Scouts: Situation at World Jamboree in South Korea not as bad as portrayed in the media

Conditions during the World Jamboree in South Korea were "not too bad," according to several Dutch scouts who arrived at Schiphol from South Korea on Saturday night. "In the news, it looked much worse than it was. I got a lot of worried emails from my parents and relatives while I was having fun. They were much more concerned than they needed to be," said Jae Ward of Troop Forest Brook Juffer, one of the scout troops that was the first to return.

The International Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum was hit with extreme weather conditions. First, participants faced extreme heat, which caused several participants to feel unwell. A little later, all the scouts had to be evacuated because of the approaching storm.

Although it was "very hot" the first few days, with the temperature reaching around 45 degrees, it was quite bearable, according to Levie Alberts of the Flying Deer troop. "We were sitting a few feet from a water spigot and bottles of ice-cold water were being handed out. People said there was a water shortage, but there wasn't. We could just get water." Shade tunnels had also been set up where water was sprayed. According to Indy Heuyerjans, the situation “was made worse than it was” in the Netherlands." "You just had to keep drinking."

Even the evacuation due to an approaching typhoon didn't bother the scouts. "We were sad to leave the jamboree site, of course, but there was no great fear among the participants. We were very well taken care of at the fire academy," Indy says. "We had the time of our lives there."

The participants were not left with a bad aftertaste because of all the commotion. "As a scout, you learn to adapt and make the best of a situation," Jae says. "We were able to do that. We actually learned a lot from it."

A total of 43,000 teenagers from scouting associations from nearly 160 countries participated in the jamboree. Among them were about 2000 Dutch scouts. The last troops will arrive in the Netherlands on Friday 18 August.