In an effort to participate in activities for Haiti support and be a part of the world initiatives, Korea Scout Association (KSA) held a charity bazaar and conducted a fundraising campaign.

The bazaar was held during the annual general meeting on 22nd February, Baden Powell's birthday and was titled “Scout Law 3. A SCOUT IS HELPFUL”. A great many items were arranged from scout souvenirs to daily necessities such as scarves, woggles, camping equipment and rice. Hundreds of scouts and leaders were gathered at the National Training Center of KSA to participate in the event.

The fundraising campaign was launched on 15th January with the setting up of 2 collection boxes in the lobby of KSA and National Training Centre. KSA also advised 20 local councils to promote the campaign to each province in order to make it a nationwide event. It also got the utmost out of the online system by delivering a promotional e-mail to 330,000 scouts and leaders and triggering a pop-up window on the KSA website during the event.

The event ended in great success with the collection of KRW 17,683,340 (about USD 15,500) thanks to the deep interest and contribution from the participants, especially the president of KSA, Kang Young-Joong, who donated USD 9,100 for the benefit of the suffering population of Haiti.

You might expect to see Wilner Ulysse helping a little old lady cross the street. That’s the classic image of a dutiful Scout. But Wilner, age 23, has a much more important good deed for today.

He is one of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides of Léogane, a hard-hit town near the epicenter of last week’s deadly earthquake. Their town was all but destroyed -- most people here have lost homes or family members, and funerals have become a tragically frequent occurrence. But despite their own trauma and loss, the young people of Léogane are rallying to the aid of their fellow citizens.

Wilner and his fellow Scouts have joined the CARE team delivering urgent help near the center of Léogane. The telecommunications office, idle since phone service was knocked out by the quake, is serving as a temporary town hall and humanitarian aid center. Here, the CARE staff set up operations to deliver vital aid to the traumatized survivors, above all women.

The job of the Scouts is to provide security and comfort. The boys, tall and brave, stand guard at the entrance of the compound. The girls walk side-by-side with the women, softly touching the occasional arm or shoulder, as they walk to the distribution point. The women look exhausted, but a few smiles break out as they receive a precious gift – hygiene kits including soap, toothpaste, towels, and sanitary napkins, all packed in a five-gallon bucket that can be used to collect and purify water. Still, the faces at the CARE truck are tired, lined, and sweaty.

The bright young Scouts look serious – most have suffered grievous losses of their own – but their faces are full of compassion for the mothers and grandmothers they gently guide.

“We can only imagine how traumatized and heartbroken these women feel,” said Sophie Perez, CARE Haiti country director. “As much as material aid, they need to know that the world cares about them, and that they are not alone. To have these lovely young people literally standing by their side is a great comfort at this terrible time.”

Many of the women at Wednesday’s distribution have lost their homes and are living in the open, in tents makeshift shelters. Even those whose houses were left standing are often afraid to go inside, because of a series of terrifying aftershocks.

“To lose one’s home, loved ones, and then still to feel constantly afraid – it’s more than anyone should have to bear,” says Sophie. “We are committed to work very hard so that they do not continue to suffer needlessly.”

And so is Wilner. In seven years as a Scout, it’s certainly the most important thing he’s accomplished.

Is there an Earthquake Merit Badge?

Text prepared from article by Rick Perera, CARE Communications Coordinator in Haiti.

For more information please visit CARE Website at the following address: www.careinternational.org.uk

To contribute to CARE's donations please follow this link

Day in and day out, the members of the National Association of the Scouts of Haiti (NASH) prepare themselves in Port-au-Prince as well as in several other important locations. The complications with transportation and communication make it difficult to reach the outer provinces struck by the quake. This nonetheless, does not prevent the Scouts from being of assistance to all those who may be in need of their help.

Yesterday, a team of 8 scouts proficient in French, English and Creole started working as translators in the hospitals of Port-au-Prince. A free international calling centre also benefits from translators to help manage the sudden surge of people. The Scouts of Marchand Dessalines are in charge of a refugee camp in Artibonite, and NASH is collaborating with the French Embassy for the set up of the Champs-de-Mars camp in Port-au-Prince.

Today, the Scouts will help Haiti's civil Protection to put up a refugee camp. Twenty scouts will join the Brazilian Embassy to help the Brazilians with their action. The number of allocated Scouts involved with relief efforts in the regions affected by the earthquake were of 250 in Port-au-Prince, 150 in Jacmel, 150 in Peit Goave and 150 in Léogane. An indefinite number is active, however no census has been taken. Many NASH members are involved in the reception of refugees in the Provinces.

Saturday, Mr. Michel Chancy, special Secretary of State in charge of the distribution of the food aid, contacted the Scouts of Haiti to ask for their help in the national effort. The coordinators of the crisis cell of the National Association of the Scouts of Haiti (NASH) immediately met with the person in charge of this distribution in order to plan their support contribution. Scouts will reinforce teams in each municipality and will participate in the transportation of food stuffs. In each concerned community, a contingent of three ministerial delegates establish relations with the city hall and identify the needs of the area, accommodation sites and also establish the figures assessment that the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) requires. The townships concerned for the moment are Port-au-Prince, Tabarre, Cité Soleil, Carrefour, Pétionville, Delmas, Léogane, Petit Goave. To accomplish their mission the Scouts have a list of vehicle owners that are willing to put them at their disposal at any given time.

Moreover, on Saturday a truck sent by the Dominican Scouts and a convoy of four vehicles of the Haitian Scouts were able to link up at the border. Thanks to the solidarity of the Dominicans the NASH has gotten 2500 bottles of water, 1000 canned foods, and 500 milk packs, which will allow the nourishment of the volunteer teams. The President of the Dominican Scouts and the Deputy General Commissioner of the Scouts of Haiti also met during this occasion.

Upon returning from the North, Nicolas Clervil, General Commissioner, indicated that the Scouts have been very present as moral support for the refugees who are finding themselves far from their places of origin.

Today, during the opening of the 26th Arab Regional Scout Conference, World Scout Committee Vice-Chairman Mario Diaz started the first official speech of the Conference as follows:

"Mr Chairman of the Arab Scout Committee, dear Brothers and Sisters in Scouting, just a few days ago, a terrible earthquake devastated Haiti, leaving behind an unprecedented number of casualties. In God is the best consolation against every catastrophe, a substitute for every loss, and a replacement for anything that is missed. Let’s trust God, seek His aid, and be hopeful of His mercy. May God increase our reward, and grant us the best of consolation."

Some 200 Scout Leaders representing 19 Arab National Scout Organizations then stood up and observed a minute of silence to honour all victims of this natural disaster, and specially our beloved Haitian Scout brothers and sisters."

The international mission arrived last night as planned, at the Port-au-Prince airport in the Red Cross convoy and with dominican escorts. After a brief visit to the French embassy, the mission reunited with Haitian scouts at the scout base, where the bestowal of the transported equipment took place. The equipment consists mainly of tools that help facilitate the logistical organization and communication of the Scout Movement: two solar panels with two undulator to generate electricity, thirty dynamo torch-lights, two laptops with extended battery life, A VHF base with antenna and 5 portable transmitters. The Mission also provided, canned food, bread, milk and water. This provision was made possible thanks to the generosity of our first benefactors.

Upon arrival, Joseph-Emmanuel Saint-Amour, the president of the National Association of the Scouts of Haiti (NASH), was accompanied by Lyonel Laviolette, General Secretary, who is in charge of the organization of the HQs and by Gerard-Marie Tardieu, Assistant General Commissioner in charge of the management of stocks.

Thanks to NASH, the Scout delegation and its Dominican representatives were able to meet the Haitian Minister of Youth and Sports. They discussed the re-launch of youth programs and activity, with the prospective support of the Dominican Government.

In the present situation, the NASH is coordinating to entities: a crisis management unit that was put in place by the Western department, immediately after the earthquake, and the National Bureau. A meeting between the different troop leaders should take place today in order to improve the field coordination. Since the 12th of January, like many other Haitians, Scouts are also sleeping outside and are roused early in order to get to work. Alone, within a group or together with humanitarian NGOs they do not miss an opportunity to be useful. The NASH is positioning itself to be a facilitator between the population and the humanitarian entities. Being close to the population, Scouts are capable of identifying the needs and to communicate these to the humanitarian agencies, whilst also passing down hygiene and security instructions in the neighborhoods. The French Embassy has proposed to the Scouts that they participate in the reception of refugees in Inche (central plateau).

A list of emergency needs is being drafted under the supervision of the General Commissioner, Nicolas Clervil. The list will be quickly transmitted to the International Scout Aid coordination. The day's agenda also foresees another meeting with the French Embassy and a visit of the United Nations headquarters.

The young man's name was Pierre Kesny. His membership card to the National Association of the Scouts of Haiti was found on his body in the Saint-Pierre corridor a few feet away from the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince. He was the secretary of his local group.

He is part of the tens of thousands victims that met their demise during the earthquake. Looking at his face we reflected on the injustice of a catastrophy of this magnitude and we thought, in prayer, about all the scouts who are combining their efforts, for the past week in the collective action to offer some kind of relief to the suffering of the haitian people.

Throughout the weekend the World Scout Bureau has been on the lookout for any news coming from Haiti and has been successful in contacting the representatives of the National Scouts Association in Haiti. Hundreds of Scouts visited the association's president, Gerard-Marie Tardieu, regularly, either to offer their assistance or to accept rescue missions. Below are a series of the efforts made so far, as reported to us by our brothers and sisters of the Haitian Scouts ( refer to the map).

The Scouts of Jacmel have helped the firemen to find and rescue victims trapped under rubble. They have also helped in the distribution of food and water to the victims.

The Scouts of Saint-Marc have put in place a makeshift clinic which provides primary care to the injured victims coming from Port au Prince.

The Scouts of the Saint-George group and Caleb have helped over 2000 survivors, to reach the borders of the Dominican Republic in their personal cars so that the wounded may be treated, despite the high gas prices (about 7-8 € per gallon or 6 litres). Through local committees, the two groups have been able to provide many of the survivors with food and shelter in their own homes.

The Scouts of the Gideon de Carrefour group have pulled out about 300 cadavers from under the debris and saved about 725 victims. They have fabricated coffins for the dozen scouts who died. Further more, they have dug a communal trench to bury 150 of the deceased individuals.

There is an ever present desire from Scouts around the country to come in aid of the population affected by the earthquake, which almost destroyed Port au Prince, Petit Goave, Leogane, Jacmel and Grand Goave. Despite this strong will, they are void of the necessary tools except for their own desire to help.

A mission for the evaluation of the International Scout Aid will leave Paris in a few hours to assess and re-adapt the plan of action designed last Friday to the needs of the current situation. The mission consists of a volunteer member of the Scouts et Guides de France, a journalist of the french magazine La Vie, and will be supported by the representative of the Movimiento Scout Catolico of Spain. World Scouting is also in collaboration with the High Commission for refugees and UNICEF.

Contact:
With the collaboration of the National Scouts Association of Haiti, the Scouts et Guides de France and the World Scout Bureau an initiative has been put into place which has mobilized the international scout fraternity.

For further suggestions or information you can reach via the focal point of the operation at the World Scout Bureau, at the following address: