Three loud whistles and to the cheerful cry of “Manada, manada”! And to the response of «Scouts be prepared!» the boys who make up the group of swains get ready to begin the afternoon program.
The Scout movement by nature emphasizes the values of our spirituality «Franciscan – Amigonian» since the patron of the movement is «Francis of Assisi» and a very important emblem for the «Pack» of Cub Scouts, is the metaphor that arises from the little flower of St. Francis and the wolf. While I was in Chiquimula I had the opportunity to activate the Scout Group #62 «Father Luis Amigó»; the movement provides the opportunity to give the formation of “Zagales” and Scout skills, making this a very meaningful experience for children and young people who participated in it.
A particularity of the movement is that it is a space where technologies are not used and where you can connect with nature and with you brothers and sisters , through games, challenges and adventure; a principle of the movement is that as a leader of the movement you have to get involved in everything the children do, not as an onlooker or someone «who commands» but following the example of Jesus, someone who serves and gets involved, an aspect that is quite significant for the children; it is evident that it is a valuable experience for them in expressions such as: This is the best thing that has happened to my life! The sisters go first so I am encouraged to continue follow them! The children understand and internalize that the leader is the one who serves, the one who goes first and the one who makes an impact by giving example.
The members of the scout movement, as well as those who are not part of it, receive touches of the movement’s philosophy, since the fact of activating a group like this impacts the entire educational community, making the students in general be fascinated by their natural environment, «fall in love with it», this through participation in the scouting activities. This is achieved through participation in camps, reforestation days, days of contemplation of nature in rural environments, and convivial gatherings where enjoyment and joy are undeniable, sowing in them the awareness that in nature the different dimensions of God are revealed to us.
To the children of the movement as to the young people of the school, we sow the seed and the conscience of the «change of chip» not doing activities for the sake of doing them but starting from the small, making them aware that all, scouts and non-scouts «We are called to leave the world better than how we found it» and convincing them from concrete and small actions as for example «I am the change I put down the garbage in its place» and when achieving this small but important action to continue with more complex actions as separating the types of waste.By organizing the students by grades to help the maintenance staff to check how the waste is separated and finding out how unpleasant it can be when it is not properly separated, they generate the awareness that every small or large action has a positive or negative impact on the common house.
With the significant learning that comes from the Scout philosophy combined with the Amigonian pedagogy, «ecological conversion» is progressively achieved and young people and children are able to export this knowledge at home and replicate the change.
I am currently in Totonicapán and i am making my way to reactivate the movement. I am in charge of JUVAM and while it is true that I encourage this spirit of encounter with nature and to raise awareness of the values of “Laudato Si”, little by little the ground is being prepared so that young people and children, together with teachers and the community of sisters, can go down the path of the process of «ecological conversion» and the progressive experience of an «Integral Ecology».
It is worth mentioning that both, the Colegio Sagrada Familia of Chiquimula City (where I had the opportunity to develop this experience) and the Colegio Pedro de Bethancourt in Totonicapán City ,have been recognized with the “Bandera Verde Ecológica” award granted by the Municipality of Guatemala City and the Chamber of Commerce of Guatemala, Both institutions are also working together with the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala to deepen the «Laudato Si» and provide experiences that support and motivate this mission of «Sowing seeds of change in children and young people who become environment keepers».
S. Sheny María Fajardo Méndez
