The 10th Fiji National Camboree was a success with more than 800 students being part of the event last week.
The students from Years 1 to 5 camped at Veiuto Primary School for this year’s cub national program.
Year 5 student Penina Nawaqalikiva of Cakova Village in Moala, Lau said she was happy to be part of the jamboree.
She said it wasn’t the first time she was visiting the Capital City, but it was the first being part of the jamboree event.
“I love camping with my friends and I enjoyed visiting places with the other students.”
She was part of the Lau contingent that only consisted of three students. Her mum had accompanied her during the trip.
Year 5 student, Orisi Ravulo of Vaidoko, Ra said this was his first-time to go camping with a lot of students from around Fiji.
Ravulo, who is 10 years old, said he has learned a lot from the camp and looks forward to sharing his experience with his friends back at home.
He said his parents were with him during the trip.
“I enjoyed myself and I made new friends,” he said.
He like other participants looks forward to joining the scouts in the coming years.
Fiji Scouts Association president Abhay Nand said the jamboree national event happens every four years.
“The outer island schools turned up in numbers this year. We have a few schools from Lau, Taveuni and Lomaiviti,” he said.
“These students, parents and teachers travelled far to be here.
“We’re happy to have great support and our jamboree committee organised the event so well.
“They managed to take care of 800 students with the help of teachers and parents.
“We anticipated only 500 students, but when the applications came in, it went up to 800.
“We had a lot of activities organised for the children and it also included visitation to the military camp, the naval base, the Fiji Museum, the Carnegie Library and the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.”
He said about 75 per cent of the students who were part of the jamboree were visiting Suva for the first time.
“It’s a great pleasure to be contributing to such an experience and it brings me great joy,” he said.
He said the students could only do safe activities during the camp because of health and safety measures in place.
There were 27 districts represented at the jamboree.
Most of the students were from Kadavu, Lomaiviti, Taveuni, Rabi, Suva, Yasawa, Ra, Wainibuka, Seaqaqa, Rewa, Labasa, Dreketi, Naitasiri, Savusavu, Ba, Nadi, Lautoka, Nadroga, Serua, Tavua/Vatukoula, Bau, Nasinu and more.
The national event ended with a march through Suva on Thursday, August 31.
