Снимка: Rhodope Scout club
Summer camps for children are an unforgettable experience, no matter if we talk about the seaside or the mountain. They can be eco ones, language, sport, art camps etc. It is even funnier, when children from different countries take part in those.
The kids from the scout organization in the Rhodope village of Polkovnik Serafimovo welcomed French guests this summer. They enjoyed the time spent together, getting acquainted with the different lifestyle, culture, folklore, along with the ideas, implemented in the international scout movement – honesty, responsibility, consciousness and readiness for help and support. The French and Bulgarian scouts helped lonely and sick people from the village, cleaned eco routes in the mountain, the central part of the village and around the local church… They were entirely torn apart from civilization during their stay in a camp of tents in the mountain above the village. They cooked on fire, made their own wooden tables, created an improvised bath with barrels, as the sun warmed the water.
© Photo: Rhodope Scout club
“Scouts find any work pleasant, since their goal is to survive. The discipline resembles the one in the army. They had patrols that guarded the camp in the evenings. The days started with physical exercises and continued with games, trainings and work, finishing in front of the fire at dusk.” This is what Lieutenant Colonel Georgi Petkovski, a retired officer and founder of the Rhodope Scout club says. He is a former commanding officer of the 101st Alpine Battalion, has taken part in peace missions in Iraq and was pronounced Officer of the Year in 2005. 30 children and some 15 adults are members of the scout club that he runs. The smallest kids are called beavers and come from the local kindergarten, while the oldest members are over 50 years old.
© Photo: Rhodope Scout club
“We are united by our love for nature, the chance to be together, to exchange experience, to make friends,” Georgi Petkovski says. “The French scouts sent an official request to the central scout organization in Sofia for this training camp. The central offered us to host the event as a test, since we are the youngest scout club in the country. I think we did well. We worked and enjoyed together on July 6-15. Along with all the games, social activities and visits of local monuments and museums we managed to see two of Bulgaria’s most beautiful caves – the Yagodinska and Devil’s Throat ones.” © Photo: Rhodope Scout club
When the goal is a common one and we share the same principles, the language barrier is not a problem, nor any age or national differences. The evening of talents and the day of art were very interesting. “It turned out that the scouts could not only cook and work, but also danced, sang and improvised in different sketches. Some of the kids even cried, when they had to separate at the end. They exchanged souvenirs and gifts. Sustainable connections were established and next year we are invited to visit our French friends in the summer,” Lieutenant Colonel Georgi Petkovski said in conclusion.
English version: Zhivko Stanchev
По публикацията работи: Diana Hristakieva
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