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Might
of the left handshake lives on Statesmen respected him, educationists agreed with him, and the youth of the world loved him. The spirit of his great movement which emphasises the oneness of youth and man irrespective of colour, language, class, creed and caste, is aimed at training youth to be good and useful citizens in society. Jamborees have been held periodically all over the world to promote the spirit of camaraderie (fellowship and exchange of ideas, learning of national outlooks, tasting of different foods, learning new songs etc, etc). Scouts are all men of the "Left handshake" in the Zulu tradition, wear colourful scarves, whilst those who are trained Wood Badge holders are members of the 1st Gilwell Park Group, London, and sport a special tartan patch scarf with a Turks head woggle, and a set of beads round their necks. These beads are replicas of the chain captured by the "Chief", when he met the Zulu Chief Dini Zulu, a one-time "trouble maker of Kenya." Scouts, senior scouts and Rover Scouts, have gone on to be leaders in their own right shouldering responsibility often shunned by others. It is widely known that at times of peril, they have stepped forward as organized and trained groups to voluntarily work for the welfare of humanity. During World War Two, in Ceylon the ARP Scout Messenger Service, was associated with the civil defence of Colombo. They were a two hundred strong voluntary force on push bicycles, in uniform, who had to, if telecommunications were affected after an air raid, carry messages from one part of the city to another. They were all trained in first aid, and morse signalling, and were to assist in hospitals. The unit was commanded by Charles Dymoke Green, the Colombo District Commissioner, also the Managing Director of Whittal Boustead & Co. St. L.H. de Zilva ("Big Stick") was another Senior Scout Commissioner who assisted the ARP Messenger Brigade. The great flood of 1947 again saw the Scouts of Colombo in action. They assisted the Red Cross Society under the command of the G.A., R.N. Bond, CCS to parcel cooked food and have it delivered to people marooned on treetops along the Kelaniya river at Kaduwela, Wellampitiya and at Navagamuwa. During the dark days of the Emergency in 1958 and later in July 1983, when communal riots broke out, the Senior Scouts performed numerous chores to help the aged and to ensure the refugees were cared for. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals have been awarded to scouts for bravery. D.E. Siriwardena of the Kingswood College 2nd Kandy Troop, H. Paktsum (Sea Scouts - a Posthumous Award), Rex Jeganathan of Amparai, S.H. Bagot of the 1st Colombo (President's Own Group), G.V. Sauver (President's Own Group), B.M. Piyatilleke of Galle, C. Classen, M.V. Wickremasinghe of Avissawella, P.H. Dole, R.H. James, A. Ramasamy, Kumara Siriwardena and Kolitha Rajapakse all received Awards from the Scout Headquarters in Colombo. The Galle District took a terrible beating, with the recent tsunami. Within twenty four hours of the tragedy under the command of Palitha Jayaratne, District Scout Commissioner, Galle, over 250 Senior Scouts organised themselves at several refugee camps in Kataluwa, Unawatuna, Magalle, Hikkaduwa and Balapitiya to demonstrate the correct way to erect large tents, that had arrived from abroad. With the help of a NGO they raised Rs. 30,000/- which was handed over to the Government Agent, to purchase much-needed cooking utensils and other necessary gear for the refugees. They also helped to unload relief goods transported by convoys of lorries, and also to distribute them to deserving refugees. Over fifty wells were cleaned and drinking water was made available. A road was cut quickly, to enable vehicles to move to a campsite located a distance away from the main road. A large number of Scout camp style makeshift toilets were constructed at several refugee camps. Whilst all this was happening, a band of over forty Senior Scouts from Colombo too went to the Galle District, and rendered yeoman service at the Maha Modera Hospital and at Karapitiya and Ahangama Hospitals. This team was led by National H.Q. Commissioner Chandana Lokuge (Treasurer of the National Scout Association), Janapriyath Fernando (Asst. District Commr. Colombo), Capt. R.K.K. Jayawardena (Asst. H.Q. Commr), Tissa de Silva and several others. The Scout Relief service of the Galle Scout Association is still active on all days of the week. Baden Powell to use scout parlance, "Went Home" on January 8, 1941 when the world was in the midst of a great war. Soldiers and Scouts, both black and white, carried shoulder high his coffin to the grave in Nyeri, Kenya, where he lived. It was later written, - "Your Old men shall dream of dreams, your young men shall see visions." Baden Powell, did both. Mrs. Ellen K. Wade, his Private Secretary for 27 years, wrote after his demise, "the voice we knew so well, which could make itself heard at any large Scout gathering (he used no microphone to amplify his voice) was stilled. The hands which... both right and left, wrote, sketched and painted so beautifully, would now not write or draw again. To me, and also to many others he was the true embodiment of the Scout spirit... that in effable something which we just cannot define, but distinguishes the greatness of the Scout and Girl Guide Movements, from all other youth movements. It is the spirit of brotherhood seen and felt in the air, at Jamborees, and it is also what has shone in battlefronts, whilst performing acts of gallantry. It has been where courage has been shown, and voluntary service has been readily given for the welfare of mankind. (The writer is a Wood Badge holder and was a National H.Q. Commissioner) |
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