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9th-16th April 2007 - Study Visit
The UK-Arab Region National Scout Fellowship first study visit.
Purpose The purpose of the April 2007 Study visit to Tunisia was to introduce new members to Scouting in the Arab region, develop links with Scouting in Tunisia and to carry out initial studies towards the organisation of an Explorer Belt Expedition during 2007 in Southern Tunisia. Participants The group of 11 were of a very mixed nature. Four had previously taken part in the study visit to Cairo, and just four were previously members of the fellowship, all participants have become members of the fellowship for one year. The groups ages ranged from 20 to 70 and their were 8 males and 4 females, including a mother and son. The participants included an individual from Leeds who was born in Tunisia and whose family still live in Bizarte. The group generally got on very well although at times a little extra patience and tolerance was required by some participants. Organisation The UK end of the organisation was carried out by Steve Morton who arranged flights, coordinated payments etc, and developed the plans with Tunisian contacts. Initial work was carried out by Wahid Labidi and the itinerary was arranged by Fauzi Chauch, the visit was supported on a 24/7 basis by Slim Guizani. Additional support was provided by other members of the Tunisian International and Programme teams. The study visit was led by Steve Morton and supported by Slim Guizanni. Although he was a participant, Lassaad Laouini became a key member of the team translating and facilitating negotiation with locals in shops etc. Itinerary 9 April 2007 – On arrival in Tunis we were greeted by Slim and travelled to the Hotel xxxx by taxi, following a little negotiating the fee paid was 10 Dinar (2.5 Dinar to the £) per taxi. After a brief rest we met for lunch in the hotel and walked to Tunis Centre. After a short time here we walked caught a tram (extremely good value, if a little crammed) to Carthage, as the visitor centre was due to close imminently we decided to return the next morning. We returned to the tram and travelled to Sidi-Bou Said and explored the wonderful coastal resort. Before returning to the hotel for the night we ate out in a city centre restaurant (again very good value at approx 7-8 Dinar per person. 10 April 2007 – An early start led us to Carthage, where we visited the museum, spa baths, villa, and theatre. Viewing these historic sites and learning more about BC history. This would be an excellent half day/day visit for young people in any section. We returned to Tunis and boarded a train to Gabes, this was a 5.5 hour journey. The train was exceptionally comfortable and spacious and the service was outstanding (including a free beverage). The journey cost just 20 Dinar per person. On arrival we were met by the local commissioner and spent the night at a Scout centre within a secure compound owned by the Ministry for Youth. 11 April 2007 – We were met by the mini coach which would transport us for the remaining period of our stay. Following a short journey we arrived at the ferry port for Jerba, the ferry appeared similar in standard to UK ferries. Following a traditional lunch and checking into a traditional hotel, the afternoon was spent visiting the tourist areas of the town including a retail and wild animal centre (this was very westernised). A later visit to a small pottery factory was very interesting and included a small caving exercise to the point where they extract the clay. 12 April 2007 – A return journey on the ferry followed by a bus ride into the desert led us to a small remote village which was in the shadow of a hillside derelict ancient town. A brief stop at the village showed how friendly the residents are and a short period listening demonstrated the vast amount of wildlife, it was a very rare sound indeed. A little further we reached the town of Matmata and visited an underground house complex (now a hotel) which was used for the filming of Star Wars. A 2 hour journey across the desert with no villages led us to Douz. After checking into the secure hostel type centre we returned to the bus we headed into the desert where we met a herd of camels. The majority of the group took a ride on the camels (a few of which also went horse riding), a few chose to go quad biking instead of camel riding. We were taken from the camel rides to Douz Scout group, where we were greeted by 4 patrols of Singing Scouts (male and female) and their leaders, a very enjoyable hour was spent with these young people and exploring the Scout Headquarters. We were briskly ushered the 100M down the road to meet the Mayor, who had arranged a Civic reception for us. Following cordial greetings, a little food and drink and a photo we returned to the hostel to change. We were taken to a B&B type establishment where we were shown how traditional bread is cooked in the desert and we were fed a traditional Saharan dinner with a traditional native musician. This was particularly interesting as the local commissioners had clearly tried to show us the real people of the town and support the poorer elements of society. 13 April 2007 - We returned to the B&B establishment for Breakfast before crossing the Salt Lake to Tozeur. Crossing the Salt lake on the one road which crosses it was quite an experience. The wind blew salt and fine sand across the road which made the road look foggy. We stopped on a couple of occasions to explore landmarks and take photos, this would be of great interest to Explorer Scouts as a place absent of life. We arrived at Tozeur before lunch so checked into the hotel and had lunch before visiting the zoo. Whilst at the small zoo we looked at native animals to the Sahara ranging from snakes, reptiles, insects, to Lions, Monkeys, Camels and wild dogs. We were soon whisked to the local Medina where many souvenirs were purchased and to the old town which has its own unique way of arranging the masonry. Following a further one hour drive we arrived in the desert close to the Algerian border were e rode camels into the sunset, another magnificent sight. Although we thought this was the end of the day, we returned to the hotel for dinner and were taken out again 10:30 PM to visit a theme park which demonstrates the history of the earth and mankind from the big bang to civilisation, and includes the formation of religion through to Islam. This is an exceptionally good visit for all sections from Scouts up. Although our guests had planned a further visit to another museum we requested that we give this a miss as we had a long day the following day. 14 April 2007 – A very early start to what was to be a very long day and long bus journey. The first visit was at an oasis Chebika where we were able to walk through the sanstone to a secluded pool and waterfall, again there was a lot of wildlife. The location has become a little commercialised but is still a very nice spot indeed. 45 minutes later we visited another oasis at Tamerza, this time it was smaller but with a very nice waterfall. This was the beginning of a long journey to Sbe tla to visit the roman remains, the remains have clearly been restored in places, but are still well worth visiting. These are amongst the best Roman remains in the world and consist of 3 temples with foundations remaining for the town, churches (obviously a later development), olive oilery, and a theatre. Another long journey took us past Tunisia’s highest mountain Dj. Chaanbi, to Kasaourin. Due to our late arrival we were unable to go inside the Mosque, but we were able to view it from above from a nearby property, one member of the group was a Muslim and therefore entered to pray and took photos from inside. This Mosque is the 4th most important location in Islam. A quick visit to the Medina and dinner before we had a relatively short bus journey to the hostel in Sousse. This hostel had particularly low hygiene and cleanliness standards, proving that there are lower quality hostels available. Sadly this was at the end of a second very long day which made the situation worse. 15 April 2007 - At 10am we visited the Sousse Scout Headquarters, this group was formed by a former Prime Minister and the latest HQ was paid for by the President who comes from Sousse. The centre is built within a 3 story building and its grounds. It includes separate rooms for each section (boys and girls separate, a main hall, an IT suite, a Radio Comms room, an assault course and a quadrangle for “drill” and exercises. The group were amazed at the luxurious environment and the pictures of activities on the wall, it was certainly a demonstration of the money invested in the group. On leaving the HQ we briefly visited Port xxx, which is a tourist resort with a harbour full of yachts. This would be similar to taking Scouts on camp to Torquay or Poole. The brief visit was followed by a bus journey to Tunis where we checked into the hotel, and rushed out again to visit Bizarte. Bizarte is a coastal town on the Mediterranean at the most northern point of Africa. At first we visited the old Scout HQ which was up a set of steep spiral stairs and consisted of 3 small rooms, but very practical rooms. We were then walked about 1KM to their new HQ, which was jointly funded with a local café owner who runs a café on the ground floor. This HQ consists of a large hall, IT suite, numerous offices, section meeting rooms, a board room, and a coffee room, all of which have marble floors. The Coffee room also has an enormous chandelier. This was far superior to anything in the UK. The Scouts presented us with a wood and cardboard boat as a souvenir of our visit – sadly we were unable to transport this so it will arrive at the Jamboree with the Tunisian Contingent! 16 April 2007 – After packing we visited the National Association Headquarters. Here we viewed the various gifts they have received from foreign associations – noticeably nothing from the UK. We met the Chief Executive and were formally welcomed by him, after an exchange of formalities, gifts and photos it was time to depart for the airport and our return to the UK. Scouting Scouting appeared to be strong in most large towns across the country. Scouting appears to be based in a few larger groups of approximately 250 – 300 people. Although the association provides Scouting for both girls and Scouts, they are generally trained separately and are effectively Guides and Scouts as part of one association. The sections are broken down as follows
Due to cultural reasons there is no senior section for females. The male uniforms are similar in style to 1980’s UK uniform but slightly more military in style with no beret. The girls wear a white pilot shirt type uniform. To confuse issues the Commissioners and National team members also wear white shirts whether male or female. The earning and wearing of badges seemed to vary greatly similar to the UK. Scouting appears to be very much based on traditional Scouting techniques combined with environmental projects, community support and singing. Although they were very smart at drill, very few leaders wore uniform. The Neckerchief is a clearly identifiable garment amongst the greater population and is a sign of a good member of the community to be respected. This was considered to be a sign of the identification which Scouting receives. Another sign is the private and public investment into Scout HQ’s. Frequently land is provided to groups by the local authority, local companies have contributed to construction costs of HQ, and in other cases the Prime Minister and President have invested time and money in Scout property projects. The HQ’s range from small side rooms to huge 3 storey purpose built establishments, one of which was furnished in marble and leather. There was a little suspicion regarding the practicality of some HQs and for whom they were actually built. Culture Tunisian culture appears to be a very pleasant blend of Arab and Western cultures. It is far more relaxed than other Islamic countries, the group felt that the country had sadly chosen to lose some of its identity in favour of income from tourism. Most women dress in a generally modest western way, rarely wearing headdress. A less modest dress code by visitors appears to be accepted away from Mosques. Away from the towns and cities it is more common to see women dressed in traditional clothing. Although most people do not drink alcohol, it did not take long to find alcohol, people who drank alcohol or drunks. Smoking as would be expected of a Mediterranean country is highly prevalent, as is the smoking of Shisha amongst older men. The people are extremely friendly, welcoming and supportive, it would be easy to misunderstand this behaviour as someone who will be seeking a tip for their assistance. The countries rich history probably contributes towards its culture and behaviour of its population. Romans, Greeks, Persians, and Arabs have all influenced society as has Judaism, Christianity and ultimately Islam. This has resulted in generally high standards of behaviour, sadly western culture has influenced some elements of society. During large Football matches the entire system appears to be shutdown to control hooligans, our experience stretched as far as fuel stations being closed by the National Guard to prevent trouble by opposing football fans. The rich history has also left a large array of ancient monuments such as Carthage, El Jem and Sbe tla. Infrastructure and Facilities Once again we were very pleasantly surprised by the infrastructure in Tunisia. Generally it is much the same as parts of Spain, Italy or Greece. The roads are in good condition but far short of UK Motorway standards. The railway service is sparse but very effective where it exists, and the service on board the train is exceptional. The airport is certainly to the same standards as many European airports and comparable with airports such as Luton, Manchester or Birmingham. Although old landline phones are still in use the mobile phone coverage is very good. At no point did we lose a phone signal even when we were an hours drive away from housing in the middle of the Sahara. Shops, fuel, and other resources are easily available throughout the country. Most towns and villages sell locally grown produce which may require selection to ensure you vegetables are the right shape and have the right amount of shine etc. Although we were advised that both Visa and MasterCard were accepted in Tunisia they did occasionally cause difficulties. A large number of ATMs do not appear to accept MasterCard and some do not appear to accept Visa. Some retailers and hotels display Visa and MasterCard signs but do not accept one or the other card. Tunisia also appears to be listed by UK banks as an at risk area, so in order to prevent cards being suspended it is worthwhile informing the card issuer that you are visiting Tunisia before you leave. Explorer Belt One of the key purposes of the visit was to identify the region in which we would arrange an Explorer Belt Expedition during 2008. Having studied the proximity of shops, villages, water supplies, roads, hospitals and accessibility from central base it was decided to base the project in Gabes. Initial ideas are that on arrival in Tunisia the participants would be transported to Gabes by Train and spend a couple of days acclimatising and preparing in Gabes/Jerba based at the Scout Centre in Gabes. As the mini coach used was exceptionally good we would choose to hire this again to distribute participants to start their expedition. It is envisaged that key drop off points would be Matmata and Douz. The core team would then hire cars to support participants if necessary. Studies showed that there are plenty of villages on these routes to sources food, water and accommodation and meet local people. Whilst travelling we discussed the Explorer Belt with residents and they expressed their keenness to host travelling Scouts next year. It is planned to integrate Tunisian Scouts into the UK teams where possible to enhance the cultural experience and to assist with any potential language barriers in the remote areas. Enquiries were made regarding mixed teams, and we were advised that it was culturally acceptable for mixed sex teams to take part, but it was decided to avoid this where possible. A core team of 6 has now been formed to manage this project which includes a Tunisian born Arabic/French speaker. Summary This was a very successful visit, which provided the fellowship with an extensive amount of information. It’s key achievements were;
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Easter 2008 - Explorer Belt Expedition
Information to follow after the event.
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