11th Bromley Scout Group - Brombara
Photographs of the visit to Campdowne 2000
Photographs and reports of the Uganda 2000 Projects in Mbarara

11th Bromley Scout Group celebrated 60 years of Scouting in 1999; since 1994 they have maintained a correspondence link with Scouts at St. Lawrence's school, Nyamitanga, Mbarara, Uganda. During 1997 two leaders visited Mbarara to prepare for- a Group visit in 1999. Scouts & Guides work and play alongside each other in Uganda and it was seen to be appropriate to include the Guides from our parish in Bromley.

Their Aim

To further develop the link between Bromley & Mbarara by giving support & encouragement to their Youth Development Project.

Objectives

1. Scouts based at Nyamitanga, Mbarara, to obtain permission from the Bishop to develop about five acres of diocesan land; lay plans for live fencing, water & pit latrines & to begin gardening projects.

2. Scouts & Guides from St. Joseph's Parish Bromley to visit Mbarara August 1999 to stay with and camp with Ugandan Scouts & Guides.

3. During the visit, both groups to work together on the project, at whatever stage it has reached.

4. Bromley to raise funds to help finance fencing water & latrines.

5. Mbarara should set aside 25% of profits from their current small projects for Youth Development.

6. Mbarara to develop a five to ten year plan and submit their land application to the Bishop by the end of December 1997.

7. To give the project a family feel a programme of training ideas with a special woggle or badge will be offered to all members of the Scout & Guide movement in the parish.

8. Consideration will be given to inviting a patrol of Ugandans to UK to attend CampDowne 2000.

Project Update
The land application was successful with the help of the Bishop and is now available to the Scouts locally. It is used regularly for District camping and development is starting.

Expedition 1999
Read about the expedition to Mbarara, Uganda in Agandi 6, the Bromley publication to support the project. Note you will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat to view the document. This can be obtained from Adobe free of charge.

Brombara woggle:
The woggle has been developed with a view to really involving every Beaver Scout, Brownie, Cub Scout, Guide and Scout so that they can really claim ownership of the project. All sections are now progressing very well with the Brombara Woggle - a red woggle with gold print logo- I hope that everyone will gain one and be proud to wear it (although the Beavers and Cubs were mistakenly given theirs before completing all the requirements). We will bring the remaining woggles to Uganda - we should have enough to give each Scout & Guide either a woggle or a badge in Mbarara District; their numbers seem to be growing by the day. The final achievement will be the awarding of the International Friendship Award for all members of the 11th Bromley Scout Group.

News of the plans to bring the Scouts from Mbarara to the UK in August 2000 is in Agandi 7

Return visit to Campdowne 2000

Scouts from Mbarara visited Campdowne 2000 during August and immediately made friends with everyone on the camp. Two blind Scouts from St Helen's Primary School were included in the visit and all 8 boys were under 15 years old. The two Leaders, Julius and Pascal also came from Mbarara. 11th Bromley Scouts and Veronica Moloney helped by numerous generous donations raised the money to bring the Patrol to the UK. For all of them it was the first time they had ever been near an aeroplane and for all the boys the first time they had been to their capital city Kampala. The Chief Scout George Purdy and the Mayor of Bromley were amongst the VIPs who came to meet them but the most welcome visitors were Scouts from 4 continents of the world who just came along to the Saturn Sub Camp to meet new friends.

During CampDowne they visited Chessington World of Adventure, Gilwell Park and the Seaside. They turned their skills quickly to the activities on the camp and Bosco, a great footballer, became a natural sailor when he tried wind surfing and his had at the tiller. Julius and Judas, the blind Scouts tried most things but found fun with archery firing at baloons.

After the Camp the Scouts enjoyed a few days in Home Hospitality including a visit to London. They had asked to see the line at "The Green Witch" which turned out to be the meridian line at Greenwich. They achieved that, a ride on the Thames, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, The Uganda High Commission and Buckingham Palace. A kind Policeman showed the Scouts that in the UK most Policemen do not carry guns, a surprise even for Ugandan Scouts. The blind Scouts were allowed to feel at his handcuffs, helmet and other things that most people hope never to see. Surprisingly that Policeman turned out to have been educated in Kampala and used to go swimming with Idi Armin. The world really is getting smaller!