On Wednesday September 16, 2015, Apia Samoa Central Stake Youth set out for their
annual camp in Tafatafa, Falealii. Both Young Women and Young Men went to the same area, but camped at separate locations, a remote area about two hour’s drive from home. The young men Scouts cleared the area, and set up their tents in the heavy rain, praying for fine weather, and soon the sun came out.
Eight units from the stake were all intensively competing to beautify their own campsite with plants and flowers, that they found in the scrubland. Each unit was assigned a specific wild life creature as a symbol of their own strength, Alamagoto - Cobra; Alafua - Tiger; Pesega 2- Eagle; Motootua 1 - Rooster; Motootua 2 - Lion; Vailima - Wolf; Vaimoso - Scorpion; and Vaoala - Bear.
At the opening ceremony, the scouts opened with their Scout Oath, Laws and Motto;
raised the Samoan flag, and sang the national anthem with pride and honour. The Stake President, President H. Jason Joseph who is also the Scout Chief, opened the camp with his remarks and a blessing.
More than 200 youth participated in this annual event.
The Scoutmaster, President Lander Fuimaono explained, “This year we decided to honour once again the early pioneer camps, and reflect upon the Pioneers and all that they went through while trying to build the Kingdom of God in the early days. We promoted the life of a boy scout, how to survive in the forest; how to treat one another; and how to be independent, especially when they become missionaries in the near future; how to be wise enough to make their own decisions; cook their own food; budget their own money; nurse themselves; and learn how to become spiritually independent when alone in the midst of the jungle, or the world. One other main focus was to ponder on the nature around them, and be grateful for God’s creations, especially the gift of LIFE.”
The scouts really enjoyed working on their projects building high towers, tables, dish racks and monkey bridges. During workshops, they were taught the basic knowledge of how to survive in the bush, first aid, life-saving, tying knots, and physical and spiritual fitness. They also built campfires, and made bright guiding lights from candles and banana trunks.
While the scouts were engaged in their Scout and Duty to God activities, the young women on the other side were having fun with their activities. They got to know one another, and made new friends. Then followed workshops of Outdoor Cooking, First Aid, personal hygiene, souvenir camp-crafts, a talent show, Zumba fitness, and fun games and activities. But the highlight was their standard night with the theme: “Be your own kind of beautiful”. Each ward was given the opportunity to create something out of newspaper, plastic and toilet paper. The originality and creativity of FASH-AMAZING dresses that were modelled, was just beyond beautiful. They performed a service project to plant more trees on the campsite. They closed their camp activities with a sunrise testimony meeting.
The camp was officially closed by President Joseph with his closing remarks, followed by the boy scouts who lowered the flag, and saluted the stake leaders for a wonderful, memorable and unforgettable camp.
Written by Esther Key