The Pater Anton Donicie Scout Group in Suriname marked the 167th birthday of scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell with a weekend of traditional activities that tested both culinary skills and character development. The centerpiece event featured a cook-out where scouts prepared meals exclusively over wood fires, embracing the movement’s back-to-basics philosophy.
The most anticipated culinary experiment involved baking chicken pastry in an underground oven—a pit dug into the earth and heated with charcoal. While Sheritsa consulted her mother by phone for cassava preparation advice, Jo-Sara diligently maintained the soup kettle’s wood fire. Other patrols struggled with fundamental tasks: chopping wood proved challenging, and onion preparation brought tears to many young scouts’ eyes.
Saturday’s installation ceremony at Sunny Point saw formal induction of new cub scouts and explorers, with visibly proud parents participating in the tradition of presenting flowers and placing caps on their children. Bystanders from the neighborhood observed from a distance, seemingly intrigued but hesitant to approach the formal proceedings.
Group leader Wilgo Koster emphasized the critical role of parental involvement in scouting, noting that ‘it contributes significantly to a child’s development.’ He acknowledged the movement’s ongoing challenges in recruitment despite teaching valuable life skills including self-reliance, cooperation, leadership, nature knowledge, thrift, courage, and perseverance.
Koster identified discipline as scouting’s foundational pillar, connecting it to broader values: ‘Progress begins with discipline. We teach scouts not just survival skills, but also to avoid materialistic behavior—unfortunately, society seems increasingly focused on acquiring more possessions, which leads to certain problematic behaviors.’
The Sunday cook-out tested scouts’ patience and ingenuity, requiring them to create fires using only matches and wood, cook soup, and then restore the site to its original condition. Despite initial struggles, the event culminated in impressive culinary achievements that surprised and satisfied casual tasters. The underground-baked chicken pastry received particular praise, though cleaning soot-blackened pots provided an unexpected final challenge that proved more difficult than the cooking itself.
