The Rwanda Scouts Association (RSA; formerly in French ''Association des Scouts du Rwanda'') is the national

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

organization of

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. Scouting in Rwanda was founded in 1940 and became a member of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

(WOSM) in 1975. The coeducational association has 18,884 members (as of 2008).

History

Scouting in Rwanda began in 1940. In the following years a number of different associations developed. In 1966, these formed a joint body, the ''Association des Scouts du Rwanda'', which was admitted to WOSM in 1975. The RSA hosted the African Scout Conference from September 3 to 7, 2007, in La Palisse Hotel in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

. This conference, preceded by the 4th Africa Scout Youth Forum, held on August 30 to September 2, 2007, had as a topic ''Scouting, an education for a peaceful world, united against violence''. The RSA is supported by a number of European and American Scout associations, including the German

Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg The Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg (DPSG, ''German Scout Association Saint George'') is the largest of Scouting and Guiding in Germany, Germany's many Scouting organizations. The Roman Catholic Church, Catholic association has about 95,00 ...

, the Belgian

Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen (Scouts and Guides of Flanders) is a coeducational, Flemish Scout and Guide organisation in Belgium and is a member of the Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique/Gidsen- en Scoutsbeweging in België (GSB, Guides and Scouts ...

, the

Association des Scouts du Canada L'Association des Scouts du Canada (ASC) is a Canadian Scouting organization. ASC is a World Organization of the Scout Movement "affiliated organization" through affiliation with Scouts Canada. Scouts du Canada primarily serves French speaking Sc ...

and the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

Program and ideals

The RSA is divided in four branches: *

Cub Scouts Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scouting, Scout organizations, for young children, usually between 8 and 12, who are too young to be Scouts and make the Scout Promise. A participant in the program is called a Cub and a gro ...

(ages 8 to 12) * Scouts (ages 13 to 15) * Companions (ages 16 to 18) *

Rover Scouts Rovers or Rovering is a programme associated with some Scout organizations for adults, originated by The Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom in 1918 to provide a programme for young men who had grown up beyond the age range of the Boy ...

(ages 19 to 25) The

Scout Motto The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of t ...

is ''Be Prepared'', ''Uwe Tayari'' in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

, ''Ube Maso'' in

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in adjacent parts of the Democratic Republic of the ...

, and ''Sois Prêt'' in French.

References

External links

Official website

Longer description of the RSA

Scout Network of the Great Lakes
{{Authority control World Organization of the Scout Movement member organizations Scouting and Guiding in Rwanda Youth organizations established in 1966 1966 establishments in Rwanda

History

Program and ideals

See also

References

Further reading

External links