Scouts TT Become Water Warriors

In September 2017, ScoutsTT announced an exciting partnership with WASA’s Adopt A River Programme aimed at improving the health of rivers and watersheds in Trinidad and Tobago.

The partnership fulfilled both the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources’ mandate to protect and preserve the environment as well as ScoutsTT’s commitment to the maintaining and sustaining the environment for our use and enjoyment.

Since its launch, the Adopt A River team has engaged with our Scout groups in various districts to train them in effectively monitoring our rivers and watersheds.

Thirteen Scout leaders and members situated in Tobago had the opportunity to engage in a Water Warriors training session which was facilitated easily by Mr. Patrick Welch, District Commissioner for Tobago West. Coinciding with other Scout activities on Saturday 20th October, 2018, Adopt A River representatives arrived at the Goodwood High School at 9:20 a.m. to facilitate the Water Warriors training session.  To accommodate members who were delayed owing to the inclement weather, the training course began an hour later. There was a seamless transition between topics which were explained as thoroughly as possible. This was to facilitate the younger Scout members, as the class comprised learners of varying ages. The exploration of parameters used in water quality testing and an introduction to the AARP’s mobile app comprised the afternoon session. This was preceded by a presentation, which entailed the handing over of a La Motte testing kit to the Scouts group, and a brief discussion with Mr. Welch on the way forward. 

On Sunday 10th February 2019 we held our water warrior training programme for the members of the central Scouts at the Chaguanas Indoor Conference Centre. There were approximately twenty-six (26) scout’s including the scout leaders, which represented different scout groups in the central region. The event took the form of a one day training that summarised the topics of water, watershed management and the techniques of water quality monitoring. This training was greatly facilitated by Mr. Darren Narcis, District Commissioner, who had committed his support to the objectives of the program and also going beyond his function in also providing assistance in the execution of larger infrastructural projects.

Lunch for the day was sponsored by El Pecos Diego Martin.

On Sunday 15th April 2018, the Adopt A River team visited the Sons of the Pioneers Headquarters under the esteemed host of Mr. Anand Rameshwar-Singh, who gathered leaders from the southern region of Trinidad for this train-the-trainers session. Scout groups represented included Cedros, South Oropouche, Moruga with the majority of participants leaders coming from the South Oropouche area. The one-day training session included an introduction to watershed management, consultation with leaders regarding possible projects in their respective areas and the demonstration of water quality monitoring techniques using the La Motte testing kit. There were on average 35 persons in attendance.