As the sun peeped over the horizon on Wednesday, August 1, Scouts all over Namibia were gathered to face the early-morning rays and renew their Scout Promise to celebrate worldwide Scouting’s 100th anniversary. IN Windhoek (at the highest point, the Water Reservoir called the „Ice Cream Cone“) the ceremony was really impressive - with i.a. the Mayor, Matthew Shikongo and Harold Pupkewitz, an ardent scout at 92 years of age (!) attending!
The reaffirmation of the Scout Promise – a pledge made by every boy, girl and adult leader who joins the Scout Movement – was repeated at sunrise for 24 continuous hours in every corner of the globe, starting in New Zealand and Australia and concluding in Alaska and Hawaii, as Combretum Regional Commissioner Ben Strohbach told some 150 people who had come to support the Scouts and Cubs.
They had pooled their finances to buy blankets for underprivileged Windhoek residents and soccer balls for needy schools as a “Good Turn” to the community.
The Chief Scout of Namibia, Thomas Amutenya, meanwhile renewed his promise during a ceremony in Ohangwena Region and the national president of Scouts of Namibia, Nico Kaiyamo, joined Scouts in Tsumeb as they assembled at the local “Tupper-ware” reservoir – the town’s best vantage point for watching the sun rise – to reaffirm their promise and invest several recruits as new Scouts.
The united action accentuated the “One World, One Promise” theme of Scouting’s Centenary and recalled the first-ever Scout camp on Brownsea Island in southern England, which was opened with a blast on a horn made from a kudu antler by Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the Founder of the Scouting Movement, on the morning of August 1, 1907.
More than 40,000 Scouts from around the world – including a 22-member contingent from Namibia – are currently gathered in Chelmsford, England, for the 21st World Scout Jamboree. They, too, renewed their Scout Promise at sunrise on August 1 at Chelmsford and at the original campsite on Brownsea Island, highlighting what was truly an international event.
In addition to Centenary events, Scout associations worldwide have contributed a “Gift for Peace” to their individual national communities as a gesture of goodwill and an outward expression of Scouting’s endeavour to be of service to humanity. Scouts of Namibia has developed a project entitled “Combating Domestic Violence” and is in the process of training Scout leaders and other young adults how to resolve family conflict in a peaceful manner.

When the first rays of the rising sun appeared, the Scout and Cub Promises were re-confirmed - and everybody sang “Morning has broken”. Regional Commissioner Ben Strohbach explained the Sunrise of Scouting, an international event on 1 Auigust highlighting the Centenary of Scouting all over the world...