Scouting and Guiding in Panama

Scouting and Guiding has been popular in Panama since the 1920s. Today, it is still a tradition practiced around the country. As of 2010, Panama has 1,775 Scouts.[1]

Current associations

The Scout and Guide movement in Panama is served by

History

The first girl scout group ever founded in Panama was Asociación Nacional de Scouts de Panamá, which was founded in 1924.

Scouting in Panama became popular by the 1940s. By March 1942, there were already 542 new scouts.[2]

One of the first scouts in Panama was the Girl Scouts of the Canal Zone. Lillian Mountford led the group until her retirement in 1945. During her later life, she became an advocate for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund. After she died, Mountford Lodge was named as a tribute to her.[2]

In 1950, Asociación de Muchachas Guías de Panamá was founded.

In 1959, the Lady Baden Powell Award (named after Olave Baden-Powell) was first introduced in Panama.[3]

From the 1980s to 2000s, girl scout groups operated near multiple U.S. military bases.[3]

International Scouting units in Panama

In addition, there are American Boy Scouts in Panama, originally linked to the Canal Zone Council of the Boy Scouts of America, now part of Direct Service, which supports units around the world, through at least 1987. Also, in the 1950s and 1960s were the 900 member International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone, directly registered to the World Bureau.[4]

Legacy

In 2020, the Panama National Assembly granted a Scroll of Recognition to the National Association of Scouts of Panama.[5]

References
  1. https://www.webcitation.org/6AJxh3uLm?url=http://scout.org/en/content/download/22261/199900/file/Census.pdf
  2. Robertson, Ann (2016-12-07). "Girl Scouts in the Panama Canal Zone". Girl Scout History Project. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  3. "History of USAGSO". www.usagso.org. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  4. Wilson, John S. (1959). "The International Bureau Goes on the Road". Scouting Round the World (first ed.). London: Blandford Press. p. 134. At Balboa we met up with Gunnar Berg and Ray Wyland of the B.S.A., also on their way to Bogota, and had a conference about the question of coloured Scouts in the Canal Zone, who claim British and not Panamanian nationality. It was agreed that they should be taken under the wing of the Canal Zone Council of the Boy Scouts of America, but ten years later they were transferred directly under the International Bureau as the International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone.
  5. "Scouts de Panama | "Construir un Mundo Mejor"". www.scoutspanama.com. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
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