BOY SCOUT CAMPING Preparing for the real world

Be prepared.

That discipline has always been instilled in every boy scout all over the world. And for 50 elementary students on Saipan, they learned more than this when they held camp at Obyan beach over the weekend.

For Allan Simitara, 11 years old, of Garapan Elementary School, the camp was meant learning survival skills that are not taught in a regular classroom. Tying knot, pitching tent, making fire, first aid — these are basic skills necessary to live in a world stripped of any convenience.

“I’ve learned a lot,” said Allan, who, at his young age, has been a veteran of half a dozen camping activities conducted by the local Boy Scout chapter.

Of course, what is camping without the fun and the chance to develop friendship and camaraderie with boys from other classes or schools.

While the inclement weather did not deter these scouts to participate in the three-night camping, they said it added a touch of high adventure as heavy rains provided an eerie atmosphere.

“We told each other a lot of scary stories,” said John Igisaiar, a 10-year-old pupil also from GES, relating their experience on the first night last Friday.

The weather fortunately improved the next day when these scouts took part in several activities planned by program coordinator Bill Hunter, camp director Lino Olopai and Alfonso Suares, the CNMI Boy Scout coordinator.

Gus Flores, scout master, taught the kids how to pitch tent which involves not just the ability to link one bolt with another, but also teamwork.

Last weekend’s camping was a sort of a trip down memory lane for Hunter who was once a boy scout himself. He said the programs and outdoor activities they have now are not different from those he learned during his grade school.

For one, the scouts are usually taught the values of discipline and of teamwork from the highly physical activities that come to mark every camping they participate in.

According to Hunter, these are the same values that people must possess if they want to survive the real world. “A lot of the skills, like communication abilities, are the same skills that you can apply when you go out and work,” he said.

Hunter, who works in a hotel, said the things he learned from his own experience with the Boy Scout are still helping him everyday. “If a boy scout could live with those things, he can stand in his own two feet,” he added.

More than anything else, the camping affords different opportunities for boy scouts to engage in activities that have been pushed outside their realm for the past several years because of the proliferation of television, video games, computer and other modern tomfoolery.

“Today’s youth has evolved because of this technology, these outdoor activities are getting rare,” said Hunter.

Being competitive, albeit friendly, is also a mark of every boy scout, according to Saures. “We put them in a lot of competition so the kids can learn from this experience,” he said.

The local Boy Scout chapter is expected to hold regular camps during the summer and fall, and even high adventures like going to the Northern Islands — to instill these values.

As Edwin Diaz put it: “You learn from the masters to have discipline, respect for other people, manners, confidence and a sense of responsibility.” Not tough for a 11-year-old grade schooler like Diaz.