HE PRESIDENT JIOJI KONROTE’S ADDRESS AT THE OPENING OF THE 2019 FIJI SCOUTS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Namaste, As-salāmu ʿalaykum, Ni Hao and Noa’ia ‘e mauri and a very good morning to you all.
 
I am deeply honoured to welcome all the Scout Commissioners and Council members to the 2019 Fiji Scouts Annual General Meeting. This being my fourth meeting as your Chief Scout, gives me great pleasure to be present and to get to meet all Scout members as is the tradition.
 
At the outset, I wish to sincerely thank you for your sacrifices and committment to your work with the youths of this country in helping them become better citizens and good leaders in future. In the spirit of the Scout Promise and commitment, to continue to work towards achieving our organisation’s goals of trust, discipline and brotherhood, I encourage you to persevere with our pledge of service. Your daily exhibition of virtuous deeds will improve the lives of those around you. Therefore, I would also like to urge you all to continue to share these honourable characteristics with our fellow scouts and members of your respective communities.
 
At this point in time, I invite you to join me in honouring the memory of our Scout brothers and sisters who have passed on from this life. We acknowledge and appreciate their contributions to the Scouts Association and extend our sincerest condolences and heartfelt gratitude to their respective families.
In honouring their memories, let us rise to observe a moment of silence.
(Moment of Silence)
 
Thank you.
 
At this juncture I would like to once again commend and congratulate you all for your untiring work and dedication in promoting and maintaining the Scout Association’s Motto and Ethos in this past year. 2018 required much rehabilitation efforts to bring normalcy to many Fijians in the Western Division who were affected by the destruction wracked by Tropical Cyclone Josie and the numerous flash floods that occurred in several townships in the Division. It pleases me to note the contributions of the Scout Association to the rehabilitation efforts spearheaded by our Government.
 
The assistance of those who were involved in collecting and distributing food items, clothing materials and school materials to families and individuals who were affected by these natural disasters were most commendable and equally appreciated.
 
Climate change is real and its consequences can be felt around the world and in our very own beloved nation. With heavy rains, come flooding and high tidal surges in the sea raises river levels which was witnessed during this Easter weekend in our country by causing a lot of damages to roads and bridges and at the same time put a lot of lives at risk.
 
The adverse impacts of Climate Change should motivate the Fiji Scouts Association to be more effective in our endeavours to assist our fellow citizens, to lend a helping hand and to go forth and serve with sincerity as and when required.
 
It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the funding donations from our kind donors through the ‘Messengers of Peace Programme’ as their contributions allowed us to strengthen our capacity as a national association, allowing us to share the efforts and contributions of our Scout experience in order to inspire others to action. This act of comradeship is an inspirational and distinct feature of the World Brotherhood of Scouting, which we should be rightly proud of.
 
May I remind you once again of the purpose of our organisation which is to contribute to the development of young people, our efforts must aim to ensure that the young people we interact with are inspired to learn, to share their talents and abilities with those who are less fortunate in their communities. We must instill in these young people the passion to share their experiences positively with other young people and spread the Scout spirit and message of ‘peace’ and strive to be responsible citizens. These are noble aims and we are here today to reflect on how far we have come as an organisation and look to the future with the intention to ‘create a better world’.
 
We hear and watch daily news on reports of juvenile delinquents attacking, burglarising and disrupting the peace in their communities.
 
These social ills have become rampant because of so many reasons, one of which is idleness. This ‘idleness’ when coupled with lack of motivation, mental stimulation or proper guidance from adults creates the unnecessary focussing of energy and time into activities that are not socially acceptable.
 
All citizens’ are responsible in addressing these social ills, the Scouting Association in particular plays a pivotal role as outlined in its purpose, the ability and resources to address this matter of juvenile delinquency.
 
Furthermore, Scouting programmes foster friendship, teamwork, tolerance, understanding and perseverance to those around them. It is a vital force in the lives of young men and young women and the programme they participate in allows them to develop holistically. Most importantly the activities conducted by the Scouts Association are engaging and rewarding to the Scouts who participate in them.
 
Additionally, I encourage all Scouts in Fiji to join me in promoting a fit and healthy nation by eating more locally produced fresh foods, and exercising daily including doing some farming or gardening. Our nation spends a considerable amount of money annually on medical bills for Non Communicable Disease and its related illnesses.
 
With a fit and healthy nation, we reduce the unacceptably high rate of deaths caused by Non-Communicable Diseases like diabetes and heart attacks. Non Communicable Diseases cause the deaths of the majority of our citizens below the age of 70. These medical bills are potential funds that could be channelled into other areas like education, youth development, sports, infrastructural development, among many other areas.
 
As Scouts, I ask that we lead by example in our attempts to live long, healthy and happier lives.
 
I once again acknowledge your individual and collective voluntary efforts in providing valuable services to the community and the youths of Fiji.
I sincerely hope that our joint efforts will contribute to the positive progress of our nation.
 
I now have much pleasure in declaring this Annual General Meeting open.
 
May Almighty God bless you all and our beloved nation, Fiji.
 
Vinaka vakalevu, dhanyavaad, sukria, xie xie, fai’eksia, and thank you.