Why I Love Scouting?

by Gil Camporazo

"I love scouting. I love scouting. Hail. I love scouting all the way." There goes the community singing led by Institutional Head (IH) Alejandro Ticao, Scout Course Leader and at the same time the Scout Field Commissioner of the Division of La Carlota as the 3rd Patrol Leader Training Course (PLTC) and Crew Leader Training Course (CLTC) in its opening ceremony.

BSP Logo

As one of the members of the support staff and discussants, it starts refreshing my 54 years in scouting. It reverberates in mind the scouting ideals, oath and law, its history, its founder, its role in character and nation building.

And it also freshens my unforgettable experiences in various scouting activities like outdoor camping, hiking, orienteering, stargazing, knot tying, cooking without utensil, putting up of the tent, and scouting games, songs and yells.

My elementary scouting days and how my mother permitted me to participate in my first out-of-town outdoor camping as far as Cadiz City in the north, noted as city of whales and as far as Himamaylan in the south, and as far as Alibunan, Calinog, Iloilo Province in Panay Island, across Guimaras Strait. And the farthest place in the country which I attended as far as national scouting jamboree is concerned was in Subic, Pampanga in Luzon.

The Child Well-being Is Everyone's Business

by Gil Camporazo

Have you read the African literature that it takes the whole community to educate the child? And providing the child his education is one of his inalienable rights. To fully cater to the holistic development of the child, his nature should seriously be taken into account.

In my practical point of view as asked by the first trainor, Mam Castro of Doña Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School (DHSBNHS), Balabag Extension, I have defined child's traits through an acrostic like C for curious, H for humble, I for inquisitive, L for loving, and D for desirous to know more, an endless crave for knowledge.

There are situations, events, incidents in the life of the child that his rights are not respected, are not observed instead they're withheld and even curtailed. They're even maltreated, abused, exploited. That is why to address this malpractices of parents, relatives, and even teachers who handle them during class hours, there measures may include proper information dissemination, training for the parents, and community-sharing responsibility.

Drumbeating with Kids

by Gil Camporazo

My new school assignment, Balabag Elementary School annually is participating in Pasalamat Festival of La Carlota City, a week-long thanksgiving occasion for a bounty harvest of the city. There are a lot of merry-making activities and competition. One of the highlights of the said festivity is a rhythm contest of the official samba beat created by the late City Mayor Luis "Nonoy" Jalandoni.

This rhythm contest is categorized into two, the adult and the kid. The adult is representing their own barangay, while the kid is representing their school and our pupils are one of them. They call themselves as Tribu Mahogany.