The scouts in Colombo celebrated one hundred years of service (1914-2014) from the 1st to 7th August 2014 in Madampe, Sri Lanka, hosting a range of outdoor and indoor activities like musical and talent shows, campfires, cultural programs, water activities, exhibitions, and educational forums. The jamboree was attended by over 2500 local scouts from various districts in Sri Lanka and over 300 international scouts from over eleven countries including Australia, Hong Kong, Nepal, France and the United Kingdom.

UNFPA together with the Y-PEER Sri Lanka seized the opportunity to be part of this jamboree by organizing a series of training sessions to educate young people about issues faced during their adolescent years. The focus of the training was largely on educating young people about their sexual health, the physical and mental changes that accompany adolescence, dealing with issues like peer pressure, and the rights of young people.

Each session was attended by a diverse mix of young girls and boys between the ages of 12 to 24 years, representing various national and international scouting groups including girl guides and cub scouts.

Here’s what some of the young participants had to say:

“It was the most fun I had all week! Mostly because I made some new friends and learned a lot” – Sashika from Mahamaya girl guides association

“I really admire the way the trainers got us to think about the topics and their group exercises really helped makes the session more interesting” Kavinda from Royal College Scouts.

“I really enjoyed the training. I liked the methods used by the trainers to talk about issues that young people face. This was definitely my best session so far” – Helga from Slovenia

Feedback from other participants also revealed that the sessions helped them better understand sensitive topics about their sexual health and allowed them to change their attitudes towards the issues.

It wasn’t only the participants who enjoyed themselves; even the trainers had an immensely enriching experience.

“Working with scouts and girl guides in the Jamboree was interesting because every single one of them was open minded and created positive discussion and showed responsibility in knowing about their body and rights. However, it was also challenging because there were scouts from different age groups and diverse back grounds coming to sessions together so we had to plan our programme in a way which would cater to this diversity” – Dakshitha, National focal point of Y-PEER Sri Lanka

He also added that “For some of the participants, it was the first experience mingling with the opposite sex, so we did our best to make it as positive as possible and create group dynamics in the sessions. All in all it was a great success and a meaningful step towards reaching out to adolescents and partnership building”.

View the full article on our blog: http://bit.ly/1q2c6VS

UNFPA and Y-PEER join the fun at the Centenary Scout Jamboree Celebrations!

Date: 17/08/2014

The scouts in Colombo celebrated one hundred years of service (1914-2014) from the 1st to 7th August 2014 in Madampe, Sri Lanka, hosting a range of outdoor and indoor activities like musical and talent shows, campfires, cultural programs, water activities, exhibitions, and educational forums. The jamboree was attended by over 2500 local scouts from various districts in Sri Lanka and over 300 international scouts from over eleven countries including Australia, Hong Kong, Nepal, France and the United Kingdom.

UNFPA together with the Y-PEER Sri Lanka seized the opportunity to be part of this jamboree by organizing a series of training sessions to educate young people about issues faced during their adolescent years. The focus of the training was largely on educating young people about their sexual health, the physical and mental changes that accompany adolescence, dealing with issues like peer pressure, and the rights of young people.

Each session was attended by a diverse mix of young girls and boys between the ages of 12 to 24 years, representing various national and international scouting groups including girl guides and cub scouts.

Here’s what some of the young participants had to say:

“It was the most fun I had all week! Mostly because I made some new friends and learned a lot” – Sashika from Mahamaya girl guides association

“I really admire the way the trainers got us to think about the topics and their group exercises really helped makes the session more interesting” Kavinda from Royal College Scouts.

“I really enjoyed the training. I liked the methods used by the trainers to talk about issues that young people face. This was definitely my best session so far” – Helga from Slovenia

Feedback from other participants also revealed that the sessions helped them better understand sensitive topics about their sexual health and allowed them to change their attitudes towards the issues.

It wasn’t only the participants who enjoyed themselves; even the trainers had an immensely enriching experience.

“Working with scouts and girl guides in the Jamboree was interesting because every single one of them was open minded and created positive discussion and showed responsibility in knowing about their body and rights. However, it was also challenging because there were scouts from different age groups and diverse back grounds coming to sessions together so we had to plan our programme in a way which would cater to this diversity” – Dakshitha, National focal point of Y-PEER Sri Lanka

He also added that “For some of the participants, it was the first experience mingling with the opposite sex, so we did our best to make it as positive as possible and create group dynamics in the sessions. All in all it was a great success and a meaningful step towards reaching out to adolescents and partnership building”.

View the full article on our blog: http://bit.ly/1q2c6VS