Chief Commissioner Gary Pienaar explains SfH to Dr. M’jid (left) and Ms Yamano (right). Chanté Pretorius and Justice Kgomo (back). Photo: Angus Hay

The annual Kon-Tiki competition is one of several Kon-Tiki raft building events that take place around South Africa, where Scout Troops build a raft from barrels, rope and poles using pioneering skills. The Gauteng Scout Region hosted their Kon-Tiki event last weekend at Homestead Lake in Benoni, Johannesburg.

On the Friday evening we were  honoured to welcome Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence Against Children and Ms. Makiba Yamano, Child Protection Coordinator at UNICEF South Africa. Both UN Officials were interested to hear about the safeguarding measures introduced by SCOUTS South Africa to keep both adults and youth members ‘safe from harm’ whilst engaged in their Scouting activities.

One of the unique elements of the Kon-Tiki event is that a Patrol of Scouts lives on the raft out on the water for 24 hours and completes various challenges, while the other Scouts who assisted in raft construction take part in various fringe activities on shore while the raft is afloat. “We often have over 1 000 young people participating in the overnight activities, while with the day visitors, accompanying parents and volunteer leaders included, the numbers can easily reach 2 500+ people”, explained SCOUTS South Africa’s Chief Commissioner, Gary Pienaar.

“This year, we used this opportunity to formally launch World Scouting’s ‘Listening Ears’ concept at all large Regional and National events”, he said. Listening Ears play an important role, providing a compassionate ear to anyone in need of assistance, creating a safe space to deal with an individual’s personal needs or emotional or psychological challenges. The framework equips Scouting volunteers with the knowledge and resources for supporting young people at these events. ‘This adds a further dimension and strengthens our existing safeguarding policies and procedures.”

Dr. M’jid encouraged SCOUTS South Africa to continue their efforts to promote Safe from Harm and suggested that other community-based organisations might benefit from some of the practices adopted.