How can the use of modern means of communication help save lives? How can each Scout prepare to intervene to save his or her fellowman or woman during great natural or climatic disasters? During the earthquakes and Tsunamis that affected Thailand in December 2004, Haiti last year or more recently Japan, Scouts have shown that they know how to quickly and efficiently react. Scouts are often the key contact people for professionals that work in the field, thanks to their self-sacrifice and determination; they are often in the front line during disasters that affect their immediate environment.

To act accordingly to prepare youth to be confronted to difficult circumstances and reinforce the existing partnerships with National or International Humanitarian Organizations, the National Scout Organizations are invited to organize activities in partnership with locally active NGOs which operate in these three areas (Peace, Environment and Natural Disasters).

This years JOTA activity is enjoying the specialist support of the International Amateur Radio Union ( IARU), material made available by the International Telecommunications Union ITU and the UN Refugee Agency ( UNHCR), as well as support from various amateur radio emergency communications teams.

Why are Scouts always there first when disaster strikes?
There are Scout groups nearly everywhere, well organized, with good contacts in the local community. The Scouts are usually trained in basic first-aid medical techniques, orienteering and they have the material that is needed to set up a temporary shelter real quick: tents, cooking material, construction material, it is all there, waiting for the next troop camp, or, yes, it can be used in case of emergency.

............................Scout Set: simulated emergency test............................

During the JOTA weekend we organized a small-scale emergency test. It is a challenging activity in which an Earthquake emergency is simulated and Scouts can respond using techniques, materials and skills that they can train this JOTA weekend.

What you need to take part:

• an amateur radio station
• a scout-built improvised antenna
• battery power or alternatives
• a small computer with the NBEMS software (see Amateur radio technical package below)
• The IARU message form
• a photo camera

==> download the full instruction set here.

Rules of the game:

To simulate as close as possible a chaotic situation in the aftermath of a natural disaster, please apply the following:

• only the use of the battery-powered radio station is allowed (mains power from the city grid has been taken out by he disaster)
• land-line phones and mobile phones do not work, and your internet connection is down too, so these cannot be used to transfer information.
• set a time limit for the activity: there is always a need to act as fast as possible
• be prepared: make sure your Scouts know what to do when disaster strikes. (Do they know the assembly point, what to wear, what to bring?)

Lead countries:

Three countries have signaled their participation in preparing the JOTA weekend: Portugal, Malaysia, and Turkey. JOTA stations in these countries have received special instructions and the disaster scenario. Stations in other countries are invited to join in.

When and where?

On the Saturday 15 October 12:00 - 18:00 GMT during the JOTA weekend. We will not publish all details beforehand; there is always an element of surprise in it when disaster strikes. Expect the unexpected.
Watch the "latest news" page of this JOTA web site during the weekend.
Note that the World Scout Bureau's radio station HB9S will take an active role in the emergency test.So if you need help with the test during the weekend, try and make a contact.

............................The Programme support package............................

Short course: An excellent introduction to the theme is a short youth course developed by the ITU. It is an on-line course that can be followed in English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.Not surprisingly, the course introduction starts with the Scout motto: "Be Prepared". Highly recommended for staff preparing the JOTA weekend as well as for Scouts to enjoy.

To start the course click here. (It downloads a start-up file called "menu.exe" you need for this).

Involve local emergency services: consult e.g. with your local fire brigade, the closest first-response medical unit, local authorities who handle emergencies from your town hall.They may be more than willing to demonstrate their capabilities, support you with your exciting JOTA activity, look and see what your Scout group can do for the local community and even have a link to you lasting longer than just the JOTA weekend.

Promotion material to illustrate your JOTA activity:

• ITU brochure on emergency communications
• IARU borchure on amateur radio support for emergency communications
• Radio Amateurs and Scouts to the rescue in Sri Lanka
• Scouts in action in the USA

and of course....the 54th JOTA badge: (note that shipping costs are more economic when ordering larger quantities at the same time). go to the web shop here

............................The Scout programme package............................

To organize an exciting JOTA weekend for your Scouts, have a look at the following material:

Radio techniques: different possibilities are offered for radio communications under emergency circumstances. Have a look here at what UNHCR recommends to use. An explanation about radio propagation is available here .

How to arrange for electrical power? A necessity to transmit messages by radio is electrical power in some form or the other. Usually mains power will not be available anymore. It is one of the first things that are lost when disaster strikes. Can it be improvised? Yes, if you are somehow prepared for it. Read all about ideas how to generate electricity in the ITU guidebook.

Improvising antennas: any antenna is better than no antenna for transmitting your messages. Your Scouts can certainly help to improvise an antenna.Lots of possibilities are illustrated here in the ITU guidebook. And there can be more. Consult with your JOTA radio amateur.

Message handling: taking messages during an emergency is somewhat of a challenge. Information is often fragmented and it is delivered amidst a usually chaotic situation. Therefor great accuracy is needed in transferring messages, as their content can be life saving. The IARU has developed a standard message note that is very useful for this. Download the note, photocopy it and make it available at your station. Have some example messages available to instruct your Scouts. Oh yes, it is not intended to use this electronically of course; this is for handwriting only. (your electricity supply was down, remember?).
To transfer messages in difficult circumstances, radio operators often use short codes. A list of possible codes is found here .

First-aid training: the best first-aid training can be done locally. However, there are several on-line courses available that your Scouts may want to look at before the JOTA weekend. In particular if you plan to include first-aid response into your weekend programme. Here are a few examples:

• St. Johns ambulance
• First Aid Web
• Parasol
• CPR & First Aid

Improvised shelter: Scout groups with their camping material are a valuable source for setting up the first temporary shelter in a disaster area. Some ideas and items to consider when setting up temporary shelter, can readily be found in the UNHCR handbook. Setting up a temporary camp, could well be part of your JOTA emergency exercise.
Unfortunately, sometimes a temporary camp has to stay in place longer than anticipated. How these tent cities look like? Here is an example of a refugee tent camp (UNHCR video).

Amongst the first responders to a disaster is Shelterbox, a organization that can provide quick relief by delivering tents and other material for shelter.Learn about Shelterbox and run some of their suggested activities with your Scouts during the JOTA weekend. Shelterbox will be involved and supports the JOTA activities in various places in the world.
The Shelterbox activities are also available in French here / les activitées de Shelterbox sont également disponible en français içi.

Emergency Preparedness: how can you prepare yourself and your Scout troop against disasters and other emergencies? Is that posibile at all? Yes it is. Have a look at the Emergency Preparedness guidelines.

............................The Amateur Radio Technical package............................

"Keep it simple" is now more important than ever. Simple things may still work when everything else fails. Simple things that work do attract the Scout's attention and enthusiasm. Much more than complicated things that may or may not work under less favorable circumstances.

NBEMS Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software: something you may try and see if this would be useful and interesting for the Scouts. It is a software protocol; that allows you to transmit and receive digital messages via a variety of radio equipment. No complicated computer to radio interface needed. It even works holding the rigs microphone in front of the computer speakers. The software is free and can be downloaded here . It will require some advance preparation to familiarize yourself with it. So please do this well in advance of the JOTA weekend.

IARU emergency traffic handling procedures: the radio communication during emergencies is organized somewhat differently from regular amateur radio traffic. Operating procedures are found here.

Some more inspirational ideas for an exciting JOTA weekend can e.g. be found in the ARRL handbook for emergency communications.

National emergency coordinators: several countries have an amateur radio emergency co-ordinator. These trained radio amateurs will be able to assist your Scout group and your radio operators to take part in the JOTA theme activities. They may also point you to additional resources in your area. Find the coordinator in your country here.

Echolink linking of stations: you can set up an Echolink node that serves as a direct interface between internet and radio. In this way, Scouts can span large distances with a simple handheld radio. A possible suggestion is to have a try-out with another Scout group during JOTA, some distance away.Detailed instructions on how to set up an Echolink node are here.

Download the Logo

This year, WOSM has organised a Logo Contest to choose the official logo of the JOTA-JOTI 2011. It has been incredibly popular with over 100 designs submitted in only one month. We were very impressed with the wonderful diversity, quality and professionalism of the designs that were submitted.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all of the participants for sharing their design and vision of what the 2011 JOTA-JOTI Logo could look like.
The winner of the contest is: Felipe Trejo Malpica from the Octavio group in Jalisco, Mexico.
"The reef knot unites the world so it doesn't rip apart, especially in these times of crisis. It also symbolises the Scout Brotherhood throughout the world. In the typography of JOTA, the letter O represents radio communication; in JOTI, the letter I, a mouse represents the Internet. This idea is to graphically represent a world which uses modern means of communication to send a message of peace, unity, and of support in the face of the disasters that surround us."

Download the logo here in high resolution

Participation Cards

This year’s participation cards have been mailed separately to the National Scout Organisations. The intend is that each participating station receives its card, as a confirmation of its participation and a souvenir of the event.

Additional programme suggestions

A few examples of the many programme suggestions available in the JOTA fact sheets (on the radio-scouting web or in printed form):

• The continuing story.... Make up a short imaginative story of ten lines. Read it to the station with whom you are in contact. Ask them to add the next part to this story and pass it on to the next scout station that they will contact. If you receive such a story by radio from another scout group, write it down in your station report afterwards. This activity is also very well suited for RTTY (telex) and packet-radio contacts.
• The global weather situation. Take a large wall map of the whole world. Ask the Scouts who you speak to, to give you the local weather report. Indicate this on the map for the area where they are located. A weather report in a local newspaper will show you how to do this on a map. At the end of the weekend you have the global weather view.
• Determine the distance of each radio contact that you make and add them all up. Can you reach 100.000 km in one JOTA weekend ?
• Make a simple drawing. Give instructions by radio to Scouts how to draw the same picture, line by line, without telling them what the picture is. Can they reconstruct your drawing and tell you what it is ?
• Each scout patrol gets 20 metres of ordinary electrical wire. Can they construct a "super antenna", to their imagination, with which the radio operator can make a contact ?
• Find out what the local names are for "Scouts" and "Guides" in at least ten different countries. Make a list.
• Learn to sing the first lines of a foreign song. Find some Scouts on the radio from the country where the song comes from. Sing their song and see if they can join you in it.

• Play JAMPUZ, a JOTA bingo game:
  • Get your own JID number by registering your Scout group in the JOTA-JOTI database at www.jotajoti.org. Do this several days before the event.
  • Note the JID number that you receive at registration and donwload the bingo form.
  • download and print your bingo card here.
  • Ask each contacted station for its JID number.
  • If this number corresponds to a number on your Bingo card, cross it off. Have you completed your card? Bingo !

Furthermore, the on-line radio-scouting library presents you amongst others:

• Idea book for antennas pulled into the air by kites

• Several exciting Foxhunting recipes

• Radio Puzzle games from different countries

• Morse code games
• Idea set for playing with the world’s time differences

National JOTA Stories

With your help, the World Scout Bureau can compile a world-wide overview of the weekend and make it available to all participants. Of course, the information has to come from the participating Scout groups in your country. So you may to prepare for that and send a short story of your activities to your National JOTA Organizer after the event.

Note that an increasing number of participating Scout groups are using the on-line web log to submit stories and reports of their JOTA adventures. The link to the web log will be available here as soon as the weblog is opened.

Photographs showing Scouts in action at the microphone or keyboard and of other activities like electronic kit building, foxhunting, semaphore, map plotting and the like are most welcome. Of course, we do not need all your photographs, a selected set of e.g. the 5 best ones is greatly appreciated. So are clippings of local newspapers carrying the story of JOTA - JOTI in your local community.

We look forward to receive your input before the publishing deadline of:

15 December 2011.