Young scout earns highest award
The award is the equivalent of the UK's Queen's Scout.
DURBAN Girls’ College’s Kiara Roneil Memdutt was recently awarded the Springbok award, the highest achievable award by any scout in South Africa.
The award is the equivalent of the UK’s Queen’s Scout and the American Eagle Scout. Among the requirements, the Scout must complete at least 40 hours of community service, lead a hike of over 30 kilometers in unfamiliar territory and plan and construct a pioneering project. It concentrates on teaching the Scout how to give back to the community.
According to the 17-year-old matric student, it took five days of what she calls scouting (hard work, dedication and team spirit) to proudly hand over a renewed site to the Durban Children’s Home.
“There is still much work that needs to be done at the facility and I urge all members of the community to do their bit.” she said.
The aim of Scouts South Africa is to contribute to the development of boys, girls and young adults in achieving their full potential as individuals by developing their character, training them in citizenship and developing their spiritual, social, mental, and physical qualities.
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Scouts South Africa is based on the principles of duty to God, duty to others, and duty to self. These three principles govern the entire advancement programme and teach the Scout to be loyal to the religion that expresses them, to be loyal to the country in which they reside and to be responsible in their own development.
“I hail from a family that prides itself on giving to the community and making a difference in society. My choice in extending myself to the Durban Children’s Home was made based on my will to serve and make a difference to a huge number of children and adults,” she said.
“I set up an appointment with the Director at Durban Children’s home to make enquiries regarding my service project. Mandy Goble was very forthcoming and allowed me the choice to decide how much work I was able to put in. We visited the site of a closed commando course. The structures were damaged and the greenery was unkempt. I immediately saw the opportunity to revamp and restore this site,” added Memdutt.
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