee at Viharamahadevi Park:
It's camping time again
by Rohan WIRASEKARA- Former District Commissioner
Colombo
The Sri Lanka Scout Association, Colombo District branch will hold
its 40th annual Scout Camporee from September 2 - 4 at the Vihara Maha
Devi Park Colombo 7.
For those of us old hands Camporee time, rekindles the pleasant
memories of bygone era. Of Camp Fires, Camp cooking, old friendships and
so many adventures, that we had as little children.
For the present generation of Scouts, it is just unadulterated fun,
enjoyment, and excitement. As I write this essay, thousands of children
from Colombo would be counting the days to join this great event.
Getting their kit ready, having a few extra batteries for the torch,
marking their name on all things to be taken to camp, hiding a few slabs
of chocolates or a packet of biscuits deep in the kit bag (to be shared
later by the members of the Patrol) would be going on.
This excitement of one little boy would soon pervade the whole
household. The father, the mother, the grandfather, the grandmother, and
all brothers and sisters (may or may not be fortunate enough to be
Scouts or Guides). For any Scout in Colombo, the Camporee is synonymous
with Scouting in Colombo, for, who is the Scout who has not taken part
in a Camporee, and still calls himself a Scout? If so, it has to be due
to some great misfortune.
Veterans
There are many veterans of these Camporees .They are vintage
camporites who had been involved in Camporees for decades. I may not be
able to name them all. Some are dead and gone, leaving behind many
traditions for the following generations to carry on.
The names of Maz. Mohideen,Lesley Sumanasekera, Felix Ranasinghe, R.
Sri Krishnaraja. P.S.R. Rajamani are some officers who had made
outstanding contributions in ideas and efforts to make Camporee a more
enjoyable, and a very educative event. They are no more. Of those who
are still with us today, H.S.Weerakoon, C.Batuwangala, M.S.F.Muheed,
Boyd Rodrigo, Daniel Edirisinghe, Shiraz Salih, Newton Cooray, W.
Pathmasiri, Janaprith Fernando, Riza Azoor, Nanda Fernando, Rohan
Fernando, comes easily to my mind. But there were many others, and also
thousands who worked silently behind the scenes. But more than all of
them, it was the individual Scout Leader who was always the backbone of
any Camporee. They are the real heroes of the Camporee. They will always
be remembered with gratitude by their Scouts, long after the Hq. has
forgotten them. But this year, the Camporee is a little special.
The father of the Organising Commissioner Firaz Muheed, too was an
Organising Commissioner for a Camporee many years ago. So we do have
here a father and the son combination! I cannot think of another
situation where the father and the son both being Camporee organising
Commissioners! It was, M.F.S. Muheed who organised a Camporee in 1991,
20 years ago, who is the father of the present Organising Commission. Of
all the Scout Leaders I do clearly remember one person, who, year after
year brings her band of little children to take part in the Camporee.
Yes, it is a she. Rev. Sr. Jane Margaret of the St.Michael's Scout Group
Kollupitiya. With all difficulties, and all her other work, she will
make sure that her little band of Scouts, though may not be the most
affluent in Colombo, stands on equal terms with all other Scouts in
Colombo. Despite the advancing age she is still full of youthful
enthusiasm.
She is generous and kind to a fault and anybody is welcomed to her
camp site with a cheerful smile and a warm cup of tea. My Scouts from
Royal College regularly go to her to do badges, for she is a badge
examiner too! There are still a few others of that disposition. Erwin
Waidyachandra fighting an uphill battle running the Rotary Scout Group
is another. Although he rarely smiles (he has enough private troubles to
remember each time he forgets to frown!)He is struggling hard to give
Scouting to the under privileged children in Manning town, Narahenpita.
It is a pity that not much people are there to help Erwin. Luckily
the Rotary Club does help his Scout Group to a great extent. There are
many other Scout Leaders too innumerable to mention who are sacrificing
their time and money for the sake of the children of this little land of
ours. Unseen and unsung, they do a marvellous job behind the scenes.
They are fast becoming a rare breed.
Scouts
But what is a Camporee? It is an annual camp, where thousands of
Scouts in Colombo, camp together for the duration of the Camporee. But
beyond the facade of that sentence lie a world of adventure,
friendships, excitement and a multitude of learning experiences.
The first experimental Camporee was organised by Captain Vernon Halpe
(Who was a teacher at Royal Primary School at that time) and Raymond ,at
the Royal Primary Grounds in 1949, with just a few hundred Scouts.
It has since grown to mammoth proportions giving the Scouts of
Colombo an experience which one Scout from Colombo described as "our own
Disney Land". It has thus captivated the imagination of the children of
Colombo year after year, generation after generation.
In many ways the Camporee augments the training of "good citizenship"
done by the Scout Leaders at the normal weekly Scout meetings.
Planning; managing; leadership; teamwork; improvisation;
determination; ability to accept victory or defeat in the correct
spirit; are some of the practical learning experiences that a boy will
get at a Camporee. You could also see children of Moor, Sinhala, Tamil,
Malay and Burgher origins happily working and playing together,
irrespective of caste, creed, race, or any other discrimination. Like
the three famous Musketeers "One for all and all for one".
Hundreds of adults, male as well as female, sacrifice their money,
time, energy and their skills to make this annual event a memorable
experience for the children - the citizens of tomorrow. Though
innumerable to mention, the services rendered by many generations of
these ladies and gentlemen had been immense. The smoky old 'wood-fire'
kitchens have given way to gas cookers (not only to protect the turf of
the Viharamahadevi park, but also as a modern convenience).
The old Hurricane lanterns have given way to electric lights and
torches. The heavy canvas tents have given way to colourful polymer
tents.
Many generations of Scouts have given way to new and a younger
generations of Scouts. But yet, the excitement, the joy, and the
adventures of the Camporee remain. Whether it was little Shamil Mendis
the Patrol Leader of the Elephant Patrol (now a Director at Delmage),
trying to light the kitchen fire, or little Devinda Kalupahana the
Patrol Leader of the Lion Patrol putting up a memorable watch tower (he
retired as Major General in the army), or little Prathapa Abeywickrema
the famous Patrol Leader of the Foxes (a sub lieutenant in the Navy
reported missing in action after a naval battle in the north sea) doing
one of his notorious camp fire stunts, or little Charitha Ratwatte
(Patrol Leader of the Wolves (who is now a Director of a company)
racking his little head on how to keep his Patrol in control, or little
Yuvin Amaradasa who still struggles to write his log book; They all have
one thing in common. A dream and a vision common to thousands of
children in Colombo; The Camporee!
Romance
Some of the old hands might feel that the old romance of the
Camporees, with just a few lights, kitchens full of smoke, and little
children blowing at the kitchen fire until tears come to their eyes,
were the real thing. Yes, at times some of us do let the years roll away
and take a walk down memory lane and dream of the Camporees of a bygone
era. They were great Camporees , organised by great Organising
Commissioners. I too once in a while dream of the Camporees of my young
days. But I do remember two very special Camporees.
They were organised and run by Scout of 16 -17 years age. Camporees
by the youth for the youth. In my opinion they were two of the best
Camporees.
I do feel a little sorry, that for some reason, a very good reason no
doubt, the adults have taken over again. Since 2005 or so, the Camporees
were once again organized by the Adult Commissioners who of course had
much more experience than the youth, in organising events.
My Camporee experiences go back to 1972, when R. Bodhinagoda (who
later became the Chairman of the ANCL) as our District Commissioner.
M.K.J. Cantlay had retired in 1969 and our Scout Leader then was K.C.
Uduman, who was then an A/L student at Royal College(now a very senior
official at the Hong Kong Bank somewhere in a foreign country, far
away). Those ancient smoky wood-fire kitchens, and the old Hurricane
lanterns and the Petromaxes did give out a special mysterious and a
romantic atmosphere. And we learnt.
We learned to cook (though the meals were eternally late, quite often
only half cooked, and rice always full of stones), we learned to work as
team, we learned leadership qualities, we learned the importance of
planning, we learned the importance of respecting the views of others
(though we may disagree!) and many more things. "We learnt of books and
learnt of men, and learnt to play the game. "We never had everything
that we wanted. Hence improvisation was the order of the day. That
forced us to tap our limited brain capacity to the maximum.
But didn't we enjoy it all? Yes, we did. I do feel sorry for the
children who miss the Camporee for one reason or the other.
They miss a thrill of a life time. As late Ralf Reader, in England
wrote in his famous 'Gang' song many years ago.
"...Get out and come in boys we're waiting for you,
And you'll be delighted you came.
To enjoy the joys of the Scouting boys it's a great, great game.
A thrill of a lifetime is waiting for you..."
And once again, on 1st September 2011, the Scouts in their thousands
would come to the Viharamahadevi park for the 48th Camporee of the
series. The opening ceremony would be held at the open air theatre at
the park at 4.30 p.m. on the 2nd September, and H.E the High
Commissioner for Australia is expected to be the Chief Guest.
Activities
The 2nd the 3rd and the 4th September would be full of activities for
the Scouts. As the morning inspections would be held until about 9.30
a.m. ,the general public would not be allowed to come in until that
time. On the 3rd, the Cub Scouts would be coming. The lads though would
miss the Girl Guides this time, possibly due to some internal politics
which has nothing to do with the children. A separate program has been
designed for the Cub Scouts.
But I am sure that there are no restrictions to the Girl Guides
visiting the Camporee in their private capacity.
Should you want to know what the Scouts do, should you want to show
your little ones what the Scouts do, should you want to go back to the
days when you were a little kid and doing Scouting, then, do come and
see the Scouts in action on the 3rd and on the 4th of September at the
Viharamahadevi Park. We are most grateful to Authorities of the Colombo
Municipal Council and the Defence Secretary, who is keenly interested on
the welfare of the children of Colombo and had once again allowed the
Scouts to use the park from the 1st to the 5th of September. Yet another
generation of children would go through this wonderful experience, and
many, many years later, would still dream of the days spent at the
Camporee, and would call them "The Good Old Days".
The writer is a former District Commissioner of Colombo, and at
present a Scout Leader of Royal College and The National Program
Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Scout Association
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