“One tree, many branches: Our Movement, 

Our Community, Our Future”

Hey there! My name is Rachel Eddowes, and I am a Venturer from Virginia Beach, Virginia (Tidewater Council). I am currently attending George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, double majoring in Communications & Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a minor in Spanish. In addition to classes I’m an active Brother of Alpha Phi Omega, the co-ed service fraternity based on the scouting movement.

My involvement with scouting started as a Daisy with the Girl Scouts of America*.  When I was younger I had the opportunity to live overseas, and was able to earn the International Friendship Pin. When I turned fourteen I became involved with Venturing as part of the Boy Scouts of America*, double dipping as I worked on and earned my Girl Scout Gold Award and Venturing Silver Award. Through Venturing I became involved with leadership training: I served on staff for my council's National Youth Leadership Training, in addition to serving on staff for National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience at Philmont Scout Ranch and Florida Sea Base. This past December I was part of the pilot Interamerican Leadership Training (ILT), helping to develop the syllabus and to execute the course. In 2013 I represented the Venturing program as part of the 2012 Report to the Nation Delegation, delivering the annual report of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to our nation’s dignitaries.

A cool international scouting experience (outside of when I was a young Girl Scout), was visiting an Ecuador scouting unit when I was participating in a study abroad in Quito. We spent three hours in a local park playing games--it was so cool to have fun and play with youth from another country yet still be connected through our ties to scouting! 

Yesterday Gus, Bear, David and Gerry, and I flew from the United States to Slovenia to represent the entire Boy Scouts of America at the 12^th World Scout Youth Forum (WSYF) and 40^th World Scout Conference (WSC). 

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These two world scouting events happen every three years. This year these events are taking place in Slovenia: the WSYF is taking place in Rogla between August 4-7, and the WSC is taking place in Ljubljana between August 11-15.

The WSYF was created as an educational tool to serve as a way for older youth in scouting to express their interests and concerns on topics surrounding issues affecting young people in different parts of the world, suggest ways of strengthening national youth policies and training young people for world citizenship, and contribute new ideas to the Scouting Movement on how to enrich educational programs for young people over 16 years of age.  Youth representatives ages 18-26 from each National Scouting Organization (NSO àfor us, the BSA) attend the WSYF; each country is recommended to send at least one youth with a maximum of five (up to two can be voting delegates, the rest are observers). In addition to discussing issues affecting youth, the youth attending the Forum will come together to elect the next Youth Advisors, and draft resolutions and declarations that will be passed on to the World Scout Committee. The theme for this Forum is “One Tree, Many Branches.”

Youth and national adult representatives from each NSO attend the WSC to formulate the general policy of the World Organization of the Scouting Movement (WOSM), consider proposed amendments to the WOSM Constitution, and elect the World Scout Committee members. We will also be voting on the host countries for a couple of international scouting events happening in the next coupe of years, such as the World Scout Moot and next WSC and WSYF. The theme for the Conference is “Shaping a Common Future.”

The Youth Advisors are youth who advise the World Scout Committee, and are a diverse group of scouts from all over the world. They serve as the voice of the youth, helping to ensure that WOSM provides for the youth in today’s society. Six are elected at every Forum and serve their term for three years.

The World Scout Committee is made up of twelve adult scouters from around the world. They promote the Scout Movement throughout the world, advise and assist NSOs, approve the annual budget, and supervise the organization of World Scout Events among other responsibilities.

One of the current committee members is Dan Ownby, a member of the BSA. He is currently running for a second term. Fun fact: he was part of the original planning group who came up with the Interamerican Leadership Training!

So, you’ve met the team. Gus represented the BSA at the Interamerican Region Conference this past year, Bear participated in a contingent trip to Kandersteg, David is part of the planning team for the 2019 World Scout Jamboree, Gerry played an integral role in establishing the Interamerican Leadership Training, and I was able to hang out with an Ecuador scouting unit. Today we start the next part of our journey for scouting (one tree) with the rest of the world (many branches).

*The Girl Scouts of America is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, or WAGGGS, and was founded by Juliette Gordon Low. The Boy Scouts of America is a member of the World Organization of the Scouting Movement, or WOSM, and was founded by William D. Boyce. These are two completely separate organizations chartered by the U.S. Congress, each stemming from the vision of Sir Robert Baden-Powell.