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The official
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Desafío Baden-Powell
by Marlisse Leslie
8th Belize St. Joseph Scout Unit
It all
started on a regular Thursday morning February 21, 2008 when I got
up and continued to pack my bags. My mom and other family members
gave me full support with everything I needed to do and get. I
stayed at home, unlike my other Scout buddies who went to school as
I decided that I needed the rest and I needed to be fully prepared.
The morning went by quickly and in the afternoon it was time for me
to get ready. We were to be at the Novelo’s Bus Terminal at 2:30
p.m. so that we could leave on the 3:00 p.m. express bus. When I
arrived at the terminal I met some other Scouts who I would really
have to get to know and get used to. I met Fernando Oliva who was a
member of the 9th Belize St. Ignatius Venture Scout Unit, Corey
Constantino and Nolberto who were members of the 1st Belize Holy
Redeemer Scout Unit and last but definitely not least Zharina and
Aisha who were members of the 18th Belize Burrell Boom Scout Unit.
I got to meet them and quickly it was as if I knew them for years.
We all left the bus terminal and arrived in Benque at 5:00 p.m. On
arriving at the terminal in Benque our Leader told us that we would
get a taxi from the terminal to the border where the Customs would
be. So we all quickly got our large number of bags from the back of
the bus and got in two old taxis and then set off for the border.
On arriving at the border we met two other Scouts - Mark and Alexter
- who were Scouts from Benque. They too joined us on our journey to
Guatemala.
We went through both sides of the Customs and were quickly in
Melchor. We had to wait two hours until our bus came. We then
boarded the Del Funte bus. It was a nice, cold, air-conditioned bus
with television and a bathroom at the back. I sat beside Dianne
Sosa who is a member of my Scout Unit and together we laughed, ate,
slept, cried and cuddled. We left the bus terminal at 8:00 p.m. and
arrived in Guatemala City at 6:00 a.m. the following morning. I was
excited and very anxious to see the city. My friends and I were
very cold since it was early morning and we had to wait outside for
the Scout bus to come for us. We waited for almost two hours until
we saw a pick-up truck come and the driver came out and took all our
bags to the Scout Headquarters and then he returned for us. On our
drive to Headquarters I got to see the city in the morning, how the
people were all in a rush and how the city is laid out and how the
students dress neatly in their uniforms to go to school. I was very
impressed but on the other hand I did not like all the air pollution
produced, with the majority of the vehicles being diesel.
It took us half an hour to reach Headquarters after which we met
some really nice people who volunteered to drive us around. Our
Leader Mr. Garcia made sure that breakfast was our first stop so we
went to a restaurant called “Pollo Campero.” We all sat around a
large table and ordered our breakfast. Majority ate a regular
Guatemalan dish, which were beans, tortilla, butter, eggs and
salsa. It was very delicious and I enjoyed it. After eating
breakfast we went into the city where we saw malls and other
beautiful places. We all went into the mall as a group to shop
after which we went for lunch at McDonalds and then headed back to
Scout Headquarters.
When we arrived there Dianne’s Nan was there to take us females to
her house to get ready and prepare for our campfire. It was a very
successful campfire and we all looked very neat and sharp in our
uniforms. Before the campfire ended the organizers of the event
asked all of us to get our bags and board the buses. We all moved
quickly, grabbed our bags and headed for the bus. Belize was on a
bus with a Troop from Guatemala and together we made a whole heap of
noise. We left the campfire at 9:00 p.m. and arrived at the camping
grounds at 11:30 p.m. Upon arriving the Leaders told us to sign up
for the following day’s challenge and after signing up the
organizers escorted us to our official camping grounds.
We were surprised at how far it was from the main grounds and also
the long distance it was from the bathroom. We got over it and
quickly started to pitch our tents. Before even properly pitching
one tent the Leader told us that at our campsite we had to make
three gadgets: a fence, a gate that opens and close, and a table on
which to eat. Our Belize Leaders told us to try and get some rest
for the following day’s activities and to make the gadgets the
following day so we took their orders and pitched our tents.
Pitching the tents was a disaster; from my Scout Unit one of the
tents had a huge whole on the side and the other tent poles were too
short. I was angry and really ashamed to say that I was from
Belize. But my Scout buddy and I decided to use only one of the
tents so we quickly pitched it. By the time we were finished the
two girls from the Burrell Boom Scout Unit didn’t even pitch theirs
and it was so easy to do so my partner along with the boys from Holy
Redeemer quickly tried to help them. After helping the girls from
Boom the boys from Holy Redeemer had a problem with one of their
tents because it didn’t come with any poles. I was really, really
annoyed with what all had taken place but as Scouts we all had fun
with our challenges and quickly by 1:00 a.m. we were all fast
asleep.
Our Section Leader woke us up at 5:00 a.m. to start off our day’s
drills after which we had two hours remaining - one hour to build
our gadgets and another hour to get breakfast. The time quickly
flew and by 8:30 a.m. we all assembled at the main hall to hear
about our day’s challenge. The Leaders would call your Troop to go
up front to receive two raw eggs and tell you to take care of it and
then send you to the back to get your lunch after which the
challenge would begin. The 25-stage challenge was fun. It
consisted of us as Scouts basically knowing all our techniques,
skills, rules, knots and ties, etc. We left the camping grounds at
9:00 a.m. and returned at 8:00 p.m. We were tired, hungry, dirty,
wet and proud when we arrived back for we had completed all the 25
challenges. They were all memorable for we climbed trees, made two
different types of fires, boiled the eggs, swam in strong current
water, figured out the Morse Code, did different knots and ties, and
many, many more fun activities that made us all really proud to be
Scouts; but not just any kind of Scouts - “Scouts of Belize.”
Our Leaders were really happy when
they saw us and when I showed them our passport. After every
challenge there was a Leader who would give us points for our
performance. We did excellent and didn’t believe that it was
possible. After eating as a group, together we left for our camping
grounds. On arriving there we decided to take a quick rest after
which we would get up and take a shower. That was a bad idea for we
went fast asleep into a deep sleep. Dianne woke me up at 1:00 a.m.
and we were both shocked for we didn’t realize that we had
overslept. Dianne and I went to the bathroom, which was about 150
yards away from our camping grounds, and since it was late we only
wiped up with wipes and went quickly back to our tents for we were
in the mountains and Guatemala was really cold in the nights. We
went back to sleep.
At 5:00 a.m. the Leader’s whistle blew. In our tents we were not
disturbed for the entire Belize area was fast asleep. The Leader
didn’t penalize us for he knew what we had to do on Sunday. We got
up at 7:00 a.m. and together we went to take our showers. After
taking our baths, we went back to the grounds and started to pack up
and strike our tents. While taking them down the Leaders from
Belize came to visit us. They told us to continue and after
finishing we would go do our commercial. I was very excited and
pleased for it was not too much of an overwhelming task. We all did
a great job in the production of the commercial and the task was
done very quickly. After completing our tasks we went for breakfast
and then we had a closing ceremony. I raised the Belize flag and I
was proud of myself to do such a task.
When the closing ceremony ended we went to take a bath after which
we went for our bags from the grounds, received our lunch and
boarded the bus to take us back to the Scout Headquarters. We left
the camping grounds at 2:30 p.m. and arrived at Headquarters at 6:30
p.m. During the bus ride we traded some of our badges and pins with
some of the Guatemalan Scouts. It was fun and also an excellent
learning adventure. We were very exhausted but also filled with
hidden energy. After unloading the bus we went out to shop and
eat. Later that night we went to the bus terminal and two of the
Venture Scouts and two of the male Leaders went back to Headquarters
for our bags. We waited at the terminal and then boarded the bus at
10:30 p.m. and left Guatemala City at 11:00 p.m. We all sat beside
someone with whom we could cuddle; it looked funny but we were all
really cold. We arrived in Benque at 10:00 a.m. and then quickly
caught a bus to Belize City. It was a regular bus so we arrived in
Belize City at 12:00 noon. We were happy and excited to tell our
parents, Leaders, friends and all others about our Guatemala
experience. I was happy to be home and told everyone about my fun
adventure. This trip made me feel like a Scout, see different
cultures, and made me want to never stop Scouting.
Scouting is fun and it helps to build a
person to become someone in life.
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