Friday 24 / March / 2023
Muscat: The fourth camp of the Oman girl rovers and guides concluded in Dhofar Governorate with the participation of 500 girls from various governorates of the Sultanate.
The camp lasted for a week, organised by the General Directorate of Scouts and Girl Guides at the Ministry of Education.
Asmaa Al Omari, a participant of the camp, said: “The camp has greatly honed our personalities. We have learned to rely on ourselves to meet our needs and do things such as washing and cooking outdoors. We have learned to deal with primitive tools after being so used to technology and luxury.”
The camp is an educational and training programme, which seeks to consolidate the values of citizenship, cooperation and volunteerism among the participants.
“Voluntary tasks raise a girl’s loyalty to the homeland and the challenges and competitions develop physical fitness, in addition to science class and workshops that develop the creative skills of the participants,” Amina Al Shabibi, the general commander of the camp, said.
During the camp, the participants had the opportunity to communicate with other camps outside the Sultanate to exchange experiences and introduce the Sultanate guides to the world.
“The camp has seen a great interaction from participants and they follow the tasks carefully, as well as collaborate over entrepreneurship projects and then return to society and implement different social services,”added Shabibi.
Within the camp, the girls spent a full day in tents, which was a new experience for them. “Camping is an essential part of the lives of scouts and guides. It’s true that some girls were surprised to sleep one night in a camp, but then adapted to the situation,” Shabibi added.
“I slept in a tent for the first time and the experience was great, but we had difficulties dealing with the insects because they were more widespread after Mekunu, but the team’s collaboration with each other and enthusiasm in implementing the projects and social initiatives were fun and useful,” Al Omari said. She explained: “The programme included a number of daily workshops which cover different fields such as handcraft talent, life, and personal skills, in addition to recreational competitions and a sports day and a Samar night where we present our talents.”
“Through our camp sessions, we learned how to make a number of household items such as chairs, shelves, ropes, and sticks,” she said.
“The participants will continue to implement the projects even at the end of the camp, including the blood donation project, which will continue until 2019, and then start the project of planting trees, in addition to the leadership and management skills they acquired from the camp,” the general commander of the camp said.
Al Shabibi added: “We like that these camps are now held in the winter and summer seasons and not just during the summer, and soon the Sultanate will host a general camp for the Arab countries’ rovers.”
