Scouts have fun with water sports

Triwik Kurniasari ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 07/07/2008 10:31 AM  |  City

As part of activities to celebrate the Ninth National Raimuna, a scouts gathering that takes place every five years, senior scouts from across the country took part in rowing and sailing at Ancol's Carnaval Beach in North Jakarta on Thursday.

Among the scouts was 21-year-old Husniatul Millah from Ronggolawe University in Tuban, East Java.

"I've been waiting here for hours to learn how to row a boat, but that's OK," she said.

"I rowed once, a couple of years ago, and I want to try again because it was so much fun."

After waiting in line, she finally got into a rubber dinghy with nine other scouts and two instructors and paddled away from the beach.

"I was so excited. That was amazing," she said back on dry land.

"We rowed well, and pretty much in synch. Rowing provides a great lesson in unity and cooperation. Sailing is much harder than rowing. It takes physical strength and good instincts, and you have to know which way the wind is blowing."

The gathering, organized by the Jakarta Scout Branch, runs from June 27 to July 7, with activities in Cibubur, West Java, and Ancol.

More than 12,000 senior scouts from across the country are participating in the event, said Subagyo Masi'in, one of the event coordinators.

Activities include discussions and workshops on banking, broadcasting, handling explosives and dealing with natural disasters.

Scouts also have the chance to take part in scouting activities, including aquatic sports such as sailing, canoeing, swimming and rowing.

"We want to encourage them to love the sea. We also want to raise the scouts' awareness of environmental preservation, and to encourage them to actively take part in preserving it," Subagyo said.

"Indonesia has rich seas and we want the scouts to be able to benefit from this, as well as prevent marine pollution.

"We're training them to make snacks, food, drinks and ice cream from seaweed. Basically, we're training them to be entrepreneurs so they can earn their own living."

The gathering is organized in cooperation with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the Navy.

Habli, a high school scout from Kuala Pembuang, Central Kalimantan, said the activities had given him a newfound respect for the sea.

"This is my first time at the National Raimuna and it is so wonderful," said Gatot, 17, another scout.

"I've made a lot of friends here and had a chance to learn sailing and rowing. The event makes me love the sea even more."

Scout Galuh Tatantri, 17, expressed similar sentiments.

"The activities make me realize I should protect the sea from any damage," she said.

"I think the Jakarta administration should plant more trees around the Ancol seashore to make the area more green.

"Besides that, visitors should also keep things clean by not throwing garbage in the sea."

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