Great Falls Boy Scout Represents USA at JamCam 2017
by James Y. , Scorpion Patrol
From December 27th 2016 to January 1st 2017, I, along with 4 other U.S. scouts, attended the “15th Jamboree and 2nd InterAmerican Camporee 2017 (JamCam 2017), hosted by the city of Guayaquil of Ecuador. My name is James and I am a Boy Scout in Troop 55, chartered by St Francis Church of the Great Falls, Virginia.
Down at the city of Guayaquil of Ecuador, it is incredibly hot when coming from cold and snowy Washington D.C. However, it was an amazing experience having the opportunity to participate in such an event.
The “JamCam 2017” was placed in in the park of “Los Samanes” in Guayaquil. It was a nice wide area. Plenty of spaces to set up tents, a couple lakes, and nearby there was an outdoor stage.
In the opening ceremony, most of the countries from American continent would present their flags. It took place in the stage with plenty of space to accommodate for the 2500 scouts attending. Our U.S. contingent only had two scout representatives, but three would come later. I was very honored to represent the 3 million Boy Scouts from USA, to recite the Scouting oath with 5 other Scouts representatives at the open ceremony, along with Mr. Rafael Correa, the Ecuador President, who was once a boy scout himself at Ecuador.
Being the “rare” American scout, I could barely make it out of my camp site without being bombarded with requests to trade patches, neckerchiefs, hats, and occasionally, even my uniform. I was once followed for some time by scouts too nervous to approach me.
As for activities to entertain us with, spread among the days there were events. There was a culture day, where all the countries set up small tents with activities. There were many days where we would take field trips on buses to parks or the beach to do activities. There was always something to do, and I liked how they set up activities to entertain us. We took a boat ride to see dolphins, we hiked around a forest, and we competed with other teams in other parks – there was never a day where we just sat around and did nothing.
While we were taking a certain field trip to the beach, the bus stopped at an Indigenous village nearby. We knew we were going to the beach, yet we had no idea what we would be doing. We were immediately greeted by formally dressed Indigenous scouts who couldn’t attend the JamCam. They wanted pictures, and trade patches, and all we had was poor swimming attire and a lack of anything to trade. Nonetheless, they were very eager to practice their English and to ask questions about Scouting program in USA, I also did my best to practice my Spanish with local scouts.
The JamCam in Ecuador was a fascinating experience. I feel very lucky to meet scouts from around South America, and to learn their culture, and what was similar about how they did scouting. Would I do it again?Absolutely!
