From the 11th to the 19th of December 2021 SCOUTS South Africa will be bringing together 1500 youth at their National Jamboree at the Emseni Camp in KZN. Boys and girls aged 12+ will hone their outdoor adventure skills, test their endurance and embrace the spirit of Ubuntu.
“The South African National Jamboree – SANJAMB – takes place every four years and brings together Scouts from around the country for nine days of outdoor adventure. We are proud to be hosting the event in KZN and look forward to making it one of the best national camps ever hosted”, says Sanjamb coordinator Gregory Southey with a smile.
“Events such as Sanjamb provide our Scouts with an incredible experience”, adds SCOUTS South Africa’s Chief Scout Brendon Hausberger. “Young people meet fellow Scouts from different walks of life, make new friends, learn skills and share ideas on how to work to create a better world. While the COVID lockdown has interrupted much of the Scouting programme this year, we are fortunate to have a great team that is working flat out to deliver the next Sanjamb. We want to ensure that all our members, from both affluent and disadvantaged communities get to share in this experience.
“Emseni Camp, situated in the foothills of the Drakensberg, provides us with the opportunity to create a safe yet physically challenging event, with a wide variety of adventurous activities on offer”, explains SCOUTS South Africa’s Chief Commissioner Gary Pienaar. “These will include obstacle courses, water activities, mountain biking, hiking, climbing and abseiling, to name a few. The Scouts will create a temporary Jamboree village on the site, camping and working together in small groups. Our programme is based on the concept of learning by doing, so Sanjamb promises to be an adventure of a lifetime for all participants” concludes Gary.
“Of course, an event of this size and complexity cannot run on the back of just a few willing souls that have put themselves forward. So we are calling upon current and former Scouting members to join us and be part of the team who will make sure that our Scouts get an incredible learning experience”, continues Chief Scout Brendon Hausberger. “There are many roles both big and small that Greg and the team need to fill.
If you were once a Scout and have fond memories of your Sanjamb, camps and hikes, we would value your expertise and support in giving our current members some of the same memories you acquired as a child. Get your hands dirty, meet new people, rekindle old friendships and see the determination and smiles on the faces of our youth as they overcome the adventurous tasks set before them.”
“As mentioned by Brendon, one of our main objectives for this Sanjamb is to be inclusive for all”, adds Gregory Southey. “We want to give children and youth from rural communities the opportunity to partake in the 2021 Sanjamb too. Children that live in disadvantaged areas are often excluded from big events due to funding constraints, or the transport needed to go beyond their physical borders and travel to new places.
We really want to provide that opportunity to as many girls and boys as we can. However to organise an event of this magnitude we have to charge participation fees. We understand that times are hard and that funds are in short supply, so we are starting now already with our fundraising endeavours in the hope to give rural children an adventure of a lifetime that will expand their horizons and motivate them to reach beyond their perceived limitations, and achieve their full potentials”, he concludes.
For more information on Sanjamb 2021 or Scouting in South Africa, contact gary.pienaar@scouts.org.za.
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