24th World Scout Jamboree, North America: A memorial camp

The founder of Scout Movement Baden-Powell said, " a week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room".

57 million young and volunteers from 173 countries are taking parts in scouting activities.

I attended the last jamboree which was the 24th World Scout Jamboree. It was held at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia from 22 July to 2 August 2019. 

In the jamboree, the theme was " Unlock a new world ". Overall 45,000 scouts and leaders were attended in the jamboree from 152 countries. 286 participants were approved to join the scout jamboree and I was the one of them.

On July 20, Bangladesh contingent was departing from Bangladesh to North America for attending the World Scout Jamboree. 

When we reached the campsite, we started to prepare our place. That time, some neighbour scouts helped us to pitch our tents. They all were very friendly and jolly. 

On the first day of the camp, all the scouts gather at stadium where the opening ceremony takes place. The opening ceremony was like nothing we've ever experienced before. 45,000 scouts from different countries all sat together. We were making as much noise as possible.

Bear Grylls was hosting a small portion of the opening and everyone was in disbelief at what they saw. Some scouts were shouted with happily.

At end of the show, there was a drone light show, which was absolutely stunning. Finding my way back from the ceremony was a bit tricky and puzzled. 

In other days, I gathered with my juniors and attended some physical activities- river rafting, shooting, archery, kayaking, skateboarding, scuba, rock climbing, zip lining etc.

River rafting was the best of all. It was a outdoor activities. 9 of us were sit together in the boat and sailed it. Sometimes, we changed our sit so that we can see everyone side of the view. It was more fun when the waves in the water started getting bigger. 

Shooting was also good. But the gun was so heavy to carry. So, I missed some bullet because I could not hold the gun properly.

There was also some program like, sustainability, global development village, faith and beliefs, cultural experiences day, stadium experience, trading and also novus.

We used a piece of technology called 'Novus'. It was placed on the arm. It was referred to as 'clicking' and quickly became a game among us. It lights up when we both click on Novus together after making friends. 

Also, it collected our friend list and showed us how many and who the peoples are. Novus was also look like a light stick in the jamboree when we attended the ceremony or concert or bass night. 

In the jamboree, we celebrated our cultural experience day. On this day, I wore a sharee because it is our traditional dress. Some girls wore sharee, salwar kamiz and the boys wore punjabi. When I walked by the camparea, some scouts were taking pictures of us and also took some selfies.

In that day, I gathered with my contingent scouts and looked around other contingents. We learned some tradition form other countries, some gave us their traditional foods to try. Some scouts were also wearing their traditional clothes and they looked so beautiful.

In the closing ceremony, on 1st July, scouts from all the contingent present there and we elegantly dressed in our respective uniforms. The ceremony was delayed, in the mean time we all sung the song " I belong West Virginia...". And I was so emotional that moment because the jamboree was almost at the end.

The first speech was delivered by Ahmad Alhendawi. And the ceremony was blessed with the presence of Ban Ki Moon. His speech contained all the fundamentals we needed to hear and enough to leave us speechless!

When the formal part was end, then the rocking part was started. That night, Summit Bechtel Reserve was on fire. We all were dancing happily and saw the lighting wave from one side to another. Our Novus were illuminating the dark with a plethora of colors. 

Laser show, fire works were also part of that. In the end, I and my other friends were so sad because we just saw a perfect ending of a perfect jamboree. 

Overall, I loved the jamboree. It brought me many friends from different countries ( Mexico, USA, UK, Philippines, South Korea, Nepal, etc ). It was a great opportunity for me to attend the jamboree.