Surprise Oman trip reward for Explorer Leaders

19/03/2009

Graeme Hay and Jamie MacKinnon, two Explorer Scout Leaders from Portsoy in Aberdeenshire, experienced an amazing trip recently, when they visited Oman as a guest of His Highness As’ad Bin Tarik, a first cousin of the Sultan.

The trip came about through Graeme’s grandparents, who have a friend who works for His Highness. When Graeme picked up the 'Young Scot Award for Unsung Heroes' earlier last year - for his work primarily with the Red Cross but also his involvement in Scouting – Graeme’s grandparents sent their friend in Oman a newspaper cutting of the story. His Highness noticed the article and was keen to reward Graeme's achievement – by way of an all expenses paid trip for Graeme and a friend!

As a result, Graeme (pictured above left) and Jamie (above right) stayed for ten days in a five-star hotel, enjoyed personal guided tours of the country (including camping in the desert) and had the honour of meeting and exchanging gifts with their host.

Graeme and Jamie also joined several meetings of Beavers and Cubs from the 1st Oman Scout Group, exchanging gifts from Deveron District, and also presented all the young people with various badges. Their kilts were also greatly admired by the youngsters, who had never seen them before.

The two Leaders were also introduced to Sonia Carr, MBE (originally from Aberdeen) who is the Head of the UK Scouting movement in Oman.

It was an experience of a lifetime and they learned much about the country, its culture and customs. Both Leaders were a credit to Scottish Scouting and are keen make a return trip in the future, to use towards their Explorer Belts.