viernes, noviembre 02, 2007

Short history about Chilean Scouting

Today, Scout Movement is the largest group of young people in Chile. There are 70.000 scouts in the country.

The Chilean Scout Association is 98 years old. It is the oldest in America and the second oldest in the World.

It was founded by doctor Alcibiades Vicencio, who knew Robert Baden-Powell when the British soldier visited Santiago, capital of Chile, in 1909, invited by Pedro Montt, president of the Republic.

The founder of the World Scout Movement said a speech at Instituto Nacional, the oldest high school of Chile, that inspired to Vicencio and some teenagers to set up Scouting in this country.



Rovers' Hymn

Their brigade was the second scout group in the world. Its name was Brigada Central and the first Scout Camp was in May 21th 1909.

The first girl guides appeared in 1913 in Rancagua, a southern of Chile. The first scout meeting was this year too, in the main park of Santiago: The Cousiño Park.

Since fifties to seventies, many scouts associations appeared and the Chilean Scouting was divided in different groups. Because of that, the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) suspended Chile in 1969.


Guide and Scout Association of Chile's Hymn

In 1974, different scout factions sign an agreement and they become in one movement: Asociación de Scouts de Chile (Scout Association of Chile). While, different girl guides factions becomes in one movement too: Asociación de Guías de Chile (Guide Association of Chile). Four years later, in 1978, Asociación de Scouts de Chile and Asociación de Guías de Chile make one big association: the Asociación de Guías y Scouts de Chile (Guide and Scout Association of Chile). This is the only one scout institution recognized by WOSM.

Facts

Area: 756.626 sq km + 1.250.000 sq km in the Antarctic Continent.

Population: 16,284,741.

Geographic coordinates: 30 00 S, 71 00 W

Capital: Santiago.

GDP per capita: $12,600.

Language: spanish

Nationality: chilean (s), noun. Chilean, adj.

Sources:

Asociación de Guías y Scouts de Chile
Organización Scout Interamericana
Agrupación de Boyscouts de Chile
Grupo San José
Grupo Luis Morales Cortés
Las dos vidas del héroe (Libro en formato PDF)
Hymn: Manual Scout
Audio: Odeo.com
Facts: The World Factbook, CIA

Comments and corrections at info@scoutchile.tk