The Association of Belarusian Guides (ABG, Ассоциация белорусских гайдов) is the

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian member organization of the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, ...

(WAGGGS), with a membership of 1,274

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

(as of 2003). Belarusian Guiding started in 1922 in the then

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

parts of present Belarus. In 1992, after the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the restart of Guiding was supported by WAGGGS; leader training was undertaken by the

Girl Guides Association of Cyprus The Girl Guides Association of Cyprus (GGCA, el, Σώμα Κυπρίων Οδηγών, ΣΚΟ) is the national Guiding association of Cyprus. Guiding in Cyprus started in 1912 and became a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl ...

. The association became a member of WAGGGS in 1996.

History

The initial development of Scouting in Belarus took place within the Russian Scout movement, as part of the

Russian empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. A Scout organization was founded in

Kletsk Kletsk ( be, Клецк, Klieck, originally known as ''Klechesk'', russian: Клецк, pl, Kleck, ) is a city in the Minsk Region of Belarus, located on the Lan River. In 2015 it had 11,237 inhabitants. History The town was founded in the 11 ...

, and Scouts appeared in

Nyasvizh Nesvizh, Niasviž ( be, Нясві́ж ; lt, Nesvyžius; pl, Nieśwież; russian: Не́свиж; yi, ניעסוויז; la, Nesvisium) is a city in Belarus. It is the administrative centre of the Nyasvizh District (''rajon'') of Minsk Region a ...

and other nearby

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

s. In 1929,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Methodists helped found a Girl Scout organization in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

. It lasted until 1929, but by the end of the 1920s, Scouting had been banned by the

, and Scout activities ended, with many

leaders Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

and members arrested and imprisoned. Emergence of democratic principles in the mid-1980s made possible the creation of alternatives to the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

pioneer organization The Pioneer Organization ( ro, Organizaţia Pionierilor) was a pioneer movement in Communist Romania, founded on April 30, 1949. Most students joined the organization while in the second grade and remained pioneers throughout eighth grade, there ...

s. Close connections were formed with

Guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Expl ...

and Scout organizations of many

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an countries, when

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

from areas affected by the

Chernobyl accident The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nu ...

were invited to summer camps abroad during the

Chernobyl Children's Project Chernobyl Children International (CCI) is a non-profit, international development, medical, and humanitarian organisation that works with children, families and communities that continue to be affected by the economic outcome of the 1986 Cherno ...

in 1990. Especially close links were developed with

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, and between

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

and the

Guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Expl ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. In 1992, Cyprus was officially appointed Link country to support the development of Guiding in Belarus, and in June 1993 the first conference of the Association of Belarusian Guides was held in Minsk. There is also a close link to

Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs (PPÖ; ''Austrian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides'') is the largest Scouting and Guiding organization in Austria and the only one approved by World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and t ...

in Austria. In 2000 a delegation of Association of Belarusian Guides took part in the Viennese International Regional Camp "Vienna 2000", in 2003 a delegation took part in the Freelife Jamboree in Upper Austria, in 2008 Guides from Belarus took part in AQUA!-The Water Jamboree also in Upper Austria and in spring 2009 a Guider from the Association of Belarusian Guides took part in the

Wood Badge Wood Badge is a Scouting leadership programme and the related award for adult leaders in the programmes of Scout associations throughout the world. Wood Badge courses aim to make Scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skill ...

training course of Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs. In 2003/04 the Austrian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides supported "Mediaboom", a project on media and journalism of the Belarusian Girl Guides. Since the

nuclear accident A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility. Examples include lethal effects to individuals, lar ...

Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...

, neighboring Belarus received some of the highest levels of

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

; the results of which can still be seen in the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and in the

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

of the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

. Svetlana Korotkevich, International Commissioner of the Association of Belarusian Girl Guides, is working on its Chernobyl project to raise awareness of the ongoing problems resulting from the disaster and to encourage associations in other countries to welcome groups of Belarusian

in order to give them a healthy break in a "clean" environment.

Emblem

The Association of Belarusian Guides' emblem features a

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

, one of Belarus' unofficial

national symbol A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an ...

References

External links

Homepage of the Association of Belarusian Guides
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association Of Belarusian Guides World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations Scouting and Guiding in Belarus Youth organizations established in 1992

History

Emblem

Further reading

See also

References

External links