Scouting In Holland.
Olaf Tuinder (tuinder@FYS.RUU.NL)
Fri, 19 Nov 1993 11:25:46 +0100
From: Tuinder@fys.ruu.nl (Olaf Tuinder).
Subject: Scouting in The Netherlands (Holland).
Date: November 17th, 1993.
SCOUTING IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Scouting in Holland started in 1910. That year the first
Scout troops were formed in a few cities. In the next
decades (with a pause during World War II) three Scouting
organisations were established for boys and two for girls.
Since 1973 all five are united in one organisation called:
'Scouting Nederland'. Scouting Nederland has the objective:
'to promote the Scoutingprogramme in The Netherlands, based
on the ideas of Lord Baden-Powell, in order to offer to boys
and girls pleasant leisure activities, through which a
contribution is made to the development of their
personality' (free translation from the 'Scouting Vademecum
1992/1993').
The total membership figure (all ages) of 1992 is, according
to the annual report: 114.845; i.e. 85.266 juniors and
29.579 adults (not all adults are leaders, so please don't
interpret the figure as a 3:1 rate!). Scouting Nederland is
a member of both WOSM and WAGGGS. The structure of Scouting
Nederland (as an organisation) is:
Landelijk Bestuur (the National Board).
Gewestelijk niveau (Regional-level).
Districts niveau (District-level).
Groepen (Troop-level).
Speltakken (Units).
Almost all troops and units in The Netherlands are mixed
boys and girls (see below). All troops have a *name*, not
just a number; even when there are several troops in the
same city.
Scouting in Holland is devided into seven sections:
_Section_ _Age_
Bevers (Beavers) 5-7.
Welpen (Cub Scouts) 7-10. \ The age-group 7-10
Esta's 7-10. - } is often referred to as
Kabouters (Brownies) 7-10. / the acronym: 'W.E.K.'
Scouts 10-15.
Explorers 14-17.
Jongerentak (Rover Scouts) 17-23.
The age limits of the sections are official, but sometimes
they can be adjusted in individual cases.
BEVERS (Beavers), Age: 5-7.
The Bevers play in a fantasy world: The World of Tall Do-All
('Lange Doener' in Dutch). Tall Do-All is one of the main
characters in the Bever-programme, and he lives in a house
called 'Hotsjietonia' on the rim of a village. Now and then
Tall Do-All invites some friends to come around and play a
part in the meeting. These friends have typical fields of
interest: e.g. 'Pompedomp' (nature and music), 'Hippe
Springveer' (games and sport), 'Frederik Scheuremaar'
(creativity), etc. These characters are, like Tall Do-All,
played by the leaders. The Bevers are encouraged to play and
explore the world around them. Bevers are mixed boys and
girls and they have a red sweater as uniform. A Bever-unit
consists of max. 16 Bevers.
WELPEN (Cub Scouts), Age: 7-10.
(Single: 'Welp', plural: 'Welpen') The Welpen-programme is
based on the Junglebook-stories from Rudyard Kipling.
Because all of you have read these stories at least once, I
have nothing to add here. Although the majority of Cub-Packs
consists of boys only, we have mixed Packs too. The uniform
of the Welpen is a green blouse. A Pack ('Horde' in Dutch)
consists of max. 24 Welpen.
ESTA'S (No translation possible), Age: 7-10.
(Single: "Esta", plural: "Esta's") The Esta's play in a
fantasy world: 'The Land of Esta'. It is based on the book
'The Child With The Tall Hat' ("'t Kind Met De Hoge Hoed" in
Dutch), which was especially written for Scouting by Simone
Schell in 1991. The Idea behind the story is that you change
your clothes to ....... (e.g. pirate, princess, cook, wolf,
wizard, or *anything* else) and then play that role. This
programme is considered most suitable for mixed units. A lot
of mixed Cub-Packs and Brownie-units have changed to the
Esta-theme since the introduction in 1991. The uniform of
the Esta's is a green blouse. An Esta-unit ('Estar' in
Dutch) consists of max. 24 Esta's.
KABOUTERS (Brownies), Age: 7-10.
The Kabouters play in a fantasy world: 'Bambilie'. Bambilie
is a country with some villages and a number of vaguely
described area's, which leave space for your own
imagination. In each village lives a different community
('Volkje' in Dutch) with its own characteristics. Most of
the Kabouter-units consist of girls only but, like some of
the Welpen-Hordes mentioned above, there are mixed ones. The
uniform of the Kabouters is a green blouse. A Kabouter-unit
('Kring' in Dutch) consists of max. 24 Kabouters.
SCOUTS, Age: 10-15.
Scouts is the overall-name for members of the age 10-15.
They are devided into 'Verkenners' (was Boy Scouts, but used
for both boys and girls now), 'Padvindsters' (Girl Scouts)
and 'Gidsen' (Guides). The Scout-programme has no specific
central theme (unlike the younger age-groups), but often the
activities are integrated in some theme or project in order
to increase the value and to put it in a context. More
emphasis is laid on techniques, skills and knowledge than at
the younger ages. We have Scout-units that are boys only,
Scout-units that are girls only and mixed Scout-units (and,
of course, mixed patrols just as well). This often depends
on the troop's history and/or parental preference (alas, in
some areas of Holland the latter is the main reason to keep
seperate boys and girls troops). The uniform of the Scouts
is a khaki blouse and a unit consists of 16 up to 28 Scouts.
EXPLORERS, Age: 14-17.
Explorers is the name for the age-group 14-17. A boy in an
Explorer-unit is called 'Rowan' and a girl is called
'Sherpa'. The Explorers are considered to be able to plan
and carry out the activities and projects on their own. They
are supported by one or two adults. Most Explorer-units are
mixed boys and girls. The uniform of the Explorers is a
brique (red) blouse and most units consist of 6-16
Explorers.
JONGERENTAK (Rover Scouts), Age: 17-23.
The age-group 17-23 is called 'Jongerentak', which can be
translated to 'Youth-branch'. A member of the Jongerentak is
called a Pivo (plural: Pivo's), and that's short for
'_PI_onier' and '_VO_ortrekker', which were the old names
for the boys and girls in the age-group 17-23 before the
union of the five Scouting organisations in 1973. A group of
Pivo's is called a 'Stam'. They are, for their activities
and projects, completely on their own. There is no
continuous 'adult'-leader support or supervision (since all
members of 18+ are adults themselves), but if needed, they
can ask advice from a 'Stam-Adviseur' (i.e. someone with a
lot of (Scouting related) experience). Pivo's are mixed boys
and girls. The basic uniform of the Pivo's is a brique (red)
blouse, like the Explorers. A lot of the Pivo-units
('Stammen') develop their own logo and silk-print it on a
sweater, and use it as uniform.
In Holland we have a number of special interest units for
Pivo's, which have members spread over the country:
_Name_ _Speciality_
R.I.S. (Radio Interesse Stam): Radio amateurs.
Explo-Stam: Outdoor Activities.
Hillary-Stam: Hikes/trekking
L.L.Z.S. (Landelijke Loodsen Zeezeil Stam):
Sailing on the Sea.
Brandweer-Stam 'Fire-Brigade'.
Motor-Stam Motor-bicycles.
M.E.S (Medische en EHBO Stam) First-Aid.
OTHER 'TYPES' OF SCOUTING:
The description of the Scouting sections above is based on
troops that have their activities on 'land'. Holland also
has many Sea-Scout troops near rivers and lakes, a few Air-
Scout troops and a few Scouting Music-bands.
PHYSICALY OR MENTALY DISABLED SCOUTS.
Disabled Scouts (I mean: members of Scouting, not only the
age-group 10-15) join, where possible, 'normal' troops and
play with the non-disabled Scouts. If such an integration is
not possible they can join a 'BE/BV'-troop, in which more
knowledge and skills are available in dealing with the
Scouts' special needs.
INTERNATIONAL CAMPS IN THE NETHERLANDS:
Of course you all know of (at least one(!) of) the
international camps coming up in Holland in 1994 and 1995.
At the risk of telling you things you already know I will
mention them here:
EUROPEAN JAMBOREE 1994.
Date: From August 1st to August 11th.
Where: Dronten, Holland.
Age: 11-14.
Theme of the camp will be: 'Join The Stars'.
The organisation expects 8000 Scouts or more.
WORLD JAMBOREE 1995.
Date: From August 1st to August 11th.
Where: Dronten, Holland.
Age: 14-18.
The theme of the camp will be: 'Future Is Now'.
The organisation expects 30.000 Scouts.
Yep, that's right. The World Jamboree is on the same date
and place as the European Jamboree the year before. You can
think of the European Jamboree as a try-out of the World
Jamb on a smaller scale. The World Jamboree is, originally,
a WOSM-activity; but since Scouting in Holland is mixed, we
want the World Jamboree to be a camp for boys JUST AS WELL
AS FOR GIRLS. The only problem is, I heared, that *some*
WOSM-members do not allow girls to be in "their" contingent.
I, personally, think that's a pitty. Come on boys, make some
room and give the girls a place in your contingent. Scouting
is for everyone!
Of course, there is much more to say about Scouting in
Holland, but for now I think I've typed enough to give you a
rough impression. More information on Scouting in the
Netherlands can always be obtained through your
International Commissioners or International Departments of
the National Bureaus. If you have any questions on the text
above, please feel free to ask (mail) me.
Yours in Scouting,
Olaf N.E. Tuinder.
Yggdrasil-Stam,
Scouting Die Wiltgraeff,
Wageningen, Holland.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
