Association of Belarusian Guides: Difference between revisions

The initial development of Scouting in Belarus took place within the [[Scouting in Russia|Russian Scout movement]], as part of the Russian empire. A Scout organization was founded in Kletsk, and Scouts appeared in Nyasvizh and other nearby villages. In 1929, American Methodists helped found a Girl Scout organization in Vilna. It lasted until 1929, but by the end of the 1920s, Scouting had been banned by the Soviet Union, and Scout activities ended, with many leaders and members arrested and imprisoned.  

Emergence of democratic principles in the mid1980s made possible the creation of alternatives to the Communist pioneer organizations. Close connections were formed with [[Girl Guide|Guide]] and Scout organizations of many European countries, when children from areas affected by the Chernobyl accident were invited to summer camps abroad during the Chernobyl Children's Project in 1990. Especially close links were developed with [[Girl Guides Association of Cyprus|Cyprus]], and between Minsk and the [[Girlguiding UK|Guides]] of Lincolnshire. In 1992, Cyprus was officially appointed Link country to support the development of Guiding in Belarus, and in June 1993 the first conference of the Association of Belarusian Guides was held in Minsk.

Since the [[nuclear accident]] at Chernobyl, neighboring Belarus received some of the highest levels of [[radiation]]; the results of which can still be seen in the [[wikt:environment|environment]] and in the [[health]] of the [[population]]. Svetlana Korotkevich, International Commissioner of the Association of Belarusian Girl Guides, is working on its Chernobyl project to raise awareness of the ongoing problems resulting from the disaster and to encourage associations in other countries to welcome groups of Belarusian children in order to give them a healthy break in a "clean" environment.

 

*Belarusian Republican Youth Union