Any of you who have or have had a Scout member in your family will know that the crux of the Scouting organisation is to promote peace in the community.

2007 sees the 100th Anniversary of this organisation and to mark the occasion, the World Bureau of Scouting has launched the Gift of Peace project. Every Scout group around the world will partake in this initiative– which will span a three-year period– and be centred on peace from a local, national and international perspective.

One group contributing to the peace project is Ringsend’s 4th Port Dodder Sea Scout Group, one of the first Scout groups to form in Ireland.

I spoke to Geraldine Smith, one of the Sea Scout Leaders, to find out what projects they had in store for the Beavers, Sea Cubs and Sea Scouts in their group.

The ‘Good Deed’ challenge is a project that will run from the 17th March until the 2nd of April, 2006. During this time, each Scout will carry out a daily ‘Good Deed’ for someone in the community. Good deeds can be as simple as washing dishes or making someone a cup of tea.

It is similar to the old Scouting challenge, Bob-A-Jobbing, except there is no money involved in any part of this project. Any reward received is from the good feeling experienced by doing something for another. To ensure the group’s safety and wellbeing, the younger Scouts will undertake their ‘Good Deed’ challenge at home while the older ones will offer their services to neighbours and the elderly.

The effect of this challenge should not be underestimated because if every Scout successfully completes this challenge, at least one quarter to one third of the Irish population will have experienced an act of kindness.

But that’s only part of the ‘Gift of Peace’ project. Another important part of the project includes the filling of Aqua Boxes– an idea that arose after the Tsunami disaster. This project involves each Scout sourcing items from home e.g. cooking utensils, to fill a dual-functioning aid box.

When filled, the box will contain all the essential items a family of six would need to survive in an emergency situation. When emptied, the box can be used to filter approx 1,000 litres of clean water. Each of the boxes is numbered and will be tracked to its aid location so that the Scout group will know how their efforts have helped people in need.

We would like to wish Geraldine Smith and her Sea Scout Group all the best in the undertaking of this special project. Under the guidance of Geraldine and other Scout leaders, young people learn to appreciate people and nature which empowers them to become better citizens

Geraldine is keen to dispel the notion that Scouts are all uniform and badges and judging by the amount of good work they do, nothing could be further from the truth. It’s heartening to know that such a worthy organisation has survived a sometimes cynical and mistrusting world.

‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world’. Anne Frank

(In honour of my late Uncle Benny, Scout Leader of Donagh Parish, Monaghan, who organised many fun-filled camping trips to Larch Hill in Dublin).