Cub Scouts help poor students through paper drive<\/p>\n
By Stevie Emilia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As well as help from adults, children can also
\nreach out to show their solidarity with the poor.<\/p>\n
That's exactly what local Cub Scouts members, comprising first
\nto fifth grade boys from Jakarta International School (JIS), did
\nrecently. They held a paper collection drive to raise money to
\nhelp poor students around Jakarta stay in schools.<\/p>\n
Early on a Saturday morning, dozens of boys wearing colorful
\nCub Scout shirts showed up at the school's Pondok Indah
\nelementary campus, with plastic bags full of old newspapers and
\nmagazines. Some smaller children carried the bags and weighed the
\npaper with the help of their parents.<\/p>\n
In the paper drive, the Cub Scouts collected old paper in
\ntheir neighborhood to sell as scrap.<\/p>\n
Although they are still very young, these children understand
\nthe message behind their activities.<\/p>\n
\"It's to help poor students... to help them not to quit
\nschools,\" first grader Haru Zenda said shyly. He gave two
\nkilograms of old newspapers that he collected from his house.<\/p>\n
His mother, Yoshiko, watched her son from a distance. \"It's
\ngreat for him to join this activity. It teaches him lots of
\nthings: good teamwork, discipline and helping other people,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Scout movement was started in England in 1907 by Robert
\nBaden-Powell, an officer in the British army, and has spread to
\nmore than 100 countries around the world.<\/p>\n
According the leader of the local Cub Scouts here, Thomas
\nPeter Bulling, the Cubs -- the name for younger Scouts -- were
\nset up in the U.S. in the 1930s.<\/p>\n
At JIS, the parent-teacher association started the local Cub
\nScouts club about 10 years ago. The annual fee to join the club
\nis around Rp 500,000.<\/p>\n
The club, which a current membership of 97 boys, has five
\nlevels. After completing the fifth level, the children can then
\nbecome members of Scouting-USA.<\/p>\n
The Cub Scouts is a club exclusively for boys, but JIS also
\nhas the Girl Scouts.<\/p>\n
Bulling said the intention for setting up the Cub Scouts was
\nto instill in children some basic good traits, such as respect
\nfor others and pride in themselves, while also teaching them to
\nserve the community in which they live.<\/p>\n
The participation of parents is crucial as the Cub Scouts is
\nregarded as a family organization, and parents tend to be very
\nactive.<\/p>\n
\"With the Cub Scouts, children have fun with a purpose. It's
\nmore than just going out. It teaches them values ... It also
\nteaches them that it's OK to be competitive in a healthy way,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Cub Master Bob Gramzinski, who is in charge of the paper
\ndrive, said that all the money raised from the activity, which is
\nheld twice a year, goes to charity. \"But the kids also help to
\ndecide (where the money should go) ... although there's guidance
\nfrom parents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lars Nydahl Jorgensen, whose 10-years-old son belongs to the
\nWebelos Cub Scouts and his eight-year-old daughter is a member of
\nthe Brownies, the young Girl Scouts, explained that children
\ncould spend a lot of time with children from other countries and
\nlearn about their cultures.<\/p>\n
\"In the group that I am involved with, we have 12 boys from
\nseven different countries,\" Jorgensen said.<\/p>\n
He said parents also get a lot out of Scouting activities.<\/p>\n
\"We can spend time together with the kids around some fun
\nactivities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Apart from the paper drive, the Cub Scouts also organizes
\ncamping trips, where parents and their children sleep in tents
\nand do outdoor activities together. It also holds a Raingutter
\nRegatta, where the boys build small boats of 25 centimeters long,
\nwhich they race in five-meter-long water filled drains.<\/p>\n
During the paper drive, the Cub Scouts boys showed how serious
\nthey were by donating a great amount of paper. Nicholas Alexander
\ndonated the most, 53 kilograms of old newspapers and 152 kilos of
\nold magazines.<\/p>\n
All old paper was then sold for Rp 600 per kilogram, while the
\nold magazines went for Rp 200 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
The money would be handed to the Canadian Women's Association
\n(CWA), which would then distribute the donation to poor students.<\/p>\n
CWA has run a school scholarship program, entitled Caring for
\nthe Children of the Nation, in cooperation with the Satya
\nMurakabi foundation, since 1995 to allow children from poor
\nfamilies to remain in school.<\/p>\n
In the last school year, for instance, the CWA members, and
\nothers helping the program, provided school fees for 93 children
\nattending school throughout the greater Jakarta area.<\/p>\n
In its scheme, each sponsor is encouraged to make a commitment
\nfor at least one year, for a scholarship worth Rp 420,000 a year,
\nor Rp 35,000 a month, to ensure that once a student is enrolled
\nin the scholarship program, the funds continue until the
\nstudent's education is completed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cub-scouts-help-poor-students-through-paper-drive-1447893297",
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