Brownsea 2009
Network members help clear rhodedendrons on Brownsea as part of a 'Get Stuck In' Project during Mid Cornwall District's visit over Easter.
Coast 2 Coast 2009
DSNL for Pendynas Sam Biggs walking the Coast 2 Coast with his Scouts
Cornwall Scout Network members were heavily involved in the recent Coast 2 Coast event run by Mid Cornwall District.
Some helped out with the running of the event, from catering to site management and from admin to photography Network helped support the event at many different levels!
Some members also got involved with walking the event, congratulations to all of those who took part, hope to see you involved again next year!
Tunisia Explorer Belt Expedition
Mid Cornwall Network members Shaun Wakeham, Claire Parkyn and Paul Johnson recently returned home after successfully completing the expedition section of our Explorer Belt Awards.
The three local Networkers had to hike, complete with rucksacks weighing in excess of 15kg through Tunisia, tackling everything from ferocious winds, blazing temperatures and nearly running out of water. On top of this, they had to try and find Hoho (home hospitality) when they reached their destination every evening, through approaching locals, trying to cross the language barrier and hope that they would be kindly offered somewhere to sleep for the night and something to eat.
To complete the Explorer Belt award, the team had to cover 160km (100 miles) by foot, whilst carrying all of their kit in their rucksacks within a 10 day period. They had to complete a major project of study, and also had to complete 10 surprise minor projects which were presented to them as they departed on day 1.
These challenges varied, from milking a goat and buying local spices, to learning a traditional Tunisian song or dance and visiting a place of worship. No aspect of the expedition was made any easier by the fact that English was barely spoken at all, and French was secondary to Arabic, although the three members did manage to make themselves understood using the little French that they knew, and even learnt some Arabic phrases along the way.
Hard road walking coupled with the heat resulted in some painful injuries, including a large number of blisters, but the generosity of the Tunisian people that the team encountered helped make the experience very memorable.
Although they had planned out there own route, the team had no idea as to where they would stay each night as they arrived at their destination towns and villages, with no pre-arranged accommodation or contacts their success at finding Hoho improved as the trip continued, although if everything failed they had a tent as backup. Through the amazing kindness of the Tunisian people, the team slept in a number of places, including a restaurant car park, family homes, scout huts, a scout camp, and a centre for the handicapped and even school classrooms.
Many of the Tunisian people took much time out of their day to help us on our expedition. Many families cooked the team meals (a variety of couscous dishes, ranging from goat, lamb to tuna, fruits of the sea and even camel!) and gave up their own beds so that they had somewhere to stay for the night. The team also managed to inadvertently meet up with many different Scout groups from the area, visiting their Scout huts and joining in with the local scouting activities including an impromptu campfire.
Despite only having a route plan, the Networkers visited an amazing number of places that the average tourist visiting Tunisia will never get to see. The two men were taken to experience a service in a mosque, whilst the whole team were shown the workings of an ancient pottery and were given a guided tour of a working oasis including sampling some fresh ‘legmi’ palm tree juice taken straight from a tree.
Although 100 miles overall, just an average of 10 miles a day sounds a fairly easy distance, after 5 days of intense walking, knowing you still have to walk for another 5 days, carrying a 15kg rucksack on your back, walking on blistered feet in 25 degree heat to a destination you don’t know and needing to find a stranger who is willing to give you food and accommodation is what makes the Explorer Belt one of the toughest challenges available in Scouting.
All 3 members had an amazing time, and have made many links with Scouts in the area, and have also received multiple invites from the people they met to return to the area in the future.
The team now just need to complete a presentation relating to their major project for their assessment team before being awarded their Explorer Belts – a special belt to wear with their uniforms.
Scout Network aims to provide fun and adventurous activities for 18-25 year olds, if anybody is interested in finding out more about Network, they can visit www.midcornwallnetwork.org.uk, where they can also view a large selection of pictures from the Tunisia trip.