SAC Scouts Newsletter

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83

January & February 2014

The 11th February of each year happens to

be the European Day dedicated to the Emer-gency Telephone Number. Celebrated annu-ally since 2009, the main idea behind having a specific day dedicated to the Emergency Tele-phone Number is to generate more public awareness about the use of telephone number ‘112’. In all EU Member States, dialing ‘112’ will put you through to the Emergency Services. This means that, wherever you are in Europe, you do not need to memorise different telephone numbers to use in an emergency. Unfortu-nately, recent surveys have indicated that only one in four Europeans are aware that ‘112’ is the common emergency telephone number throughout all the European Union. In Malta too, one can make use of telephone number ‘112’ in the case of an emergency. Calls in Malta are usu-ally received by the Police and re-directed to the other emergency services (such as Ambulance Personnel or Civil Protection Department) if necessary. Operators manning the emergency telephone number in Malta han-dle thousands of telephone calls on a daily basis! It is important that one makes use of the emergency telephone number only in the case of a sudden real threat to safety and when urgent assistance from the emergency services is required. Making use of telephone num-ber ‘112’ for non-emergency situations is irresponsible because this would be blocking a real life threatening call from getting through. Furthermore, it must be pointed out that making prank calls and hoax calls to the emer-gency telephone number may be punishable by a fine. When calling the Emergency Telephone Number, it is important to let the operator know the nature of your tele-

phone call. If you are calling the emergency services be-cause someone has fallen ill and you need urgent medical help, tell the operator straight away that you need an Am-bulance. The operator will, then, divert your call to the re-spective personnel allowing you to explain your problem to the right person straight away. Although this sounds easier than it actually it, it is vital that you remain calm when you’re trying to explain yourself on the telephone. It is recommended that you give your details and contact telephone number so that the operator can call you back if the call gets disconnected. Whenever this is possible, you must seek the help of an adult. Whenever you are calling the emergency services, it is im-portant to make it as easy as possible for them to find you.

sac scouts newsletter

From the Courtyard

feature of the month

112 : THE EMERGENCY NUMBER

What’s on

Mar 25-3o— Easter Camp (Group)

Issue 83


2

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


Hence, you must assume that the personnel rushing to help you do not know your neighbourhood and surroundings. If you are in a house or building, it is recommended that you give the correct address, the floor you are in (especially if you are in a very large building such as a shopping complex) and advise of well-know landmarks (such as churches, schools, football clubs or shops) in the exact vicinity of where you are. You will also need to give a brief overview of what happened in order to allow the operator to dispatch all the help that is needed. If anyone is injured, explain how many victims there are and describe the nature of their injuries. If a crime has been committed, try to give a good description of any suspects you have noticed (such as clothing and the type of transport they are using) so that Police rushing to the scene keep a look-out for any suspects you describe. If you noticed that the suspects were carrying any weapons, it is important that you place yourself out of harms way and let the operator know about it. Finally, after you have given all the information that you think is important, stay on the line for as long as the opera-tor asks you to since there may be other details that are required from you. Remember that you should not end the telephone call before the operator confirms that no other information is required from you. In an emergency situation every second counts .. by knowing what information you would be expected to give when making a telephone call to the emergency services, and using the Emergency Telephone Number responsibly, you WILL be making a difference!

Timmy Zammit Asst. Rover Crew Co-ordinator

Fe

atu

re

o

f th

e M

onth

112 : THE EMERGENCY NUMBER

3

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83

January & February 2014 G

SL’s

n

ote

One year It’s been one year already since Cubbie passed away. We miss him a lot and I admit things are not the same anymore in certain aspects. Our Group has organised a mass during Wednesday 5th February’s meeting to pray for his soul. Annual Subscription We have issued this year’s Annual Subscription form requesting member information updates and contri-butions. As you will appreciate our Group needs funds to keep the HQ in order and to run the place ona weekly basis. Besides, we have a lot of maintenance to carry out on equipment and other items used during camps. Part of the contribution is forwarded to our National Association for its day to day running expenses and other requirements. We thank you in advance for you understanding. Malta Marathon As in previous years we have been asked to assist during the Malta Marathon that will be held on Febru-ary 23. Scouts, Ventures and Rovers are asked too join in and help on the day. Time 07:30 to around 12:30. More details will be provided in coming weeks. Annual Parade The annual parade is on April 6th (so far). Please ensure that members have full and correct uniform by then. Uniforms are to be bought from Go Camping in Pieta. Scarves and Group tags are to be purchased from our HQ (currently scarves are out of stock) Easter Camp Easter camp will be held between April 12-19 at Ghajn Tuffieha camping centre. It will be a joint camp with Sliema Scouts. We encourage all members to attend and start preparing themselves from now. I’m sure it will be a new and exciting experience. Projects for this year We have a number of ideas to improve our HQ. We would like to fix the courtyard’s floor and also the HQ’s façade. We are presently asking for quotes to get an idea of the costs involved. Any parents who have ideas on how they can help besides the usual monetary support are most welcome to come and put forward their ideas. Group Programme The Group’s programme for the year has been prepared. Some dates are tentative as they depend on a

number of variables. As always circulars are issued on each event so kindly watch out for emails or forms

we may forward to you on a periodical basis. You will find each section’s calendar in the following pages.

GSL’s note

4

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83

January & February 2014 Fro

m th

e P

ack

ARTICLE TITLE

PACK ACTIVITIES LIST 2014

Month Expected date Activity Location

Febuary 16th Pack Hike TBD

March 23rd Knights Towers Tour TBD

April 17th-19th Eastercamp Ghajn Tuffieha Campsite

17th Campfire Ghajn Tuffieha Campsite

May 11th Met Office Visit MIA

TBD Parade Valletta

June Mdina Treasure Hunt Mdina

August 6th Water Games SAC HQ

August 29th Night Hike + Sand Castle Competition Golden Bay

September TBD Summercamp TBD

October 29th Cubs Halloween Party SAC HQ

November 9th Trekking Hike Buskett

December 17th Christmas party SAC HQ

Here’s the calendar of events for the Cub Pack.. It surely looks like a lot of fun!

5

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e T

ro

op

Updates from the troop section

Recently we had a large intake of scouts, made up of new members and Cubs who have finished their link

badge to join the Troop. We warmly welcome all of the scouts and we hope that your scouting journey in

the Troop will be a fun and valuable one at the same time. Moreover, two scouts have moved up to the

Venture section; Gilmour and Daniel Farrugia, we hope they will cherish their memories and we wish

them good luck in their future.

Change is sometimes difficult, but important. Recently, there were changes in patrols, with regards to

members and some patrol leaders. All leaders believe in every member equally and we hope you will give

your absolute best in order to succeed as a whole patrol. A patrol leaders training course will be held

sometime in March so as to guide all leaders in taking care of their members.

This year's Easter Camp will be held from the 12th to the 19th April. The two major differences are that

the group will hold a joint camp with Sliema Scout Group and that it will be held in Ghajn Tuffieha camp-

site, and not Verdala like previous years. All sections will join forces, and talks have already started to

come up with a fun and informative camp programme. We believe that such camp will be a good learning

experience, where scouts will make new friends inside the scouting community.

TROOP NEWS

TROOP ACTIVITIES LIST 2014

Month Expected date Activity Location

January 25th Knowledge day - badge work SAC HQ

February 9th Rafting Mistra Bay

23rd Malta Marathon Ta' Qali

March 8th Hot dog hill TBD

28-30 PLTC SAC HQ

April 12th-19th Eastercamp Ghajn Tuffieha Campsite

17th Campfire Ghajn Tuffieha Campsite

May TBD Scoutcraft day TBD

TBD Parade Valletta

June TBD Exam period - nothing N/A

July 4th Operation Dlam Cappa TBD

19th Troop maintenance day SAC HQ

August 9th Operation aftersun Golden Bay

September TBD Summercamp TBD

October TBD Treasure hunt - The three cities Isla, Bormla and Birgu

31st Bulwark Gozo

November 1st-2nd Bulwark Gozo

December 17th Christmas party SAC HQ

TBD Bridge building / climbing TBD

6

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e T

ro

op

Max Evers from the Hound patrol reports from Mistra Bay with interesting details of what is now an obligatory tradition on the Troop’s calendar.

Sunday 9th February 2014 the Saint Alo-ysius College scout group met at Mistra Bay for a day out rafting. At around ten o’clock the troop met at the Bay. The leaders had all the equipment in a truck and the scouts present unloaded the equipment. The scouts were divided into various patrols made up of a patrol leader, assistant patrol leader and mem-bers. The number of members varied from one patrol to another. Each patrol

had the same amount of equipment. The equipment distributed to each patrol consisted of thirty ropes, four barrels, two pallets, a supply of staves, wooden planks and four ready made oars. Each member had to be in his swimming trunks and T-shirt during this competition. Once the equipment was all unloaded and shared equally amongst the patrols - Wolves, Hounds, Bulls and Tigers and Buffs. The go ahead was given to the patrols to start building the raft that they had designed in previous scout meetings. My pa-trol is the Hound patrol and we build a big H shaped raft that consisted of forty two ropes, four same size barrels, two pallets and six planks of wood. Since we were a large petrol with seven member we had to organise ourselves properly. The elder members, patrol leader and assistant patrol leader showed the younger members how to do square lashings and diagonal lashings. The procedure went like this. The four barrels were placed on the ground. The wood was placed on top of the barrels and tied securely with the ropes given. The two pallets were placed on top of the wooden planks and tied securely to the planks. All the patrol mem-bers sat equally spaced on the two wooden pallets for buoyance. When the raft started to take shape we had a little mishap and one of the ropes that was tied to a barrel got loose. We therefore had to redo this knot and secure the wood to the barrel. At around twelve o’clock we had our packed lunch break. After the break we prepared to haul the raft into the sea. We all took our position and we carried the raft into the water. Then we all hopped on to the raft and took our position to start the race. The elder members, patrol leader and assistant petrol leader were the ones to row while the other members kept the raft steady. In the first race we had to row for approxi-mately seventy meters and turn round a yellow buoy and turn back to the starting place. The first patrol that arrived won with ten points. The second patrol had eight points, the third had six points and the fourth had four points. At the beginning of the race we were in the

OPERATION SAN PAWL

7

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e T

ro

op

lead but half way through the race the Buff patrol overtook us and later on the Tiger patrol also over took us. So we arrived third and the Wolf patrol came after us. In the second race we once again had a good start and we were in the lead. However, since we were exhausted from the previous race and the current had become stronger we lost that position and we ended up last. We lost a lot of time because we were not synchronised when we rowed and it took us a longer time to reach the finishing line. When we finally made it we dismantled the raft and changed to a dry pair of clothes. To conclude rafting was an enjoyable experi-ence shared with my friends at SAC scout group and I am looking forward to do it again next time.

Max Evers

OPERATION SAN PAWL

8

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e U

nit

VSL Andre gives an insight as to what troubles the Venture Unit at this time of the year..

Exams VS Scouting

Exams are undoubtedly one of the worst nightmares for a leader in scouting. Sadly, section lead-

ers from all over the world cringe when they realise it’s that time of the year again..

However in the Venture Unit this takes a whole new level of sadness, since venture age, (15 to

18) is also O-Level, Sixth Form and A– Level time!

Understanding that these are the most important academic years for our young lads, and their

efforts now will decide their future, as leaders (big brothers, mentors, etc) of the Venture Unit,

Zarby and I totally accept that regular attendance during these pressing times is impossible.

Nonetheless we strongly believe in the ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ slogan and

are hopeful that our Ventures will manage their time properly to fit in the few hours a week for

our meetings and activities. Here’s what we hope to do this year:

Help the homeless Ventures

Following the disastrous tragedy suf-

fered at summer camp, the Venture

Unit has found itself without a home

for our future camps. We have there-

fore planned on buying ourselves a

brand new heavy duty tent using the

funds raised throughout various ac-

tivities. You can help us achieve this

goal.

DOUGHNUTS AND MORE..

UNIT ACTIVITIES LIST 2014

Month Expected date Lecture Outdoor activity

February Saturday8th Mapping Bus hike

March first aid Night hike

April pioneering Easter camp (2 days)

May fire cooking Cook out / abseiling (?)

June scoutcraft J.A.Mizzi Cup / Shooting (?)

July social topic Kayaking, relax camp

August Mapping Camping in Sicily

September first aid Summer Camp - Sleep on raft

October pioneering Bike hike

November fire cooking Bulwark

December scoutcraft xmas party, xmas camp

9

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e U

nit

DOUGHNUTS ARE GOOD FOR YOU!

A scientific study conducted by our ventures has proven that doughnuts should be consumed at least once

every two weeks. This regular consumption satisfies anyone’s most innermost cravings and makes one

smile. The study also revealed that not only will YOU benefit from the deliciousness of our chocolate or

jam doughnuts thanks to the all natural and healthy ingredients (flour and sugar both come from vegeta-

bles), but the Ventures will benefit too! So next time you see us in the courtyard ask us for a doughnut,

we’ll give you a smile, and you’ll give us a roof on our heads at camp..

This is what our tent looked like (without the big screen)

VENTURE APPEAL

10

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e U

nit

HELP US TURN THIS...

INTO THIS!

VENTURE APPEAL

11

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


m th

e C

re

w

Rovers are the reliable workforce our group can rely on for any hard work needed. However that doesn’t mean they don't know how to have fun.. Andrew Agius tells us about all the activities the Crew managed to pack into one weekend! The Rover Crew is composed of the eldest members of the group. They’re the ones with the old-est stories to tell, the most hilarious capers to recount, the strongest conviction that old is gold and that these new whippersnappers who call themselves scouts are a mere shadow of the glori-ous, unconquerable image of their old Patrol Leader. The Praetorian old Guard we are. Except that we’re not that old. Half the Rover Crew is still at University and photo comparison shows that scouting in our time looked pretty much the same as scouting today. Our best claim to antiq-uity is that some of us remember the excitement of a disposable Kodak film camera with it’s bright yellow cardboard exterior. And the silent grudging admiration of anybody who turned up with a proper, plastic encased shiny silver / black automatic wind up, that clanked and clicked like Thomas the Tank Engine with every button you pressed, necessitating a group of 5 of the eldest and wisest troop members solemnly gathered round the owner, offering their sage advice, whilst he’s performing the delicate 15 minute operation of exchanging the film cartridge. Due to our advanced age, we had several rather important appointments (University examina-tions) to keep in January, all the way through the first week of February. Our first meeting for 2014 took place on the 5th of February and in true scoutly fashion, we lost no time in getting stuck in it. That very weekend, over the space of three days, from Saturday to Monday, the Rover Crew:

Rented a truck

Helped the family empty Cubbie’s (may God rest his soul) residence

Partially sorted out the immense amount of books that the group inherited from Cubbie. A full truckload of books that’s taking up half the Cub Room and the entire Rover Room.

Loaded the same truck, after having emptied it of books, with the equipment for the Troop’s rafting activity the next day.

Went on a short (but thoroughly enjoyable) one night camp. Not too bad for a single weekend, after one meeting of planning! Just goes to show that some-times, the longer you discuss, the less you get done. We were, very generously, allowed to camp on land belonging to Gabriel Rizzo and his uncle. Their little slice of paradise is at the limits of Rabat, somewhere be-tween Bahrija and Kuncizzjoni. The views were spectacular, the feeling of isolation as good as it can get on this little island of ours and the soil… oh my God! The joy of being able to push a peg in with your bare

ONE NIGHT CAMP

12

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


hands is understandable only to those who have expended their blood, sweat and bits of finger trying to peg a ridge tent at the Ghajn Tuffieha campsite under a blazing summer sun. Pitching the tent took a little figuring out, as most of us had never set up our baby white ele-phant, but experience with stubborn tents and significant assistance from Gabriel’s memory, prevailed and the tent was pitched in a respect-able amount of time.

Next on the agenda… EXPLORE! We were perched literally upon a sea of green as the valley extended below us, and down the sides of the valley wall we went, under canopies of green, through waist high vegetation. The maze of rubble walls had many in-triguing features built into them by generations of farmers. A sizeable resevoir with a frog basking on the floating moss. A rock hewn water trough next to what looked like an empty niche, occupied only by a bucket. Barely visible steps built into walls, arches, water canals… all constructed in the style of rubble walls and one could tell that these are no recent additions to the landscape. Add a backdrop of the Victoria Lines and the just visible Fort Bingemma, with the distant hum of cars, and the feeling was of standing in a forgotten place.

There were caves, hewn in the rock, partly natural and partly man made and full of mud. In we went, with our phones as torches as it was bright daylight and not knowing we were going caving, none of us had carried our torches! It was one of the funniest and muddiest experiences of my life and al-though it sounds like a reckless expedition, care was taken so that no animals were harmed in the process. More frogs were discovered. And a plastic plant pot. Back to the campsite, clean boots, relax a bit and start a fire. We had charcoal to cook on and wood for a bonfire to keep us warm as we sit outside the tent at night reminiscing. Un-fortunately, the charcoal was slightly dysfunctional and that created logistical problems, as by the time the coals sput-tered and died, no food had been cooked and the more pyro-maniac members of our crew had burnt through the wood we had for a bonfire as though it were nothing more than a box of matches. Luckily, there was firewood for ten scout

Fro

m th

e C

re

w

ONE NIGHT CAMP

13

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


groups lying around and with a slightly more or-ganised approach, we enjoyed a hearty camp dinner and a nice warm fire. Tired of crouching with smoke in our eyes, and with a full, con-tented belly, we set off on a night hike. The moon shone brightly and we navigated the val-ley without torches for the most part. Down one side and up the other we went, got as far as the gates to Fort Bingemma. Unable to enter the fort, we skirted it and hiked the perimiter be-neath it until further passage wasn’t feasible.

Returning to the campsite, we made ourselves a nice warm chocolate fondue and turned in for the night. Morning came, and was almost over by the time we roused ourselves. It was 0400 when we turned in, so don’t judge us too harshly! Come 1100 we were cleaning up the campsite, cooking brunch and getting ready to strike camp. Tea was had, sausages and bacon were crisped and summarily disappeared. The baby white elephant was taken down (a mighty warm and stable elephant she be) and pains were taken to fit her back in the provided tent cover. I have yet to come across a modern, large tent, that can fit back into its cover once it’s been taken out the first time. George had to endure some painful experiences before it was adequately compressed. Gabriel’s uncle had arrived with guests. They must have had a field day watching us try to fit that behemoth into a cover no larger than your average microwave. Returning home was almost like returning after a holiday. A trip to be repeated, and a further layer of anecdotes added to the endless ball of stories we recount!

Fro

m th

e C

re

w

ONE NIGHT CAMP

14

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


Our Scout Group has been helping in the Malta Marathon ever since it started back in 1994. Although it’s not the highlight of our activity calendar, this service to the community provides much opportunity for those famous funny stories which go down in the history books… Rover George Zammit Montebello ex-plains why.

All my life I dreamt of becoming a traffic island! Sunday, that one day a week where sleeping in is socially acceptable, so much so that even my morning person of a mother doesn’t dare try waking anyone up before 10 am. That is until your alarm clock goes off at 6am and in the midst of the confusion and sleepy eyed delirium your mind presents you with a flashback of the G (Edward Cassola) reminding all of the Vodafone Marathon two wednesdays prior. In a flurry of clothes dressing and brother waking, not to mention the missed calls from the other rovers one promised a lift to who have a better memory than myself we were in the car and on the way to ta’ Qali. The longest single action was waiting for the kettle to boil… a rover is nothing without his coffee. Upon arrival at the meeting point, it was nice (in a sadistic sort of way) to see my scouting breth-ren as bleary eyed and spiteful of the morning sunlight as myself. That is apart from the one or two morning scouts ( a mythical creature seldom seen). Within minutes of arrival, we were handed our flag, and after a brief map consultation on our way to our stations. Upon arrival at our checkpoint we were greated by our companion for the morning, a hired secu-

rity woman, who was sur-prisingly ok with being sta-tioned at a junction outside the deserted crafts village on a sunday morning. Then I noticed she had finished her thermos mug of coffee. It was here that the fun began, and by fun I mean the shar-ing of battle stories from last marathon until the runners finally arrived. Our job was simple enough, direct the runners in the right direction, make sure they didn't take the shortcut through the craft village

(Cheaters rear their ugly heads in every crevasse of sport) and inform disgruntled drivers of any road closures we know of as well as remind them that there are runners on the road. In sum-mary we were a volunteer traffic island. Soon enough we were presented with the first of the runners, our route was only taken by the full marathon runners, and even then we were presented with the odd characters among the

Fro

m th

e C

re

w

MALTA MARATHON

15

From the

Courtyard

Issue 83


bunch of determined faces. It is here that I would like to pay homage to my favourites, The “Jeans & Shirt Geriatric”, the Scandinavian Templar (Nationality speculation), and the “Man with an exposed rubber lady chest and posterior.” Less honourable mention goes out to the angry ital-ian (who didn’t speak a lick of English), who seemed to be blaming us for something. We later found out he took a wrong turn as he was actually doing the half marathon. As soon as they all came (I lie it wasn’t soon at all), the runners were passed us, and we began to await for instructions on when we can leave in search of warm coffee. As the time ticked by, we saw another group of runners. we assumed they were the ones who shamefully fell behind in the first leg of the race, but the faces were familiar… someone failed to mention that the runners were to pass us twice. This time we got to see our favourites once again and cheer them on with slightly more enthusiasm, especially what had now become “Jeans minus shirt Geriatric.” Though they were eventually all past us again, including the tail end runner who was so far be-hind that we spent the rest of the day and ensuing evening wondering if she ever made it to the end. I wish I could say that the marathon is an activity I enjoy doing, but I see it more as a service (or a penance, depends on your point of view). In itself it’s a good thing to help out in the commu-nity… it also got me thinking of aiming to actually taking part in next years marathon… a notion I’ll likely have forgotten (buried) by the time you finish reading this! George Zammit Montebello Rover Resident Morning Person

Fro

m th

e C

re

w

MALTA MARATHON

Documents

SAC Scouts Newsletter