Report of SWD - Mujahid

Report on the 8th Scouts of the World

Discovery Workshop

28th – 30th September 2012

Scouts of the World Base

The Singapore Scout Association

No.1 Bishan Street 12, Singapore

BY:

MUJAHID ABDULLA, Rover Scout

Arabiyya Scout Group

8th

SWD REPORT – 2012 | Mujahid Abdulla; ARC, ASG

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List of Abbreviations

AIM – Appreciative Inquiry Method

ARC – Arabiyya Rover Crew

ASG – Arabiyya Scout Group

INIA – Ibrahim Nasir International Airport

MSG – Male Scout Group

NCLI – National Community Leadership Institute

SW – Scouts of the World

SWA – Scouts of the World Award

SWD – Scouts of the World Discovery

SWV – Scouts of the World Voluntary

TSAM – The Scout Association of Maldives

UNMDG – United Nations Millennium Development Goals

WOSM – World Organization for Scout Movement

Pictures and Figures

In order of appearance;

1. Profile Picture – Introductory Workshop | TSAM

2. Scouts of the World Logo / Badge – old and current version | WOSM

3. Map – Places travelled to in Singapore | Google Map

4. Holland Village, Singapore | Field Trip photos

5. National Community Leadership Institute, Singapore

6. Activity; Building the pyramid | Workshop photos

7. Group-Up Initiative; Sustainable Living Centre | Trip photos

8. Presentation of dummy project by two international participants | Workshop photos

9. Closing ceremony | NCLI, Singapore

10. Power of Triangle model

11. Experience Learning Cycle model

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Introduction

My name is Mujahid Abdulla and I am a Rover Scout

of Arabbiyya Rover Crew; the Rover section of

Arabiyya Scout Group. I officially started my scouting

career in 2010 at 23rd MSG, a community scout group

sponsored by Muslimunge Gulhun.

After a year at 23rd MSG, I resigned to join 11th MSG

(ASG). Since then I have achieved many new heights

in scouting. I have completed the Introductory Course

from TSAM in January 2012 and took part in several

camps and events as a staff.

Most of my scouting life is spend to assist cubs and

scouts to complete their program. I assist the Leaders

as a helper and have done the same while in 23rd

MSG.

I recently represented Maldives at the 8th Scouts of

the World Discovery Workshop held in Singapore.

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Executive Summary

The Scouts of the World Discovery (SWD) workshop is the first in three steps in becoming a

Scout of the World. It is a youth award that is designed to encourage Scouts and non-scouts in

service, through recognition of global issues. A Scout of the World program has three

components, of which the Discovery workshop has to be completed in a certified Scout of the

World Base.

Scout of the World Award (SWA) requires the aspirant to,

a) SWD at a Scouts of the World Base

On successful completion of the SWD, the participant will receive the certificate and SW

passport.

b) Complete SWV service.

A minimum of 14 days voluntary service must be completed and recorded on the SW passport.

Successful candidates will be awarded the SWA, after approval of the report by SW base.

This year, the Scout Association of Maldives called for application of Rover Scouts to the Scouts

of the World Discovery Workshop at SW Base; Singapore. Maeed M. Zahir from 23rd Male Scout

Group and me, from 11th Male Scout Group (ASG) participated and successfully completed the

workshop.

This Report details my SWD experience as a whole and is submitted to the Scout Association of

Maldives. It also highlights how the workshop was conducted and includes workshop resources.

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Scouts of the World Award Background

The World Organization of Scout Movement (WOSM) describes SWA as a youth award launched

to encourage stronger involvement of young people in the development of the society through

deeper understanding of present world issues. It goes further to explain the award as a

contribution to revitalize the youth program in the areas of community service and

international cooperation.

The SWA aims to prepare young adults for global citizenship; hence the program incorporates

the UNMDG and addresses these development goals through SWA in areas of Environment,

Development and Peace.

A SWD is usually a workshop designed to deepen the understanding of world issues and covers

skills required by those who wish to do something about it. This includes project management,

team building and effective delivery.

A SWV can be formed in any of the three key areas and can exceed more than 14 days.

However, the SWV is recognized if a complete proposal is submitted to SW base and approved

by the national coordinator.

Having obtained the SWA, awardees are admitted to the SW Network. The NSOs that adopted

the SW are in Scout of the World Partnership which is a platform to share ideas and resources,

raise funds and exchange trainers.

Another development in the history of SWA is the change of its logo. Earlier the SWA badge /

logo have the three insignia of the key areas, Environment, Development and Peace. However,

the newly adopted logo has additional fourth component, which is the World Scout emblem.

The SWA in Asia-Pacific was first discussed at the Rover Seminar in Maldives in 2006. Since

then, several countries in Asia Pacific have adopted the SWA and some of those countries have

established SWA base in their country.

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Our Journey

On September 25th, the International Commissioner and Commissioner for Adult Resource met

with us at the National Headquarters to instruct us about travelling and how we can capitalize

our learning in Maldives. At the meeting, Rover Maeed suggested the Scout Association to pay

a pocket money since the association intends to use participants as resource personnel. The

International Commissioner disagreed on accounts that it would be unfair to have paid money

that was not planned beforehand. The Commissioner for Adult Resources said he would

consider the suggestion. After considerations from the Association, each participant was paid

USD 100 as pocket money.

We travelled on 27th September 2012, at 2050 from Sri Lankan Air Line (UL). The flight landed at

Changi Airport after two hours of transit in Sri Lanka at 0800 hrs. We were received by a staff of

The Singapore Scout Association. While waiting for the other international participants, we took

our breakfast at airport cafeteria.

After the arrival of the other two international participants, we headed to The Singapore Scout

Association on their vehicle and settled there. We washed ourselves and were told to stay at

the association till the program directors arrange our transport to the venue. We took our lunch

at a restaurant in Little India and dinner at a food court inside a shopping mall.

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Having had dinner and packed our bags at the Association, we travelled on vehicles to the

National Community Leadership Institute; the workshop venue.

During the workshop days, we travelled to Bottle Tree Park to volunteer for an environmental

NGO called Ground-Up Initiative. As part of the program, we also went on a fieldtrip to Holland

Village and nearby households.

After the workshop and closing ceremony, our

luggage was moved back to The Singapore

Scout Association. We, the international

participants, took a tour to the Marina Bay

Sands and spent the night around the place.

The arrival back to the Association at midnight

gave only few hours to rest before our

departure in the morning. The Association’s

vehicle was arranged to take us to airport. We

stayed at the airport cafeteria a bit longer

having our breakfast and were late to check-in.

Our flight departed Singapore around 0900 hrs (local time) and landed in Sri Lanka for transit.

We arrived at INIA; Male around 1430 hrs.

8th Scouts of the World Discovery workshop

The 8th SWD in Singapore SW base took place

from 28th to 30th September 2012 at National

Community Leadership Institute. Two

Maldivian Rovers, one from Bangladesh and

Sri Lanka and seven Rovers from Singapore

completed the Discovery workshop. The

facilitators were previous SW awardees and

the program was conducted by the National

Coordinator; Mr. Tan Tan Sijie and his team

of facilitators. Working as a group of three,

the program offered us wide range of

activities including role plays, field trips and

practicum.

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Program details

DAY I – 28th September 2012

The participants of SWD workshop were welcomed by the National Program Commissioner of

The Singapore Scout Association; Mr. Malcolm Tan followed by a brief insight into philanthropic

work through CSR by Mr. Adam Reutens-Tan; the CSR manager of StarHub.

Introductory session on SWA was taken by Mr. Tan Sijie. He highlighted the purpose of

launching this award and the success stories since its adoption by Singapore.

There was a session on finding the linkages of UNMDGs and the SWA through discussion. Key

tools of identifying goals were also introduced in this session which was useful during the field

trip to the Holland Village and nearby household.

Holland Village is a developed area of

Singapore that catered for expatriates and is

famous for its eateries and business. The

nearby households we visited, however, are

different in terms of the dwellers, facilities

and development. We were able to make a

good comparison of the two areas and apply

the exploring tools that we learned in earlier

sessions.

At the end of the day, we had a reflection session where we talked about our observations and

made charts on our conclusions.

Later the day, we participated in a session on project planning and built the first tier of the

problem solving pyramid by identifying key problems in the area of Development, Environment

and Economics.

DAY II – 29th September 2012

In the morning, after a quick breakfast, we took a bus to Bottle Tree Park where a group of

young people run a volunteer project to protect the Kampung (Village) Lifestyle by adopting

sustainable living.

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The Ground-UP Initiative, as they call the

Volunteer group does many works in the spirit of

modern village life and protecting the nature. We

took a Kampung tour and lend them a hand in

weeding and composting activities. While we

were reflecting on our work at the end of the

program, the beautiful environment of the Bottle

Tree Park was showered with blessing. The

Ground-Up Initiative work towards building a

connection between earth and the community

and we all felt connected.

The rest of the day, we learned several skills a scout should acquire before taking SWV. Before

we ended the day, we took a session of peace building and laid the second tire of the pyramid

by finding causes of the problems we identified earlier.

DAY III – 30th September 2012

In the morning, we all took a skill workshop

session on facilitation and the ways to approach

diversity engagement. When it was time for

lunch, it was announced our official sessions

came to an end and all left to do was to present

a realistic proposal that address a pressing issue.

This proposal had to be written and presented

by groups of two.

Maeed and I proposed a financial model for eco-

clubs in Maldives where they can use

sustainable entrepreneurial approach in

generating finance for their own projects.

Closing Ceremony

When all the groups presented their project idea, it was time for the closing of a rewarding

program. Mr. Malcolm Tan, at the closing briefly touched how individuals make great impact

and why it is important for each of us to do our part.

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The certificates and well deserving SWA was conferred to those who completed SWV from

earlier batch in the closing dinner. After awarding ceremony and dinner, it was time to say

goodbyes.

Observations

1) The Singapore Scout Association has SWA integrated to its Rover program by allowing

flexible requirements in the scheme. The current Rover Scheme allows SWD as a

requirement to Personal Development I of Voyager tier which requires a Rover to

acquire a new skill. SWV is also equally accepted as the project work for Baden Powell

Award where a Rover has to initiate and lead a community project.

2) The SWD can be carried out to a small number of Rovers as it does not demand a certain

number of participants. However, a fair number of participants who can carry out

healthy and productive discussion are most appropriate. The SWD is about having

cluster groups that will ease the learning process and go along with a program of skills,

sharing of knowledge and learning by doing.

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3) SWD workshop modules are highly based on achieving UNMDGs by working on areas of

Environment, Peace and Development.

Recommendations

Since the Scout Association of Maldives wishes to start a SW base in Maldives, the most

important area to focus is finding a National Coordinator, who at least has rudimentary

understanding of youth work, facilitation, global issues and SWA program. The SWA program

encompasses a global perspective and therefore a global approach is best to be delivered to the

locals.

The issues identified by UNMDG may be the same for all countries. However, many of us only

are limited to what is and what will be in our own country. SW program has to be delivered to

ensure otherwise.

The SW trainers should have adequate training on devising a fruitful program and must have

sufficient resources to start with. In addition to that, Maldivian SW base must seek

international participation to encourage knowledge transfer. A SW base should be able to cater

for this demand.

Moreover, a SW base that at embryonic stage may work well as a twin base. The SW guidelines

and WOSM website resource give much detailed instruction on this. However, it is most certain

that in Maldives we should have a base that address local issues from a global perspective with

well trained facilitators.

The Scheme for Rovers should be designed to allow Rovers to fulfill their interests. By having

extended rover progressive path, SWD and SWV should be integrated as equal requirements to

achieve a badge and eventually BP award too. This can be done only by devising a

comprehensive Rover Scheme.

Conclusion

I conclude my report on 8th SWD workshop in Singapore by reiterating the importance of having

a SW base in Maldives for the benefits it will result in. It is equally important to have the SWA

integrated in our Rover Scheme when revised.

I thank to the Scout Association of Maldives and the Arabiyya Scout Group for giving me the

wonderful opportunity to be part of this enlightening program.

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BULLY

VICTIM MEDIATOR

Appendix I – Exercises used in the workshop

1.1. Draw you cell phone - Exercise on how to explore

Participants are asked to draw how their cell phones look like when they unlock it. They are

given a time period in which they will have to draw as accurate picture as possible, with details

of icon and features.

This exercise suggests that almost all of us will not be able to draw a 100% accurate picture,

although we use the cell many times a day. It shows that even the most frequently used or

familiar thing may not be as familiar to us as we think. It is because; we do not look out for

minute details. This exercise implies the importance of developing such skills when exploring.

A substitute to cell phone may also be a wristwatch.

1.2. Zoom exercise

Zoom is a book by Istvan Banyai which is a picture book, one picture per page. With the turning

of each page, you discover that the previous one is only part of a larger view.

The book is used by several educators as a tool of team building. Each participant is given a

picture which he/she has to only describe. Participants will coordinate and identify the

similarities and will eventually have to arrange the pictures in order.

It encourages team work and communication among participants.

1.3. Power of Triangle

Power of Triangle is an exercise related to

facilitation that shows how people react in a

situation. It suggests that in a situation there

is always a facilitator in between a bully and a

victim. The power of triangle exercise puts

people in these positions to see how they

react.

For instance, a taxi driver meets an accident

because a colorblind person crosses the road

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when light is red. In the first simulation, the police man is the mediator. The bully being the

driver argues with the victim.

When roles are exchanged, the power of triangle assesses how the mediator (policeman) reacts

as a bully (threatening the colorblind person) while the driver acts as a mediator (by trying to

ease the situation).

This role play exercise helps people to develop facilitation skill in different situation and also

helps to identify the character of different people in different situations.

1.4. Train Ride

This is an exercise where each participant is given a role to play. They will each get onboard a

train where they will act out the role without giving obvious hints. Through their role play, the

participants will sit together to analyze and figure out the roles.

This exercise will bring out the perceptions about each other, which at the end of the program,

aims to correct. It is also used to give insights into how people discriminate / prejudice others.

1.5. Marshmallow Challenge

A team building exercise based on communication, delegation, encourage prototyping and

facilitation. Video explaining marshmallow challenge is available in the attached CD.

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Appendix II – Tools and Skill Workshop Resources

2.1. Appreciative Inquiry – 4D model

This tool is based on the assumption that the questions we ask tend to focus our attention in a

particular direction, ergo, a positive inquiry will result in positive approach and vice versa.

For instance, the Appreciative Inquiry Method suggests we focus on what the organization does

well rather than what it does badly. It also suggests that every person in the organization has

good qualities that can be built upon.

Instead of asking ‘what is wrong?’ AIM proposes we ask ‘what is good about what you are

doing?’ This will eventually lead to what we inquire if we utilize the four process of AIM.

Discover – identifying the organizational process that works well

Dream – envisioning what will work best in the future

Design – planning and prioritizing what will work best

Deliver – implementation of the proposed design

2.2. Risk Management 4Ts

This tool introduces four ways to deal with risk and is known as 4Ts of Risk Management. It uses

the following to minimize, monitor and control the probability and / or impact of unfortunate

events or to maximize the realization of opportunities.

Tolerate – accept the risk and live with it, particularly if it is within the tolerance threshold or

where the cost of mitigating action would outweigh the benefits

Treat – take action to control the likelihood and/or impact

Transfer – move all or part of the risk to a third party (or through insurance); however,

sometimes accountability still remains so caution is advised

Terminate – rarely, we may be able to stop doing the activity altogether

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2.3. Experiential Learning Cycle

The Experiential Learning Cycle developed by David Kolb

comprises four different stages of effective learning from

experience if the sequence is followed.

“Kolb’s four-stage learning cycle shows how experience is

translated through reflection into concepts, which in turn are

used as guides for active experimentation and the choice of

new experiences. The first stage, experience, is where the

learner actively experiences an activity such as a field work.

The second stage, reflection, is when the learner consciously reflects back on that experience.

The third stage, plan, is where the learner attempts to conceptualize a theory or model of what

is observed. The fourth stage, execute, is where the learner is trying to plan how to test a model

or theory or plan for a forthcoming experience.” ~ learning-theories.com

2.4. ACTS tool – Facilitation

ACTS is a combination of very important skills a facilitator should posses when he deals with a

crowd. They are;

Acknowledgement – giving credits to the participant, thus encouraging further contribution

and commitment from participants

Clarify – involve every participant / address them as a whole, not individually. Eg: “is everyone

clear?”

Transfer * – delegate / engage participants consistently, rather than always telling by you. Let

them find out themselves.

Summarize - summarize / reflect on what has been talked.

* In this tool, the transferring / delegation will also work when facilitators require time to response to an

answer or when they work out a better answer in their minds.

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2.5. S.A.F.E. Model

This is a model used when approaching to diversity engagements while it also serves as a

training tool to better communicator. It encourages looking from different angles instead of

judging someone from their first account.

Suspend Judgment – if you find something strange, just stop judging him by what he said

Ask and Learn – ask details on other subjects that you find more comfortable

Finding Common Grounds – find what is common about what he talks and how you can relate

it to you.

Empathize – feel what they go through or why it has been said.

By adding another component, this model can be even S.A.F.E.R.

Respect – respect whatever is said.

2.6. SLOWFOOT Movement guide on Exploring

A3 size guide on how to carry a target exploring, what to explore and things a scout can do

during a short trip. This guide is included as a resource document.

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Appendix III – Supportive documents

CD contents

SWD contents by SW base; The Singapore Scout Association

1. SWA presentation for 8th SWD by The Singapore Scout Association

2. CSR presentation by StarHub

3. 11 awareness video clips on saving environment by Animal Planet

4. Four inspirational video clips used in workshop sessions

5. Pictures of 8th SWD

Own resources

6. Presentation on SW integration to Rover Scheme by Mujahid Abdulla

7. Presentation on how a Maldivian SWA program may look like by Mujahid Abdulla

PDF Documents

8. PDF version of this report

Hardcopy attachments

1. 8th SWD handbook by SW base Singapore

2. 8th SWD program outline for three days

3. SWA pamphlet by WOSM

4. Exploration chart by Slow Foot movement | explorer guide

… END OF REPORT …

Report of SWD - Mujahid

Documents

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