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BUILDING A NATIONAL SCOUT ORGANIZATION
COOPERATION
IS THE NAME OF THE GAME
by Oksana Zakydalsky
The
Scouting movement returned to Ukraine in 1989-90 by two different routes.
The first one led to western Ukraine, where the traditional Ukrainian
Scouting organization PLAST was revived in its traditional homeland, with
the assistance of Plast units in the Ukrainian diaspora. The second route
led to eastern and southern Ukraine, where Scouting was aided by European
Scouting organizations and the World Scout Bureau. There, regional Scout
groups were founded such as the Skif Scout Brotherhood (Dnipropetrovske),
Berkut (Kryvyi Rih), and the Scout Federation of Crimea. Today, as a
result of these developments, the Scouting movement in Ukraine is
fragmented, a situation which is hindering the acceptance of Ukraine into
WOSM.
Visit of WOSM Secretary-General
On a
recent visit to Ukraine, Dr.J.Moreillon, Secretary-General of WOSM, spoke
out in favor of having one Scouting organization in Ukraine, rather than a
federation of various Scout groups, stating: "In our opinion, and in the
opinion of the Ukrainian Government, the temptation of creating a
federation should be avoided. In a country such as Ukraine, which is in
great need of national unity, a federation would definitely not reinforce
such unity."
A "Declaration of Intent
Of
all the Scouting organizations in Ukraine, Plast is the best established,
and — with over 3,000 members — is the most numerous, and the most widely
based. Plast is the only nationally registered Scout organization in
Ukraine and has the best resources and developed programs. Therefore,
Plast has now taken the initiative in uniting Ukraine's Scouting
movements. At the beginning of 1995, Plast organized a "round table"
discussion in Dnipropetrovske, where several Scouting organizations signed
a "declaration of intent" to cooperate.
Seminar at
Dnipropetrovske
The second step was a seminar, held on
April 28-30, 1995 in Dnipropetrovske, to acquaint Scouts from eastern
Ukraine with Plast and to discuss some joint projects. About 28 members,
representing groups from Dnipropetrovske, Zaporizzhia, Kryvyi Rih and
Donetske took part in this event.
One of the projects discussed
was a leadership training camp, to be held July 16-29,1995, on the
historic River Orel, near Dnipropetrovske, for both Plastuny and Scouts
from eastern and southern Ukraine. The aim of this camp was to set up a
joint effort for the development of Scouting in the eastern and southern
regions. Plastuny from the diaspora are aiding in this effort.
INTER-SCOUT COOPERATION CAMP IN
DNIPROPETROVSKE
In July, 1995, The Ukrainian SKIF Scout
Organization in the city of Dnipropetrovske, in Central Ukraine, together
with the Plast Scout Organization, hosted an inter-organizational scouting
camp, for representatives of various scouting organizations which have
sprung up in Ukraine.
The camp was held partially in preparation
for the joint participation in the World Scout Jamboree in the
Netherlands, and partially as a "joint venture" by the various Ukrainian
Scouting organizations to prepare for an eventual merging of these
organizations.
The camp was led by Mr. Hohulynskyi of the
Skif-scouts, and by scoutmaster Oksana Zakydalsky, from Toronto, Canada
and was partially financed by the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.
By
the end of 1995, with the various joint projects and activities between
Plast and the other Scouting groups in Ukraine, the consolidation of
Scouting movements in Ukraine was well on its way.
THE
GROWTH OF UKRAINIAN SCOUTING, 1996
The attached map
depicts the various Scout groups across Ukraine in
mid-1996.
LATE UPDATE!
September 23,
1996
Lubomyr Onyshkevych, editor of Ukrainian Scouting
reports:
"Scouting in Ukraine is rapidly moving towards
unification. Many groups, such as scouts of Dnipropetrowsk (Skif), Perekop
(in Crimea), "Chysta Krynytsia", "Sich", etc have now formally or
informally joined the Plast organization. A conference on unification just
ended in Gurzuf, Crimea - with very positive results. A charter-convention
of the "United Ukrainian Scouting" is scheduled for November. Plast has
also formally concluded agreements with a number of neighbouring
countries, notably Hungary. Things are generally looking good."
SKOB!
Lubomyr
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