Coming into office as the National Youth Representatives in May 2012, Grace Michuki and myself had our list of things we wanted to do for the young people in Kenya Scouts association during our term. Back then we weren’t so sure of how exactly we would achieve them. However, over a year later we now believe that we have a clear standing, knowing where we have come from and convinced of where we wish to be. Over the next three years (2014-2016), we have decided to adopt the theme of “Scouting Education for Life: Inspiring Impact and Success Beyond Scouting”. To enable us realize this vision we have lined-up five different initiatives. These initiatives focus on how young people can be better prepared to face the challenges of life and develop themselves to be impactful members of society based on their Scouting experiences. The objectives for launching these initiatives include: • To provide young people with wider opportunities for personal growth and development in and out of Scouting • To inspire individual and collective actions that help to advance the cause of Scouting • To demystify Scouting to the general public and enhance movement’s profile for greater visibility and acceptance The proposed initiatives include the following: CHIEF SCOUT AWARD DRIVE Based on the Rover Scout Programme this initiative will target to motivate as many rovers as possible to work towards achieving the highest section award. It will entail undertaking of standard and progressive badge tests to learn essential skills and competencies, Chief Commissioners Challenge, service projects, adventure, instilling of scouting values and lots of other fun activities. MESSENGERS OF PEACE IN ACTION: Since its introduction to Kenya last year, the activities of the global Messengers of Peace project in Kenya have existed in very low scale. Lack of a clear plan and coordinated approach has limited the scope to online activities with a few scattered events across the country. This initiative seeks to upscale these activities to a national scale through increased peace building activities, crew led community projects and the development of partnerships for a greater impact. JASIRI ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE: Building on the Financial Management Training given by Equity Group Foundation, the existence of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the recent launch of the Uwezo Fund among many other opportunities available for the youth we seek to enable our scouts to access these opportunities for self development and job creation. Through the promotion of creativity, innovation and enterprise development we believe scouts can live independent and economically sustainable lives while creating opportunities for others and spurring development locally and nationally SCOUT AND PROUD INITIATIVE: The Scouting movement globally, including Kenya is facing an image crisis where the public views and perceptions do not reflect the reality and totality of what Scouting is about. Being proud scouts we need to tell the world what truly are about. This initiative aims to get scouts to tell their own stories of their experiences and benefits they have gained by being scouts. It also targets testimonies form people in the public and private sectors who have interacted with scouting and can attest to the uniqueness and impact of scouting on individuals and society. By conducting interviews and reviews together with reporting on scouting activities and developing scouting educational material through mass media this initiative will go along way in increasing the visibility and boosting the image of movement to inspire more people to want to be associated with us. SCOUT BROTHERHOOD EXCHANGE: Kenya holds a very unique place in the history of world scouting. Being among the first countries in the world where Scouting began, added to the fact that the founder chose it as his final resting place, being one of the largest Scout Associations in Africa and the presence of the Africa Scout Regional Office of the World Scout Bureau are special things that we can maximize on to growth scouting. Through this initiative we seek to create opportunities to share this uniqueness with the scouts and non-Scouts form other countries in Africa and other parts of the world as a way of promoting global citizenship through multiculturalism, networking and solidarity. SCOUT EMERGENCY RESPONSE UNIT: The movement boasts of having many youth with skills on disaster and emergency response; but has never really been keep to put in place structures to allow Scouts to be useful when situations arise. This project aims at setting up a well trained, well equipped and professionally coordinated unit that will always be ready to take lead on the Scouting Movement’s response to emergencies and disaster situations and other crisis that may arise across the country; working very closely with other stakeholders in the humanitarian work like the Red Cross Society The implementation of these initiatives will be largely youth driven spearheaded by an implementation committee led by the two National Youth Representatives; and working very closely with the youth representatives in every county. Upon successful implementation of these initiatives we anticipate that the following outcomes shall be achieved: • A more empowered and fulfilled young people well on their way towards independent and productive lives for both themselves and their communities • An improved understanding of Scouting and its endorsement as the youth movement of choice by the general public coupled with increased passion and pride among scouts and a rise in membership enrollment across the country • A wide network of linkages for scout groups and partnerships to support the development of Scouting in Kenya