From: Tuinder@fys.ruu.nl (Olaf Tuinder). Subject: Scouting in The Netherlands (Holland). Date: November 17th, 1993. SCOUTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. Scouting in Holland started in 1910. That year the first Scout troops were formed in a few cities. In the next decades (with a pause during World War II) three Scouting organisations were established for boys and two for girls. Since 1973 all five are united in one organisation called: 'Scouting Nederland'. Scouting Nederland has the objective: 'to promote the Scoutingprogramme in The Netherlands, based on the ideas of Lord Baden-Powell, in order to offer to boys and girls pleasant leisure activities, through which a contribution is made to the development of their personality' (free translation from the 'Scouting Vademecum 1992/1993'). The total membership figure (all ages) of 1992 is, according to the annual report: 114.845; i.e. 85.266 juniors and 29.579 adults (not all adults are leaders, so please don't interpret the figure as a 3:1 rate!). Scouting Nederland is a member of both WOSM and WAGGGS. The structure of Scouting Nederland (as an organisation) is: Landelijk Bestuur (the National Board). Gewestelijk niveau (Regional-level). Districts niveau (District-level). Groepen (Troop-level). Speltakken (Units). Almost all troops and units in The Netherlands are mixed boys and girls (see below). All troops have a *name*, not just a number; even when there are several troops in the same city. Scouting in Holland is devided into seven sections: _Section_ _Age_ Bevers (Beavers) 5-7. Welpen (Cub Scouts) 7-10. \ The age-group 7-10 Esta's 7-10. - } is often referred to as Kabouters (Brownies) 7-10. / the acronym: 'W.E.K.' Scouts 10-15. Explorers 14-17. Jongerentak (Rover Scouts) 17-23. The age limits of the sections are official, but sometimes they can be adjusted in individual cases. BEVERS (Beavers), Age: 5-7. The Bevers play in a fantasy world: The World of Tall Do-All ('Lange Doener' in Dutch). Tall Do-All is one of the main characters in the Bever-programme, and he lives in a house called 'Hotsjietonia' on the rim of a village. Now and then Tall Do-All invites some friends to come around and play a part in the meeting. These friends have typical fields of interest: e.g. 'Pompedomp' (nature and music), 'Hippe Springveer' (games and sport), 'Frederik Scheuremaar' (creativity), etc. These characters are, like Tall Do-All, played by the leaders. The Bevers are encouraged to play and explore the world around them. Bevers are mixed boys and girls and they have a red sweater as uniform. A Bever-unit consists of max. 16 Bevers. WELPEN (Cub Scouts), Age: 7-10. (Single: 'Welp', plural: 'Welpen') The Welpen-programme is based on the Junglebook-stories from Rudyard Kipling. Because all of you have read these stories at least once, I have nothing to add here. Although the majority of Cub-Packs consists of boys only, we have mixed Packs too. The uniform of the Welpen is a green blouse. A Pack ('Horde' in Dutch) consists of max. 24 Welpen. ESTA'S (No translation possible), Age: 7-10. (Single: "Esta", plural: "Esta's") The Esta's play in a fantasy world: 'The Land of Esta'. It is based on the book 'The Child With The Tall Hat' ("'t Kind Met De Hoge Hoed" in Dutch), which was especially written for Scouting by Simone Schell in 1991. The Idea behind the story is that you change your clothes to ....... (e.g. pirate, princess, cook, wolf, wizard, or *anything* else) and then play that role. This programme is considered most suitable for mixed units. A lot of mixed Cub-Packs and Brownie-units have changed to the Esta-theme since the introduction in 1991. The uniform of the Esta's is a green blouse. An Esta-unit ('Estar' in Dutch) consists of max. 24 Esta's. KABOUTERS (Brownies), Age: 7-10. The Kabouters play in a fantasy world: 'Bambilie'. Bambilie is a country with some villages and a number of vaguely described area's, which leave space for your own imagination. In each village lives a different community ('Volkje' in Dutch) with its own characteristics. Most of the Kabouter-units consist of girls only but, like some of the Welpen-Hordes mentioned above, there are mixed ones. The uniform of the Kabouters is a green blouse. A Kabouter-unit ('Kring' in Dutch) consists of max. 24 Kabouters. SCOUTS, Age: 10-15. Scouts is the overall-name for members of the age 10-15. They are devided into 'Verkenners' (was Boy Scouts, but used for both boys and girls now), 'Padvindsters' (Girl Scouts) and 'Gidsen' (Guides). The Scout-programme has no specific central theme (unlike the younger age-groups), but often the activities are integrated in some theme or project in order to increase the value and to put it in a context. More emphasis is laid on techniques, skills and knowledge than at the younger ages. We have Scout-units that are boys only, Scout-units that are girls only and mixed Scout-units (and, of course, mixed patrols just as well). This often depends on the troop's history and/or parental preference (alas, in some areas of Holland the latter is the main reason to keep seperate boys and girls troops). The uniform of the Scouts is a khaki blouse and a unit consists of 16 up to 28 Scouts. EXPLORERS, Age: 14-17. Explorers is the name for the age-group 14-17. A boy in an Explorer-unit is called 'Rowan' and a girl is called 'Sherpa'. The Explorers are considered to be able to plan and carry out the activities and projects on their own. They are supported by one or two adults. Most Explorer-units are mixed boys and girls. The uniform of the Explorers is a brique (red) blouse and most units consist of 6-16 Explorers. JONGERENTAK (Rover Scouts), Age: 17-23. The age-group 17-23 is called 'Jongerentak', which can be translated to 'Youth-branch'. A member of the Jongerentak is called a Pivo (plural: Pivo's), and that's short for '_PI_onier' and '_VO_ortrekker', which were the old names for the boys and girls in the age-group 17-23 before the union of the five Scouting organisations in 1973. A group of Pivo's is called a 'Stam'. They are, for their activities and projects, completely on their own. There is no continuous 'adult'-leader support or supervision (since all members of 18+ are adults themselves), but if needed, they can ask advice from a 'Stam-Adviseur' (i.e. someone with a lot of (Scouting related) experience). Pivo's are mixed boys and girls. The basic uniform of the Pivo's is a brique (red) blouse, like the Explorers. A lot of the Pivo-units ('Stammen') develop their own logo and silk-print it on a sweater, and use it as uniform. In Holland we have a number of special interest units for Pivo's, which have members spread over the country: _Name_ _Speciality_ R.I.S. (Radio Interesse Stam): Radio amateurs. Explo-Stam: Outdoor Activities. Hillary-Stam: Hikes/trekking L.L.Z.S. (Landelijke Loodsen Zeezeil Stam): Sailing on the Sea. Brandweer-Stam 'Fire-Brigade'. Motor-Stam Motor-bicycles. M.E.S (Medische en EHBO Stam) First-Aid. OTHER 'TYPES' OF SCOUTING: The description of the Scouting sections above is based on troops that have their activities on 'land'. Holland also has many Sea-Scout troops near rivers and lakes, a few Air- Scout troops and a few Scouting Music-bands. PHYSICALY OR MENTALY DISABLED SCOUTS. Disabled Scouts (I mean: members of Scouting, not only the age-group 10-15) join, where possible, 'normal' troops and play with the non-disabled Scouts. If such an integration is not possible they can join a 'BE/BV'-troop, in which more knowledge and skills are available in dealing with the Scouts' special needs. Of course, there is much more to say about Scouting in Holland, but for now I think I've typed enough to give you a rough impression. More information on Scouting in the Netherlands can always be obtained through your International Commissioners or International Departments of the National Bureaus. If you have any questions on the text above, please feel free to ask (mail) me. Yours in Scouting, Olaf N.E. Tuinder. Yggdrasil-Stam, Scouting Die Wiltgraeff, Wageningen, Holland. ========================================================== Snail Mail: Olaf N.E. Tuinder, Tarthorst 649, 6708 HX Wageningen, Holland. E-Mail: Tuinder@fys.ruu.nl ==========================================================