A scout in Qatar
Hey there, hope you are doing well. I am back with another fun and exciting story.
As most of you know, I am a scout in troop 400 based in Doha, Qatar. When most people hear about scouting, it creates an image of camping in the woods in log cabins and doing activities like rafting, climbing, and backpacking in mountains. Well, it’s not exactly the same when living in a desert country. In Qatar, we do not have all those options of cabins and green forests and mild weather. Everything here is DIY. When we go camping we usually camp in the desert with soft sand or hard clay and rocks, and we have to pitch our tents and then the camp-kitchen in that rough ground with high winds blowing like crazy! cooking with strong winds blowing is another challenge. We often end up with either undercooked food or food that is burnt. Sometimes we get to taste an extra spice unique to deserts – the sand! ? Wood chopping is not your usual tree branches, twigs and dried up grass. We get to chop pallets. It is not easy at all. One of the most uncomfortable things during the camps is the toilet. Our only solution for the toilet during the camps in the desert is to dig a hole, place a toilet seat on it and enclose it in a privacy tent. Not a pretty sight, but it gets the job done! Another issue in Qatar is the weather – I mean what do you expecting the desert? We are mostly roasting at 45C or swimming in 70% humidity, so most of our activities are based indoors. We usually do our outdoor activities during the mild winter season. Since I am on the topic of weather, let me share a story about my experience as a scout vs the weather. We were doing a hiking camp in the desert and were doing our campfire. We were not at all prepared for a weather challenge when suddenly the wind changed its direction and started blowing in the opposite direction. This formed a sandstorm. We all rushed to put out the fire and pack up before our tents blew away. We had only 2 cars and we had 10 scouts and on top of that, one of the cars would not start! 13 people – 10 scouts and 3 adults – ended up riding in one car. So, that was an adventure for sure. We surely learned a few lessons in teamwork, looking out for each other, not panicking and keeping calm, and being prepared for surprises. But that’s not the only one, I have encountered several similar situations with other scouts.
That’s all I have got for today. I hope you enjoyed my encouraging stories and I hope you also have similar stories to tell. For more info on scouts in Qatar please check the link below.
