INTERNATIONAL PLAST JAMBOREE: SHARED CHALLENGES AND ADVENTURES (09/06/98)

INTERNATIONAL PLAST JAMBOREE:

SHARED CHALLENGES AND ADVENTURES

by Oksana Zakydalsky
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WINNIPEG - As busload after busload of youths arrived at Birds Hill Park, just outside of Winnipeg, they were shouting and singing. The reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press expressed amazement. "I had expected them to be tired and worn out," he said, as the hundreds of Plast youths loaded down with backpacks arrived on August 5 at the site of the second phase of the International Plast Jamboree that had begun on July 29 (see The Weekly, August 9).

A total of 538 campers and 98 counselors had spent the previous eight days camping at various locations throughout Manitoba.

The youngest group, 95 "prykhylnyky" (ages 11-13) had been at Spruce Woods Park at a camp headed by Anhelyna Reshitnyk from Ottawa. Their program had included basic campcraft and hiking, with a visit to Spirit Sands, Manitoba's only desert.

This group took part in Canada's National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin - they saw the show and marched in the parade. In fact, they learned to march so well that they later stole the show at the jubilee campfire with their precision marching.

The largest camp with a total of 163 campers and 21 counselors was headed by Marta and George Kuzmowycz of Rhode Island. Combining both cycling and hiking, the camp was held north of Riding Mountain National Park and had been the most difficult camp to organize logistically, as campers switched from cyclers to hikers and back again, while the bicycles - all 100 of them - had to be kept in working order.

This group of campers also managed to visit the Dauphin Festival, where they all became fans of the group called the Kubasonics and learned to compose songs "half na piv" (i.e. half in English, na piv in Ukrainian).

The jamboree's largest age group - of 234 "rozviduvachi" age 15-17 and 50 counselors - was divided into four camps, all held at Whiteshell Park, all presenting tough physical challenges. Two camps were dedicated to canoeing-hiking, led by Mykhailo Hantsch of Calgary and Taras Silecky of Chicago. The third group went canoeing under the leadership of Irene Stadnyk of Detroit and the fourth group, led by Bohdan Kolos of Toronto and Vsevolod Hnatchuk of Detroit, tackled the 60-kilometer Mantario Hiking Trail that runs along the Manitoba-Ontario border.

The oldest group, "skoby" and "virlytsi" (ages 16 to 18), was the most experienced. These 43 campers and 10 counselors had gone farthest north, to Nopiming Park, which lies at the edge of a vast wilderness stretching to Hudson Bay. They had canoed Nopiming's river-lake system and now boasted, rather than complained, about their 38 portages.

Although most of the Plast youths had come from across Canada and the United States (the numbers were almost evenly split between the two countries) there were representatives also from other countries where the Plast Ukrainian Youth Organization is active.

The largest group was from Germany, a total of 20 that included several "plastuny" from France which has no Plast organization of its own.

There were eight "plastunky" from Argentina. When asked why only females had come, they said there was no special reason for this - it just happened that way. Plast in Argentina is hoping to take part in the World Scout Jamboree that will start in December in Chile, but the funding for such a trip is not yet in place.

There were five representatives from Ukraine, three from Slovakia and one from Poland. Sophia Tyma from Poland was particularly interested in the organization of the jamboree as Plast in Poland is planning its 10th anniversary celebrations next year.

While the first phase of the jamboree gave the youths opportunities to take part in traditional scouting type activities in the diverse natural landscape of Manitoba, the second phase, during which the various camps were set up within shouting distance of each other, was to be a meeting place - a real "zustrich," popularly known as "zoo."

There were many opportunities for socializing, especially around the massive food tent where mealtimes lasted two hours.

One of the events held during the second phase was an orienteering match (organized by the Ontario Ukrainian Orienteering Club). For this meet crucial support was received from the Manitoba Orienteering Association, which provided all the necessary markers and several hundred orienteering maps of the park; all the pre-arrangements had been conducted via the Internet.

There was time for fun and games, sports and other competitions, and one day was spent in the city, where the program included visits to various historical landmarks of Ukrainian Winnipeg, including the Taras Shevchenko monument at the Manitoba Legislature, the Oseredok Cultural Center, several churches and the Leo Mol Sculpture Gardens.

But the highlight of that day was the Chinese Dragon Boat Races especially organized for the Plast members and held on the Red River. There were three tours of races; each one had six boats on the river; each boat had 22 rowers, one drummer and one helmsman. The boats were given practice runs for about an hour, and then three boats at a time competed against each other. All were timed and prizes were awarded for the best time in three age groups. The Mantario hikers turned in the best overall time. All the winning teams were presented trophies at the evening dance that topped off the day.

On the final evening of the jamboree, after an ecumenical moleben, a jubilee campfire celebrating 50 years of Plast in Canada was held in Birds Hill Park beside what is known as the "Pope's Hill." (This was where Pope John Paul II had celebrated mass during his visit to Manitoba.) The hill created an amphitheatre that enabled everyone to see the campfire.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies were held under a tent-like canopy in the center of the jamboree field. At the opening, words of welcome were brought by delegates of the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Greetings were also given by representatives of Ukrainian Churches and by Oleh Romaniw, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, who spoke on behalf of the Ukrainian community in Canada.

There was a jamboree shop on the grounds that sold all kinds of mementos with the jamboree logo: T-shirts, badges, postcards, whistles and key chains. The shop was staffed by volunteers and was expected to provide some funds for the event.

As reported earlier a massive organizational effort was required to stage this event. After the closing ceremonies, Sophia Kachor, who headed the organizing committee and served as the commandant of the jamboree, was asked what gave her the most satisfaction now that the event was over. She replied that "in the end, everyone pulled together - that so many people had helped out, not only Plast members but their parents and the whole community. The kids would come on their own initiative and ask how they could help."

"Whoever I turned to would eagerly agree to help. We had a lot of sponsors, also proof that the community understood the importance of this event," she added.

These days, when there is much soul-searching and hand-wringing about the future of the diaspora, the Ukrainian language and our youth, an event like this jamboree flies in the face of the doomsayers.

Close to 700 young - mostly teenage - diaspora Ukrainians came not just for a party or a picnic, but to take part in a challenging and meaningful program, conducted entirely in Ukrainian (well, perhaps, sometimes "half na piv").

Plast, an 86-year-old organization now growing by leaps and bounds in Ukraine, has lasted 50 years in the diaspora. Indeed, in Canada its membership has been increasing since 1989.

Through joint challenges and shared adventures, events like this international jamboree, create and maintain friendships that last a lifetime and buttress the foundation on which the organization can continue to develop.

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