JEDDAH, 25 December 2006 — As Haj approaches and millions of pilgrims pour into the holy cities, around 2,300 Saudi scouts from the Kingdom’s universities, teachers’ colleges, technical education and industrial education colleges have stepped into their annual roles as guides, information officers and to serve as general support and assistance to the pilgrims. The Kingdom’s high schools are providing 1,254 of these goodwill ambassadors.
These scouts are available at the Haj General Services Camps, which the Saudi Arabian Scouts Society supervises.
According to the head of Haj General Services Camps, Yousif Al-Manea, the scouts have had about six months of training at periodic workshops.
King Saud ibn Muhammad University came in the first place with the largest number of scouts volunteering to work at Haj this year. The university offered six teams with a total of 84 scouts while King Abdul Aziz University and King Saud University came second with each participating with five teams and a total of 70 scouts from each of the universities.
In addition, Taif University, Qasim University and Taibah University each offered three teams with 42 scouts. Um Al-Qura University participated with two teams with a total of 14 scouts the same as King Faisal University, King Khaled University and King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals.
The colleges of teaching, which are spread in various cities around the country, participated with 12 teams of 168 scouts, while the Technical Education Colleges offered nine teams with 126 scouts. Jubail Industrial College too participated with one team as Yanbu Industrial College and the Royal Commission in Jubail.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the first time requested these scouts’ help at slaughterhouses during Haj.
Al-Manea also said that facilities are made this year to enable smoother services such as the fully-equipped electronic camps and Internet system in all camps.
