Oldřichov v Hájích/ Mid-term meeting

I was with other EVS volunteers in small viliage Oldřichov v Hájích in Ekocentrum(http://www.severnicechy.info/dr-cs/turisticke-chaty-a-ubytovny/jizerske-hory/ekocentrum-oldrichov-v-hajich-slunecni-dum.html), and it was our last tranining the Czech Republic. It was great. We had a possibility to make alone different workshops, what we did. We made workshops with clay, cooking, games,...And there were, how to say, regural workshops about mini-projects, Youthpass, about czech history, culture,... It was a wonderful week.

Izvidjači-Skauti

I´m living in Prague for four months now, and I had an opportunity to see some important differences between Serbian and Czech scouts. In my opinion, the biggest difference is the sheer number of members in scout association. There are approximately 45000 Czech scouts comparing to 4000 members in Serbia. The second also important difference is in scout program. For example, here, the program for cub scouts follows the story "Jungle book", while in Serbia, program doesn´t have any symbolic framework. Our program for all sections(cub´s, scouts and rovers)is more related to the orientation in the space and time, with elements of skills and agility, connected to some scout craftwork(nodes, raincoat, shelter and etc.). For the Czech couts(age 11-15), there are four handbooks, each per one year. There is an issue with some mythical creature, and issue without one. In this way, a scout is allowed to choose which version he/she wants to follow. Iwas amazed to learn this. In Serbia, no such handbooks exist.
And I must say, while Czech scout association has a big support from the city and companies, scouts in Serbia are not that fotunate. We have support only if there is some big and important event, for example a Jamboree and we lack any kind of support when organizing smaller events, like scout group events. To be honest, that is a matter of government laws and PR management, but we can still learn a thing or two from our Czech friends.
Anyway, regardless of the differences in program and organization, what remains the same is that we are all members of the same scouting family, we live by the same principles and we seek to accomplish the same goal, a better world!