Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Russia’s new pioneers (True Scouting is welcomed back in Russia)
mnweekly.ru ^ | August 10, 2009 | Andy Potts

Posted on 08/27/2009 9:46:24 AM PDT by Nikas777

10/08/2009 | Moscow News №30 2009

Russia’s new pioneers: After a century which began with the enthusiastic support of the tsar only to run into Soviet disapproval, Russia's scouts have needed to "be prepared" for more than most

Andy Potts

Driven out of the USSR by apparatchiks determined to sweep youngsters into their own Pioneer camps, Russian scouting existed in exile for decades.

But having seen the movement reach its 100th anniversary this year, Chief Scoutmaster Slava Chernykh, co-founder of the Russian Union of Scouts (RUS), has his eyes firmly on the future.

In an incense-fragranced office, decorated with "original Bee Gees guitars" and certificates confirming his status as a trained safari ranger - perhaps Russia's only one - Chernykh replies without hesitation.

"What's next? 200 years - I hope that my children and grandchildren will be able to see it."

Scouting in Russia, which is strictly apolitical, remains something of an oddity. As Chernykh admits, re-establishing a tradition which was lost in Soviet times is a challenge.

"It's still hard to overcome the stereotype of us as another version of the Pioneers," he said, referring to the Communist youth groups of old. "During Perestroika some officials had a ‘great idea' to join the Pioneers to the international scouting movement and some Scouters came over from Britain and America. They were horrified when they saw what the government was trying to do.

"We are apolitical - in the RUS it's not allowed to be connected to a political organisation."

Sometimes this causes funding problems - local authorities can make grants conditional on uniformed scouts turning up at official demonstrations or rallies, something which the movement won't accept.

But as the first generation of post-Soviet scouts reaches adulthood, there are more people able and willing to "do their best" to support the movement. Former scouts retain close links and are a major source of both funding and practical voluntary support.

Russian scouts follow the traditions laid down by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of scouting, and Oleg Pantukhov, who established the first Russian brigade in 1909.

"It's easy to repeat what other kids' camps do, but the scout spirit is unbelievable and inexplicable," said Chernykh. "You need to feel it to understand - it's only in the camp or among Scouts. The Scout Method is more than just providing education in a natural environment - it's about a specific relationship between the kids and the adults at the camps.

"It's also an important measure of the level of democracy and flexibility in our society. For years it was much easier to find support and funding outside of Russia - our own businessmen were only interested in cheap PR and fake philanthropy.

"Now we are starting to see some people who are giving real personal support for the right reasons, not just for publicity."

Amid all this serious stuff, Russia's own traditions - and distinctive sense of humour - don't go unobserved. Regular visits to an international jamboree in Denmark and other countries have seen visiting Russian scout troops decorate their flag pole with icons as diverse as a balalaika or a plastic AK-47 rifle.

"Our foreign brothers and sisters have come to expect a surprise from the Russian visitors - it's our way of letting them know ‘Russia is here!'," smiled Chernykh.

As well as trips abroad - giving many scouts their first taste of life out of Russia - the main RUS campsite at Vetluga, near Nizhny Novgorod, is fast becoming a top-class international facility welcoming visitors from around the world.

"We've built round the year accommodation blocks for 200 people in a real Russian ‘izba', as well as the campsite for a few thousand campers," said Chernykh. "It's a beautiful place and we've already had visitors not only from Europe and States but from Ghana, South Africa, Singapore and Mongolia."

Bethlehem Light

One of the highlights of the scouting year comes in December as Russia plays its part in the Bethlehem Light of Peace project.

Each Advent a flame is kindled at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and spread across Europe to symbolise the spread of love and peace among nations.

The ritual, which has come to Russia for more than a decade now, unites Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians, with services in recent years taking place at the Krutitsky Monastery near Proletarskaya metro station, the Catholic Cathedral on Malaya Gruzinskaya Ulitsa and St Andrew's Anglican Church on Voznesensky Pereulok.

"It's a great chance to share something bright with other people," said Scoutmaster Slava Chernykh.

"It's always a big thing - when we went to St. Andrew's church there were people from the British Embassy there, all the diplomatic cars parked outside."

"It's such an impressive service each Christmas - the churches are always full of people."

From Moscow, the flame is taken on to other Russian cities by further scout groups, bringing an annual message of seasonal hope in a prosaic-looking metal dispatch case to provincial towns as diverse as Vladimir, Kazan, Kostroma, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Obninsk, Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg, Saransk and Yaroslavl and communities beyond the Ural mountains.

Getting involved

The Russian Union of Scouts welcomes members of all backgrounds and faiths, placing an emphasis on "spirituality" rather than any specific religion.

"Most of our members are Orthodox, but we also have Muslims, Jews and Catholics," said Slava Chernykh.

For more information, see www.scoutmaster.ru

In addition the Boy Scouts of America runs troop 500 and cub scout troop 3950 in Moscow.

Scouting through history

1883 - Foundation of Russia's first "Sokol" gymnastic society, following the philosophy of central European forerunners to scouting.

1908 - A Russian translation of Baden-Powell's "Scouting for Boys" is published at the request of Tsar Nikolai II. He hoped to see the "poteshny" youth movement develop into a Russian scout troop.

1909 - Captain Oleg Pantukhov assembles the first Russian Beaver scout patrol in Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg. Their first meeting on April 30 is considered the birth of Russian scouting.

1910 - Baden-Powell visits St. Petersburg and meets the Tsar and Panktukhov's scouts.

1917 - The revolution splits the scouting movement, with many scouts volunteering in the White army fighting against the Communists.

1919 - The second Komsomol congress disbands the scouting movement. Russian scouting exists only in exile.

1989 - Under perestroika a scout revival initiative is formed in Dnepropetrovsk, seeking to restart the illegal movement.

1990 - The group organises an "All Soviet Union Congress meeting for those interested in Scouting", paving the way for the movement's official return to Russian soil.

1993 - Slava Chernykh and Igor Bogdanov establish the Russian Union of Scouts.

2009 - The total Scout movement has about 10,000 members across Russia.


TOPICS: Education; History; Outdoors; Religion
KEYWORDS: russia; scouting
God bless the Scouts. Now I understand why the left wants to destroy scouting in America by destroying its core values - for the same reasons the communists saw scouting as a threat in Russia when they took over.

If it is decent and wholesome and good linked to religion the red left hates it because it affirms the wonder-workings of faith.

Reading this article over lunch made my day.

1 posted on 08/27/2009 9:46:24 AM PDT by Nikas777
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: RolandOfGilead
Article of interest for you since you are the resident FR expert on Russia...
2 posted on 08/27/2009 9:51:52 AM PDT by 11th Commandment (Proud Member of the DHS radical list since Jan 20, 2009)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RolandOfGilead
Article of interest for you since you are the resident FR expert on Russia...
3 posted on 08/27/2009 9:51:52 AM PDT by 11th Commandment (Proud Member of the DHS radical list since Jan 20, 2009)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nikas777

Because alligence to anything other than the state can not be tolerated by the left.

Any religion, any organization, any belief system that does not make the humanism religion, fascist or communist economy and totalitarian state government as the head of all things is not to be trusted and must be abolished.


4 posted on 08/27/2009 9:53:33 AM PDT by taxcontrol
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: taxcontrol
Because alligence to anything other than the state can not be tolerated by the left.

Correct. To the left the State is God.

5 posted on 08/27/2009 9:55:44 AM PDT by Nikas777 (En touto nika, "In this, be victorious")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Nikas777

Meanwhile, Scouts in Amerika are abused, sued, harrassed, evicted, vilified, and booed by democrat conventions because they take an oath to god and country, and don’t want homos out camping with their little boys.


6 posted on 08/27/2009 10:00:50 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs earn the title of "man's best friend", Muslims hate dogs,,add that up.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nikas777

Good news.


7 posted on 08/27/2009 10:02:59 AM PDT by darkangel82 (I don't have a superiority complex, I'm just better than you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DesertRhino; taxcontrol
The left wants an injection of homos and atheists (sorry for the imagery) not to foster human rights but to serve as a force for degrading the scouting ethos which the red-left finds objectionable. The same thing with 'gay marriage' - it is designed to destroy an institution already under threat. in '1984' Orwell wrote about how the totalitarian State hates the family unit because like taxcontrol said the family like the church provides an alternative source of loyalty to a person outside the State so thus it is a threat to the State.

The Totalitarian State is a jealous god.

8 posted on 08/27/2009 10:05:45 AM PDT by Nikas777 (En touto nika, "In this, be victorious")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Nikas777
Most Scouting organizations in the world are associated with either the WOSM (World Organization of Scouting Movements) or WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts). The Boy Scouts of America is associated with WOSM, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America is associated with WAGGGS. Each country is permitted only one member in WOSM, so if there are multiple Scouting organizations in a given country (as some have), they must have a federation that in turn becomes the WOSM member. Russia's member is shown as Russian Association of Scouts and Navigators. Unforunately I don't read Russian and the English side of the site doesn't seem to work well, so I can't tell if these guys are associated with them or not.
9 posted on 08/27/2009 10:23:50 AM PDT by RonF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nikas777

I sent the article to all of my scouting friends. I’d love to hear more about the underground scouting movement surviving 90 years.


10 posted on 08/27/2009 10:31:44 AM PDT by cyclotic (Boy Scouts-Developing Leaders in a World of Followers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cyclotic

I did some reading up, and the Girl Scouts in the USA are now a leftist propaganda outfit. If anyone wants their daughter in scouting, there is a conservative alternative to the pro-abortion Girl Scouts: Heritage Girls. They are God-ocentric and I hear a lot of good things about them.


11 posted on 08/27/2009 11:22:04 AM PDT by I Buried My Guns
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: I Buried My Guns

By God-ocentric I mean faith-based, of course.


12 posted on 08/27/2009 11:22:49 AM PDT by I Buried My Guns
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: I Buried My Guns

Sorry, Girl scouts are too forgettable. My daughters quit early cause they were so bored. Even though they were in a homeschool troop, I was made to feel like an interloper when I, their father went to camp to pick them up. Apparently, men were explicitly not allowed.

American Heritage Girls is a wonderful organization that is blowing girl scouts out the door. In my area, the first AHG chapter was started about 4 years ago. I think there are 5-6 troops in a 10 mile radius now. Many of our friends are involved.


13 posted on 08/27/2009 11:30:23 AM PDT by cyclotic (Boy Scouts-Developing Leaders in a World of Followers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: cyclotic
I’d love to hear more about the underground scouting movement surviving 90 years.

By the sponsorship of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) which was the Czarist/White Russian church in exile.

14 posted on 08/27/2009 11:50:55 AM PDT by Nikas777 (En touto nika, "In this, be victorious")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: RonF

The Russian site does not really work either: there is a functioning menu, but no content. Judging by the fact that WOSM (Geneva is mentioned as part of the name) appears on the menu, they probably are associated with it.


15 posted on 08/27/2009 12:02:55 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: annalex

I went to the www.scoutmaster.ru link. After taking a look around I found a Q&A page that seems to imply that they are NOT part of the group that has the WOSM membership.


16 posted on 08/27/2009 1:37:53 PM PDT by RonF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: annalex

I found that if you go to the English site, put your mouse at the top of the page and then click-and-hold and drag it to the bottom, a whole lot of HTTP commands end up visible. Seems someone messed up some syntax somewhere.

BTW, I don’t mean to imply that because they are not members of the WOSM they are not legitmate. I’d like to see that worked out, though.


17 posted on 08/27/2009 1:39:40 PM PDT by RonF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson