In Latvia, being a Ranger (same with Rovers) is much different to being in the UK - you have to be selected in order to make your promise. Until the time you are selected, you are a Ranger/Rover Candidate. Each year there are two Rover/Ranger camps, and these are the main opportunities to make those selections. The selection process is a very thoughtful one, with lots of personal conversations and deep discussions regarding the Scout/Guide laws and other areas. These discussions usually take place in the evenings around campfires, with other activities during the day (of the fun variety, of the thought-provoking variety, and sometimes mixing the two).
We were lucky enough to be invited along to one of their camps, and take part in their activities, and run our own sessions for them too. It was a fantastic weekend, action-packed, and as such, it's taken a while to work out the best way to blog about it without it turning into a 45 page essay. Finally - I drew out this map for you all so you can see what we did!
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| Map of the camp - click for full picture! |
For us, one of our highlights was definitely our diversity training. Coming from the UK, we have a highly diverse society, but here in Latvia, it's not discussed much at all. We split the group in two (alphas and betas), provided each "culture" with different rules, and then sent "scientists" from each culture to the other to see what they could discover. Amongst other rules, the alphas really liked personal contact, but the betas didn't, and covered their ears shouting "wakka, wakka" every time someone touched them, creating some very funny scenes for all involved! The Rangers, Rovers and Candidates all really got into this, and everyone (including the GOLD team) learnt a lot from the process.
Other highlights include: the food, learning new games to share with girls back in the UK, the mosquito in Net's ear (named Cliffords), learning more about the Rangers and Rovers, the beautiful forest, the fact that Sarah didn't fall over in the bog, watching Scouts get stuck in the swamp and digging shoes out, as well as attempting to swim through a very cold lake, the tick that came along as a joyrider back to Riga... amongst a lot of other fabulous moments.
A massive thank you to LSGCO for letting us stay on camp with them and get involved in their activities and for getting fully involved in our activities! It was good, it was good, it was very very good!
