– Marco Carvalho
Eight hours and the generosity of a significant number of local consumers were enough for the Lusophone Scouts Group of Macau (GELMac) to collect a ton of food and basic need in the latest edition of the annual food drive conducted by the organization.
The activity was held on the last Saturday of November and targeted three local supermarkets, one located in Macau and the remaining two in Taipa: “It was very successful. The people of Macau responded very generously, and in a single day, a ton of food was collected in favor of those most in need,” a GELMac source told O Clarim. “The Scouts were at Benvindo Supermarket in Macau and also at two Seng Cheong supermarkets in Taipa, located on Sun Yat Sen Avenue and Ocean’s Garden,” the same source explained.
In the three supermarkets, the Catholic Scouts of Macau gathered products such as rice, pasta, cereals, cooking oil, milk, flour, sugar and canned goods of various kinds. In addition to food products, GELMac – which this year had the help both of the Portuguese School of Macau and of CPM (“Casa de Portugal em Macau”) – also collected basic necessities such as soap or disposable diapers: “This year, the Food Bank reverted to the Sisters of Charity,” the Lusophone Scouts Group of Macau told O Clarim.
Destination: Thailand
A week after taking part in GELMac’s annual food drive, nine members of the Lusophone Scouts headed to northern Thailand for a cultural exchange activity with the Chiang Mai Scouts. The experience in the “Land of Smiles” was almost entirely nature-oriented. In addition to an excursion in the mountains of the region, the Macau Catholic scouts also visited an elephant sanctuary, where they had the chance to interact with the animals.
A short, but intense experience, the cultural exchange program with the Thai scouts may be reenacted in the Special Administrative Region, a GELMac representative explained to this newspaper: “The Chiang Mai scouts showed great interest in visiting Macau. If this happens, it is likely that such an exchange will be attended by both Macao Scouts and Hong Kong Scouts,” O Clarim was told.
The neighboring Special Administrative Region should also be the venue for some of the initiatives that the Catholic Scouts intend to organize next year: “In 2020 we plan to have our general camp in Hong Kong. We will organize, also in Hong Kong, a Survival Camp for Pioneers and Leaders, a formation for new Scout leaders and we will take part in the celebrations of the 25th of April,” the same source added.
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