Messengers of Peace ASIA-PACIFIC
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Messengers of Peace ASIA-PACIFIC The Messengers of Peace quarterly newsletter is an initiative of the Asia-Pacific Support Centre of the World Scout Bureau ISSUE NO.30 highlighting the project, programmes and activities of National Scout Organizations under the MoP Initiative. APRIL-JUNE 2020 Bharat Scouts & Guides Assistance to cyclone victims story on page 8 2 6 10 Mongolia: Zero Waste Brunei Darussalam: Celebrating 6th Indonesia: Peace Border through Scouting Anniversary of Scout Tree Planting Camp 2 Mongolia Zero Waste through Scouting Since 2019, a group of Mongolian Scouts has zero-waste lifestyle. initiated a project called Zero Waste through Scouting in a campaign that encourages every- The third workshop was organised at the Max- one, especially young people, to buy and mall Shopping Centre where five stations were consume only what they need and to reduce set up, with each station assigned a specific and manage their waste. This project targets area which included waste management, 3Rs Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12 to 15. and choosing zero-waste lifestyle as well as learning by doing on reusing waste. The last On May 2019, a Zero Waste team consist- workshop was at the 116th Basic Unit Leader ing of 22 Coordinators and 13 volunteers Training where a special program for school between the ages of 14 to 23 partici- children was arranged, calling it Zero Waste pated in seven trainings facilitated Hero. Around 170 Scouts engaged in the by waste management experts activity. from a government institu- tion and Non-Government Temuulen Oyunerdene, a coordinator of the Organizations. The knowl- Zero Waste team, shares his experience on edge gained by partic- the project: “I have been on the zero-waste ipants was re-echoed project for half a year during which I under- to the communities in stood that zero waste promotes the reshaping four workshops having of resource lifecycles so that all products can 4,400 people. be reused. The government “The main point is: We reduce what we con- organised the first sume, reuse as much as possible, send little workshop at the Ul- for recycling and compost what we cannot.” aanbaatar International The city of Ulaanbaatar sends an average of Marathon thus reaching 1.4 million tons of garbage to the landfill each more than 2,000 people. year. Of 1.4 million tons of waste, 85% are recyclable”, he added. The second workshop was simultaneous with the Peace For this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Run for the SDGs where the the training course is postponed. However, the team operated a booth and team formed a project online with the support received more than 1,000 participants of partners where they engage school children who were introduced into the and young adults with different Zero Waste 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and Lifestyle challenges through social media. 3 IN FOCUS: MoP Hero 2019 Svitha Kaewploy Svitha Kaewploy is an active Rover Scout from the National Scout Organization of Thailand. She is currently studying at Panitchayakanra- jdamnern Technological College while serving as Advisor to Extraordinary Scout Division and as Chairman of Extraordinary Scout Council of Thailand Class 1. Svitha is working on the project Scouts Save the World together with the Extraordinary provide knowledge to Scouts, students, com- Scout Division Panitchayakanrajdamnern Tech- munities and to volunteers on the preserva- nological College and other organizations such tion of natural resources and environment, 2) as the Office of the Red Cross Youth Scout and reduce the impact of waste on the destruction Student Affairs, Bangkok Yai District Office, of the environment and 3) increase the green Thai Beverage Public Company Ltd., Bangkok areas in selected communities and encourage Tree Breeding Centre and selected beneficiary them to join the activities on the preservation communities. of natural resources. The project’s primary objectives are to: 1) Scouts Save the World project has three focus 4 “I have learned that the first thing to do is to set goals. Setting the goal will result in working on something that is bound to be successful. The goal will guide us to find a way in solving the problems we may face, and we can’t do it alone. We need to areas: Water Conservation, Forest Conser- consult with our teachers, peers and vation, and Waste Management. The team is organizing various activities in line with the friends as their opinions will help us focus areas such as mangrove forest planting solve the problems we identified. and tree planting for forest conservation. They also organised a river and canal clean-up drive and introduced to the local communities the This world is our home. If we don’t importance of water conservation and sanita- keep and take care of our home, tion. who will do it for us?” To deepen the knowledge of Scouts involved in the project, they attended the campaign Save the World, Stop Plastic by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. They on the project, “I have learned that the first initiated a waste management campaign to thing to do is to set goals. Setting the goal will communities and introduced the proper way of result in working on something that is bound waste segregation on different types of waste to be successful. The goal will guide us to find such as plastic, steel and glass which can be a way in solving the problems we may face, reused or sold to the waste bank. The proper and we can’t do it alone. We need to consult management of hazardous waste were also with our teachers, peers and friends as their introduced to avoid health risks brought by opinions will help us solve the problems we this type of waste. identified. As a Scout and Messenger of Peace, Svitha This world is our home. If we don’t keep and shares the lessons she learned while working take care of our home, who will do it for us?” 5 Brunei Darussalam Celebrating 6th Anniversary of Scout Tree Planting In celebration of the 6th anniversary of Brunei Scout Tree planting on 1 June 2020, Persekutuan Pengakap Negara Brunei Darussalam (PPNBD) had a tree planting activity at the Belait District, replacing dead trees with Agathis Borneensis, a conifer plant also known as Malayan kuri. The gov- ernment provided the plants and fertilizer. Since the first tree planting in 2008 during the inauguration of the first environmental camp of the Kelana Scout, there has been a total of 3,230 trees planted which includes Agathis borneensis, Cattleya Corniculata, Dryobalanops rappa and white wood tree. 6 PPNBD’s Projek Kasih Lebaran PPNBD initiated a project called Projek Kasih Lebaran aimed to provide help in repairing houses and bridges, and in distributing in-kind donations to selected ben- eficiaries. The team successfully conducted the project at Belait District through the Welfare and Social Service Section. In a separate project, youth volunteers under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports collab- orated with several government agencies, private sectors and NGOs to organize a clean-up at senior citizens’ homes. The aim is to help maintain the cleanliness of elderly homes. 7 Bharat Scouts & Guides Assistance to cyclone victims Members of Madhya Howrah Bayam Samity Scout and Guide Group created a quick response team consisting of Rovers and Adult Leaders to assist affected communities hit by the AMPHAN cyclone last 20 May 2020. A total of 26 Scouts volunteered in providing assistance to the 17 families affected by the cyclone. They provided temporary shelters and distributed relief food. In the next couple of days, they assisted the communities in cutting the fallen trees and reinstall- ing electricity posts. 8 Bangladesh Scouts Meals Everyday Project The Golden Eagle Open Air Scout Group partnered with the Daily Help Bangladesh on a project called Meals Everyday between 1 April to 31 May 2020. Scouts cooked and prepared pro- tein-rich meals and distributed it every night to people in need all over Dhaka. Despite the lockdown caused by the pandemic, the Scout group made door to door distribution of food in slums and low income communities especially for abandoned sick people, the elderly, pregnant women, the visually impaired and disabled, and marginalized children. MD Bappy who oversees the project explains the objective of the project, “our target beneficiaries are people we knew could not easily access the stimulus packages and palliatives provided by the government. Staying safe and comfortable while quarantined was our major aim for them. Putting a smile on those faces during the pandemic has a huge impact and we do not want to stop there.” 9 Indonesia Peace Border Camp Gerakan Pramuka, led by the Messengers of Natuna Sub-Provincial Headquarters and local Peace (MoP) National Team, initiated an event governments, 57 young people who are now titled Indonesia Peace Border Camp (IPBC) appointed as MoP Border Coordinators par- 2020 on 22-23 February 2020 at Ranai, Natu- ticipated in the 4-day event which consists of na, Indonesia. indoor activities. These include the introduc- tion of Messengers of Peace, how to apply for The team chose Natuna as its location for the projects, how to deliver news and information project to reach its local young people to sup- with storytelling skills, Scout-preneurship, port, develop, and strengthen their capacity. and sharing sessions. They also experienced A number of issues are faced by the island in- outdoor activities such as MoP modules, char- cluding problems in education, public facilities, ity, re-coloring public facilities, tree planting, and people empowerment. The island is also among others. troubled by the geopolitical conflict between Indonesia and China.