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

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

organization of

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. 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 international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...

(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 has been Rwa ...

. 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 Germany's many Scouting organizations. The Catholic association has about 95,000 members of both genders.http://www.dpsg.de/dpsg/zahle ...

, 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 S ...

and the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

Program and ideals

The RSA is divided in four branches: *

Cub Scouts Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...

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

Rover Scouts Rover Scouts, Rovers, Rover Scouting or Rovering is a program associated with some Scouting organizations for adult men and women. A group of Rovers is called a 'Rover Crew'. Rovers was originated by The Scout Association, The Boy Scouts Assoc ...

(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, ''Ube Maso'' in

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where there ...

, 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