In a tiny town called Toodyay, Samantha Connor of Scouts Australia, recollects ?In December 2009, our Scouts were preparing for Jamboree when a bushfire swept through our town. Rover Scouts came to the rescue and posted the alerts on facebook on a group called ?Toodyay December Bushfire?. One lady said that she found out her house was on fire when she read it on facebook! People fled their homes and it was a miracle that no lives were lost. One of our Scout Leaders, Rob, stayed to fight the fire and saved the two homes adjoining his property. Over five hundred people were evacuated from the area and remained in limbo, not knowing whether they had a home to return to ? the Scouts arranged emergency accommodation with mattresses, swags and sleeping bags and put people in touch with each other. Eventually, three days later, people were allowed home to see what was left ? there were forty homes lost and over 3000 hectares, including properties, livestock and sheds.?

In October 2010, one natural disaster after another hit different parts of Indonesia. First was a flash flood in Wasior District in West Papua Province. In collaboration with the local government, hundreds of Scouts mobilized to help the survivors. Then came the tsunami in West Sumatra Province. In response, Scouts and the local Indonesian Red Cross Society were among the first rescuers in the area. A third incident occurred when Mount Merapi in the border of Central Java and Yogyakarta erupted on 26th October. Within hours, the first group of Rovers arrived and brought survivors to temporary shelters. Setting camp at the foot of Mount Merapi, Scouts worked in rotation at the Shelters Kitchen serving food three times a day to over 1,400 survivors. Others were deployed at the community hospital and at the Children Trauma Healing Center, helping the children deal with their condition.

After an extremely powerful earthquake hit the Tohoku Region on 11 March 2011, triggering high tsunami waves that caused massive loss of lives and properties along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan, the Scout Association of Japan (SAJ) created the Scout Disaster Relief Centers where Scouts unite to bring comfort, strength and hope to affected people. Scouts and volunteers removed rubble and cleared the mud in houses and schools.

On weekends, SAJ provided free shuttle bus services to volunteers between Tokyo and Ishinomaki to bring in more help. The younger Scouts did their share by engaging the children in activities like making taitayaki, a fish shaped waffle, to help ease their trauma.

In August 2010, in the midst of destructive floods in Pakistan, Rovers organized themselves for rescue and recovery efforts in relief camps. They collected and distributed clothing, medicine and other needs of children and women in close coordination with government relief agencies and emergency rescue departments.

Rovers and Scout Leaders living in heavily flood-affected places worked in their own communities due to the problem of accessing some of the areas.

They reached out to people who were stranded and brought them to safety under nearly impossible conditions with roads and infrastructure being damaged all around.

Filipino Scouts, in partnership with ShelterBox joined in the massive rescue and relief operations after the deadly typhoon Washi ravaged Cagayan De Oro and Iligan cities in southern Philippines in the early morning of 17th December 2011, sweeping away nearly 50,000 homes. They set up camps, provided emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for the most vulnerable families. ?It?s been amazing having help from the Scouts and they have brought with them a wealth of knowledge in setting up camps,? said ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) volunteer Lyndon Tamblyn (NZ). ?It was easy to show them how to put up the tents as they already knew about distance and spacing so we have been able to work at double our normal pace?.

During emergencies, timely response by Scouts is a call of service. Today, Scouts are known to help during unfortunate events especially when disaster strikes unexpectedly. Scouting?s role in responding to emergencies was reinforced by members of WOSM through a recent World Scout Conference resolution 17/2011 in Brazil (January 2011). The Conference through the resolution urged all National Scout Organizations (NSOs) to respond urgently to any national/international emergency such as natural and man made disasters and to be able to coordinate with sister organizations, and hence, always remaining prepared to respond in an effective manner. The Resolution also encourages the World Scout Bureau to work in partnership with aid agencies to provide coordination, and technical & professional support to NSOs.

Many countries in Asia-Pacific are vulnerable to natural occurrences, especially those situated in what is called the ?Ring of Fire?. In the past two years alone, disasters overwhelmed several countries in the region, and often tested the Scouts? sense of duty and ability (being prepared) to act quickly and responsibly. This article is a focus on experiences from NSOs in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Scouts Secret Island Adventure (Scouts SIA) is an epic adventure video game for Apple and Android devices (mobile phones). The all action game showcases the best of Scouting skills and activities and includes three arcade style mini-games: hang-gliding, mountain boarding and kayaking.

Written in a very exciting style that will make you want to keep reading till the end, this book explains the main findings of a prior academic research on World Scouting that was accomplished earlier by the same author as part of his doctoral research. Using new data and a storytelling technique, the current work revisits how Scouting started, showing its informal launching and its historical evolution throughout the twentieth century. The book analyzes Scouting's structure and recognition policy, its role in developing ideas of global citizenship and belonging, and the spirit of Scouting.

World Scouting is happy to present two very exciting products related to Scouting which have been launched in recent weeks. A well-known personality in World Scouting, Dr. Eduard Vallory (Spain) has published his book ?World Scouting ? Educating for Global Citizenship?. The book has evoked a tremendous response from personalities such as members of the World Scout Committee and former Secretary Generals of WOSM alike. The Scout Association of UK has launched an exciting Scout Game App for mobile phones called the Scouts Secret Island Adventure. The adventure video game, which also features their Chief Scout and celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls, is available for Apple and Android devices.

JOTA-JOTI 2012 Logo Contest took place over March-April and had a tremendous response in terms of participants sending their designs from all over the world. Overall 142 entries were received from 34 countries. Highest number of entries (26) were submitted by Scouts from Indonesia (Gerakan Pramuka), our largest National Scout Organization in terms of membership.

Volunteering is a key aspect in Scouting, not just the adult volunteers contributing to achieving the Scout Mission by supporting the education of children and youth in our Movement, but also all the young volunteers doing the countless good deeds as part of their daily Scouting activities. With over 7 million adult volunteers and millions of other young volunteers, Scouting is definitely one of the leading volunteer organisations in the world. For this reason and more, United Nations Volunteers (UNV), is one of the key partners of WOSM. The UNV programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. World Scouting is hence happy to support this excellent initiative by UNV ? Volunteer Action Counts, to help make all volunteer actions (small and big) in the area of sustainable development count at Rio+20.

PREFACE of 'Une jeuness engagée' - published by Accent du Sud, 1 January 2005

Dear family of Siranouche,

Siranouche spent a week with us, 50 youth from 23 different countries, at the Red Cross YABC Youth Summit on 7-13 March. We are so sorry to hear about her death, please except our deepest condolences in your grief.
(...)
- Heini Aaltonen and all the participants to the YABC Youth Summit

Siranouche has been a Scout for several years and at such a young age held various responsibilities as a volunteer at the national level. Siranouche was the National Commissioner of Development of Scouting in Haiti and has been contributing largely to the expansion of Scouting in Haiti since the devastating earthquake in 2010. Just a week before her death, she was actively supporting a national level training course. She was the founder of a Scout Group of which she was the Group Leader.

Siranouche was engaged to be married in July this year. The sudden and unexpected loss of Siranouche has left everyone shocked. The International Commissioner of the Association Nationale des Scouts d'Haïti, Ms. Mathieu Renide said ?Siranouche, or Sisi as we knew her, was a very friendly person. Her sudden death is a very big loss for us?.

Leading newspapers of the world (see links below) have reported on the death of the national and world hero ? Raymond Aubrac ? praising his efforts in the French Resistance against the Nazis during World War II. What people may not know is his close connection to Scouting. Recollecting his days as a young Scout and later as a leader with Les Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France, Aubrac attributes his successes in the Resistance to what he learnt at Scouting. In tribute, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy has called him a ?heroic figure?.

Born as Raymond Samuel, Aubrac was Jewish and had studied Engineering. He and his wife Lucie Aubrac (né Bernard) are household names in France for their heroic exploits during the French Resistance. Aubrac participated in many national and international Scout camps between 1927 and 1933 including a Jamboree in the UK where he met with Baden Powell.

97 year old Mr. Raymond Aubrac (France) and 25 year old Ms. Siranouche Germain (Haiti) have been Scouting?s jewels, and heroes in their own right. Aubrac, a national hero of the French Resistance was a Scout and a key Scout Leader with Les Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France, died on 10th April 2012 in Paris. Siranouche was WOSM?s external representative from Association Nationale des Scouts d'Haïti. She suffered a sudden and severe attack of asthma and passed away on 11 April 2012 in Port-au-Prince.

World Scouting is very sad to lose Siranouche and Aubrac, two of our valued assets, and we pass our sincere condolences to the respective families and National Scout Organizations.

For many years, the National Scout Organization (NSO) of Israel ? The Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation ? has recognised that while there are a number of Scout Associations inside the NSO, the Federation has the capacity to try and break the barriers between the communities and create better understanding among young people in the country.

In the backdrop of the Rio+20 - United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to be held in Brazil this June, União dos Escoteiros do Brasil (UEB) is organising a series of activities and games for their Scouts under the initiative ?Kudu ? Escoteiros Fazendo Eco?. ?Kudu?, which was launched on Saturday 31st March 2012 after the Earth Hour. This initiative will increase awareness in the local communities on the contribution of Scouting to sustainable development. Through 'Kudu', UEB hopes to take the buzz around the UNCSD Rio+20 to all corners of Brazil.

Saturday 31st March 2012 from 20.30 to 21.30 will be the Earth Hour 2012. For one hour, millions of people across the world will turn off their lights at those hours and World Scouting joins in our continued support to this initiative. WOSM invites all Scouts around the world to join this global initiative by turning off your lights and taking part in activities that demonstrate your concern for the environment.

Bear Grylls is United Kingdom?s youngest Chief Scout, aged 37. Whether it is crossing oceans in an open boat, scaling Mount Everest or flying a powered paraglider to 29,000ft in the Himalayas, or hosting Man v/s Wild on Discovery Channel, Bear knows a thing or two about adventure.