ourselves.space

15d

Had a person on Reddit ask this question:

Hello, currently I am the leader of my local boy scout troop and we want to focus on citizenship and community and the first thing that came to my mind was solarpunk. What are some cheap activities or things to discus that relate to community that I could run at our next meeting?

This ties really well into the general question of "what can I do now to assist in mutual aid or work with community?" It also is kid friendly.

(Reddit Post and Discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/solarpunk/comments/1j2ps2w/activities_for_a_boy_scout_meeting/ )

I answered this:

Several Things you can do!

First thing I'd recommend is see if your local library has an events and groups listing. You can go through those events and groups and see if there is anything that your local troop can sign up with and pitch in help.

That said, here are some ideas:

Cleanups:
Pick up litter. Teaches the importance of not littering and of keeping our shared environment clean. It teaches being a steward of our land. Of leaving the place better than you found it. It teaches you safety (how do you clean up an area without hurting yourself on sharp rusty cans, for example). That leads into Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), etc. It teaches coordination and mutual aid.
- Park cleanups
- Playground cleanups
- River and bodies of water cleanups

Food Security:
Feed your neighbors. This teaches about food insecurity and the root causes of food insecurity. Ask questions like, if we have the ability to feed everyone, why don't we? Are those reasons ethical? You can do anything from volunteer at your local food banks (they need help in the warehouse, for example) to food pantry distributions to making hot food to serve to your neighbors. This also ties in nicely with nutritional education - if you were to make food for someone, what would you make to ensure it tastes good and gives full nutrition. Also remember that everyone deserves tasty desserts, too! It's also important that if you serve food, you eat the same food yourself and eat with the people you are serving. You never make food for others that you wouldnt want to eat yourself.
- Food Bank Volunteering
- Food Pantry Distribution
- Free Fridge / Community Pantry cleanup and maintenance
- Hot Food Cooking and Serving

Repair Cafes:
Fixing things for you and your neighbors. Check out your local libraries, maker spaces, and repair cafes. Set up a booth and encourage folks to bring things to fix. Talk with you troop and see who knows how to do certain things. They can be the leaders. Then assign them to train the group on how to do those things. Then go out to a repair event and help others. This is a great opportunity to see who has earned badges in specific areas and how the education and experience behind those badges can be used to help your neighbors. Here are some example things that they could focus on (they dont have to do all of them). Look to your badges for more ideas.
- Computer / Phone / Digital Device repair and troubleshooting
- Bicycle Repair and Maintenance
- Sewing and mending clothes

Education / Literacy:
Free and accessible education and literacy is everything. You might discuss book bans and how they are used to limit and control a populace. You might discuss the controversial ideas behind the books being banned. Then go to the library to volunteer. Libraries need help putting books on shelves, sorting, and putting holds up. They need help transporting books between branches in intra and inter-library loans. You can also go through your town's Little Free libraries and help clean and maintain those. You could also buy some of your favorite banned books and drop those off in various little free libraries.
- Town Library Volunteering
- Little Free Library Maintenance & Upkeep

#solarPunk #mutualAid #scouting #boyScouts

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21d

Be prepared, because here are some scouts on a field trip! This is Troop 17, Fox Patrol ("Revepatruljen") in 1932, which means their leader is likely Fredrik C. Svendsen jr.

Photo by Billy Wilson, via University of Bergen Library: https://marcus.uib.no/instance/photograph/ubb-tww-0089.html
#norway #Norge #NorskPix #Scouting #Historical #blackandwhitephotography #BikeTooter #SykkelTut