Iraqi Scouting

I was able to meet and work with Iraqi children today for the first time and it was an outstanding experience. I joined an Iraqi Scouting group that meets every Saturday afternoon with anywhere from 30-80 local kids, ages 2-17. There are usually 20+ U.S. volunteers, some interpreters, and several of the Iraqi Army parents. In the long run, the group is trying to get the Iraqi parents to run their own program, so they can be certified by one of the big international Scouting organizations, get uniforms and sponsorship, etc. They have built a pretty awesome scouting compound: walled in, with activity tents, storage, playground equipment, sporting fields, etc. All of this, just so we can enrich their kids once a week.

Attendance was fairly light this Saturday...around 30 kids...since many of the Iraqi parents thought it was a little too cold (50s and breezy). We started with an opening ceremony in which the older boys raised their "scouting flag" and all the kids recited the Iraqi national pledge. We then broke them up into groups to do archery, soap carving, paper crafts, and field games. I coached the archery group and had a blast teaching kids how to shoot without the benefit of an interpreter. It must have worked, because two of my kids won the "tightest grouping" contest at the end! We closed the afternoon with a reverse of the opening ceremony, then all the kids climbed around one of the U.S. soldiers who was going home soon so he could get pictures.

It was a great afternoon and definitely on my future calendar for as many as I can attend. All of the Americans were "charged up" just from doing something different and being around kids again. The Iraqi "scouts" were a great bunch of kids, who obviously relished the hands on attention and getting to do something completely different and outside their normal experiences. Just doing our part to help the next generation grow up as well off as possible.