Plast in Ukraine plays host to its first international jamboree (08/18/02)

Plast in Ukraine plays host to its first international jamboree

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - As August 24 nears, Ukrainian officials prepare to celebrate the country's 11th anniversary as an independent state. This year, however, that day also looks to mark the completion of Plast's historic international jamboree and the reburial of the organization's founder in Ukraine. The jamboree, which begun in Ukraine on August 10, will also mark the first time in Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization's 91-year history that the country in which the organization was founded will host the international jamboree.

Petro Matiaszek, vice-chair of Plast's National Council in Ukraine, said during an interview with The Ukrainian Weekly that he expects to see over 1,500 participants representing nine national Plast branches, including such foreign countries as Australia and Argentina. He said the jamboree would be "a bit larger than we expected it would be - but we're very pleased with that."

Plans to rebury Plast's founder, Oleksander Tysovsky, in Lviv's historic Lychakiv Cemetery on August 24 have been long in the making, according to individuals close to the event. Mr. Matiaszek called the possibility of the reburial "a significant symbolic event" and said that Dr. Tysovsky would be reburied along with his wife, Anna (née Studynska), and son, Yurii. The Ukrainian government's plans to commemorate the event are not known.

Dr. Tysovsky founded Plast in western Ukraine based on universal Boy Scout principles introduced by Lord Baden-Powell but adapted to the needs and interests of Ukraine's youth. Dr. Tysovsky, known as "Drot," died on March 29, 1968, in Vienna, Austria.

Mr. Matiaszek also noted the development of what he called a Council of Elders in Ukraine's national Plast structure. Members of the Council, according to Mr. Matiaszek, would act as Plast ambassadors and would spread information on the organization to Ukraine's non-Plast youth. But, Mr. Matiaszek added, the council just recently began its work and its responsibilities have not yet been clearly defined.

The council is currently chaired by Bohdan Hawrylyshyn, chairman of the International Center for Policy Studies at the International Management Institute in Kyiv, and includes Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk, former Defense Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk, and Verkhovna Rada National Deputies Ihor Yukhnovskyi and Stepan Havrysh, among others.

Mr. Matiaszek, a native of the United States who has resided in Ukraine for the past eight years, said that preparations for Ukraine's first international jamboree had been time-consuming and difficult because of Ukrainian regulations on scouting organizations. By law, two-thirds of Ukraine's national Plast board must be made up of individuals under age 30. Also, unlike other countries, in Ukraine the Plast national board must report to the Ministry of Justice.

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