Scouting

My time as a brownie leader

by Jenneke JR.

In October 1975 they asked me or I wanted to be a Brownie leader of the "St. Joriskring" of de Mohicanen. Remembering my own time as a brownie I said yes and so started a new part of my life. My name was "Hibou" and there were a "Oehoe" and "Oebi". My friend became a brownieleader at the same time by the St. Joriskring as well and her name was "Oewiet’.

We stayed in Huizen (Noord - Holland) and there were 22 brownies coming with us. Because it was the first camp for me as a leader, I was christened there as a leader. A real experience for the brownies, they looked forward to it for months! During the week we did a lot of things like a jungletour and we had a drawinggame. At the end of the week, on Friday, we went to the city of Huizen so the brownies could buy some things for their parents and other familymembers. On Saturday we went home again.

My parents waited on me already with a guest. The English boyscouts arrived from Ilkley one day earlier and because I wasn’t at home yet, my parents had to pick up one of the English boyscout leaders, Mr. Cooper, who stayed with us during a week. Then, after this week, he went to Ommen for a camp with their Dutch Mohicanen and the other English guests as well.

Every year, all the brownies received a memory of their camp. This year we made a little Krook made by a little styro ball with a funny face on it and bells on his hat just like I had. There are also some "boards" in every camp with special things that you have to do or can do during this week. Here’s are photos of the "Bosdiensten" and "Totemeisen" board.

The Totemeisen board tells you the things the brownies could do as an extra during the week. Like sporting or making a little garden or creating a song about the camp. When you did something, you receive something to hang on your memory. The small nation and the individual person who received the most extra things are the winner at the end of the week.

During this particular camp, all the brownies were searching for a stone, which had been stolen out of the crown of King Kaskoeskilewan. On the last morning we went to the city of Wageningen so the brownies were able to but something for their parents and other members of the family. After all the kids went to bed, it all started for us as a leader to pack all the belongings and on Saturday morning we drove back to Den Haag.

using my own tent and outfit. As a remembering for the small antions, we made something special again. It was a board with a small totem-pole on it and as a personal memory, every brownie received a hat of an Indian. It was posiible to get some extra feathers for every "Totemeis" they did.

I also went to a basic course for a brownieleader in 1978. It enclose two weekends together with other, aspirant, leaders here in Den Haag. The two weeks came on a very worse moment for me, because on both Monday’s after the weekends, I had an exam at school, so I was studying as well in the evening in the bedroom of the buiding for them. Very hard when you must concentrate yourself on Scouting things and on setting up a library at the same time. But anyway on March 10, 1979 it was time for my official installation as a brownieleader in De Wigwam. When I arrived in the morning, I had been send away to the office of the leaders together with a leader of the whelps. It was his installation too. Around 11 o’clock we were permitted to enter again. First we had to do some tests and then the installation started. Of course my parents were there and my father made some photos of the whole ceremony.

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