To All members of WFIS
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Scouting,
As you all know, a global emergency has been declared due to the spread of COVID-19.
At WFIS we are fully committed to the health and safety of not only children but also of society.
Therefore, we want to remind you and recommend you follow the recommendations of the Government of your country, as well as the recommendations of The World Health Organization (WHO) and thus prevent the spread to children and families in any country or community.
As Scouts we must “Be Prepared” to help our community and smile, despite adversity, as our Scout law says. We can be useful in this time by organizing a crowdfunding for a local NGO, helping someone in our community by going to the grocery store, or just staying at home.
We ask you to be calm and sensible, to search the information on official sites and not to spread fake news on the networks.
We also want to thank in advance all those Scouts and non-Scouts who face this situation working so that the rest of the community is safe: the health personnel (doctors, nurses, pharmacists etc.), policemen, the transporters who maintain the pharmacies and the markets with supplies, the workers in the markets and to all those volunteers who help others with what they need most.
We do wish all of you; who have, or will soon stop the weekly Scout activities, group nights and weekend camps by governmental advice; strength, wisdom and trust that we can restart our Scouting and Guiding programme soon. Try to stay in contact with your group’s members via electronic media, or phone calls and give them a kind of security, that the Scouts and Guides can count on you as Group, Troop, Rover Leader, Akela, or Baloo. Be the stable tree in the wind, or the rock in stormy weather.
Stay in contact with your Association and with the World Federation of Independent Scout, to share your thoughts or ideas about how to continue Scouting with our children. Let us all support those by messages or post, who may only meet with Scout and Guides via electronic media and show them that they are a part of a worldwide family.
Let us stay closer together, show the civil society that they can count on Scout and Guides and do remember that “Together we are strongest”.
We hope that you and your family and friends are well and we trust that we can return to normal soon.
We wish you and family all the best, stay healthy and heads up.
Yours in traditional Scouting
Klaus Tegeder – President WFIS
See the announcement in the COVID-19 – WFIS World Council file