MAKKAH: Boy scouts play a major role in helping pilgrims in Makkah during Ramadan and the Haj. They offer support to security and medical services besides helping charity organizations in supplying food to the pilgrims.
Nabil Taib, supervisor of Scouting Activities at the Education Department in the province, who is also the commander of the Ramadan Scouts Program, told Arab News yesterday that the scouts do a commendable service to pilgrims, particularly the sick and illiterate ones.
“The scouts work at the health centers inside the Grand Mosque and Ajyad Hospital and help the security men in regulating the crowds inside the Grand Mosque. They also participate in the anti-smoking campaigns aimed at pilgrims. They help charity organizations to distribute fast-breaking packets,” Taib said.
The scouting supervisor put the number of scouts undertaking voluntary service in and around the Grand Mosque at 350 while their number was 250 scouts last year. They are aged between 15 and 18 years and assigned duties matching their physical capability because on several occasions their duties are extremely trying. Only boys who can withstand tough physical environments are assigned to difficult positions, Taib added.
“We select scouts for Haj and Umrah duties if only they have acquired previous experience as participants in traffic weeks or Civil Defense activities. They will also attend a brief training course in crowd management,” he said.
They begin work in the afternoon prayer and go home after midnight, he added.
He added that the scouts are not paid for their services but they will be given certificates of appreciation and medal besides some gifts. Only Saudi scouts participate in the duties at the holy city.
Ali Ibrahim, a high school finalist, said he has been serving as a scout in Makkah over the past six years.
“I report at the camp in the afternoon and go for my duties which include distribution of breakfast packets to those people coming to the Haram till sunset. At night I join a team that campaigns against smoking at different locations around the Grand Mosque. By midnight we return home feeling happy about the service we could offer to the pilgrims,” boy said. A scout captain, Marwan Suleiman, said he attended most of the scout camps in Makkah over the past seven years in a row. “Now I am in command of a group of 30 scouts that mostly undertake anti-smoking campaigns organized by the Ministry of Health or the Makkah Governorate. We go around the courtyards around the mosque looking for smokers with whom we discuss the hazards of smoking. We also distribute booklets and flyers besides small gifts to those who participate in our small meetings. Some of us speak English, Urdu or other Asian languages,” he said.
Ameen Ahmad who participated in all the scouting programs in the region over the past eight years said he was a scout supervisor of a group whose major task was to regulate the entry of patients to the Ajyad Hospital.
They guide serious cases to the emergency ward on the first floor and direct ordinary patients to the second floor of the hospital.
“In the course of my voluntary work I have met different kinds of people from various countries and learned several things. Humanitarian service is indeed an elevating experience,” Ahmad said.
