May 18-May 21, 2012 Scouting and 4-H End of Year Adventures!

     For the last month, I have been saying, “If I can just get through the month of May, then I’ll have a chance to breath, relax, catch up on my blog and upkeep on my house,” etc…and whew, it’s almost here.  If you have been a follower of my blog in the past, you know how much I tend to take on in terms of work, home, and volunteer commitments.  Some weeks, there is not one evening free to just be at home, and we often don’t eat until almost 8 pm, then it’s straight to bed to try and get some rest for school and work the next day. Yes, even life on an island can be overscheduled.  Just because there’s no malls, movie theaters, or long drives to and from all the after school events our kids are involved in, it seems to make people want to sign up for even more things to fill up their days, me included.  The two things though that I am most pleased about my boys and myself being involved in the last few years is the Cub/Boy Scouts and 4-H Clubs.  I was never a girl scout nor was I in 4-H growing up.  I don’t even think 4-H was ever available to me as I lived in the city, and in Alabama, 4-H is mostly offered in the rural farming areas because kids in the country don’t have all the other after school opportunities available to kids living in a city.  Unfortunately, I think I really missed out in that way, so that’s probably why I’ve enjoyed being a leader in 4-H and Scouts so much because I am learning right along with the kids and being a kid again myself in certain ways that I didn’t have the chance to do before. Don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of extra-curricular activities with piano, dance, gymnastics, church choir and youth group, but my children don’t have as many opportunities for that kind of stuff here, and the scouting and 4-H organizations fill that void in a very meaningful way!

     The past 2 weeks, we finished up our final scouting events, including making and testing our own kites in the Wolf Den for which I am the leader (or Akela as they call it), and we had our last big Pack event with a campout for all the scout, Cubs and Boys down at the beach.  Unfortunately, it started pouring rain on Thursday and hasn’t really stopped until this morning, but that’s okay. We still camped in the rain (although as my fiancé and I watched the rain until late that evening from a covered pavilion near the campsite, several families ended up biking home during one of the lulls in the rain since many of their tents were not made for our “monsoon” type weather and were flattened on the ground or at least leaking heavily), and despite the wet weather, the young boys couldn’t have loved it more. For them, it was an excuse to get out and play in the rain, and what better activities are there in life for some rough and tumble island kids than jumping in puddles and catching crabs on the beach in the warm rain!

     Unlike many of the other families’ tents, the tent my finance and I stayed in made it through despite the fact that we had to set it back up on the patio at home the next morning to dry it out, and my boys both stayed with friends in 2 man tents that held up very well. It was a perfect way to end the scouting year.  I watched my oldest move up from a Webelos Scout to a Boy Scout, which is very exciting for him. And I got to lead my Wolves in becoming Bear Scouts next year, and we had more fun than I ever could have imagined I would as my group of 5 boys are some of the most rambunctious on the atoll, but you gotta love that energy which never fades. J   I’m so proud of them both and proud to have been such a big part of their scouting journey this year.  The scouts provide not only character education, but a wide variety of various experiences and exposure to all aspects of life, academics, and most of all, they teach responsibility and how these boys can take care of themselves and contribute to their families and communities in a big way while having fun doing it!  

     To continue wrapping up my many commitments this year, today we have our final 4-H event of the year, a cookout at the beach! It’s been another great year for me in 4-H leading my Ebeye Citizenship group, and I can’t wait to see them one more time this evening before we are break for the summer.  I’ve lead this club for 4 years now, and every year, I consider whether or not it’s time to pass on the torch or possibly end this chapter in the life of the Citizenship Club, and every year, I decide to keep going, and it always turns out to be worth the effort as I watch our Marshallese and American kids enjoy their monthly meetings together giving back to the community and each other in such a meaningful way.  I have found since living here that I am feel most fulfilled when I am giving back to others in some way, when I am investing time in teaching and guiding people, especially children and young people.  Whether it’s reading to my son’s second grade class and talking about what we have read afterwards or leading a group of kids in planting a garden or cleaning up school grounds and talking about the importance of taking pride in and care of nature and our environments, I am content when doing these things, even when it takes time away from me cleaning my house or getting other important chores done.  It’s these memories I will cherish most when I leave the atoll and when my own children grow up and become too old to be a part of these groups. I do hope their experiences in 4-H and Scouting will stick with them, and that they will find the same joy in teaching others through these types of organizations and maybe, just maybe decide to become leaders for their own children or someone else’s because these are the important things which life is made of, rich character building experiences and camping in the rain while loving every minute of it!