S. Korea: Scouts camp nightmare

The four yearly scout jamboree, this year based in South Korea, has had to be abandoned after being assailed by a series of problems.

Things started going downhill from the very start, even as the first attendees were turning up at the campsite. A sweltering heatwave caused numerous young scouts to collapse from exhaustion and as a result, first aid responders were swamped, as well as hampered by limited water supplies.

That was the stage when British and American scout groups withdrew from the rally.

To add to the growing catalogue of disasters, there were concerns over food provision with regard to those with special dietary needs, and also poor sanitation. Then the scouts were plagued by an infestation of enormous mosquitoes.

Given that each scout was required to raise funds of about £3500 to participate, the event was a massive let-down and Austrian scout unit leader, Nicola Raunig, feels they definitely missed out.

Nicola Raunig: "I think it's sad because it feels like the participants, they cannot enjoy like the whole experience and that's why I'm sad because there would have been more they could have participated in."

The unexpected forecast of an imminent typhoon was the last straw and at that point, the campsite was closed up, with the remaining scouts bussed to the safety of university dormitories and other accommodation options in Seoul.

Although the scout motto is 'Be prepared', it appears that on this occasion considerably more needed to be done, so the South Korean press had a field day, describing the shambles as a 'national disgrace'.

Yet for scout Axel Scholl from Germany, the host nation merely deserves great sympathy.

Axel Scholl: "I feel very very sorry for the Korean nation and the Korean people because I think that they would have loved to present their country, their culture, their community in a more positive way."

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