A young Scout from Fish Hoek proved her mettle among 34 000 and scooped the coveted Springbok Scout Award last week.
Madelin Johnston (18), represents both the 1st Fish Hoek Sea Scouts and the 1st Fish Hoek Rangers and also received a Protea Ranger award that evening.
The 1st Fish Hoek Sea Scout Group caters for scouts starting at the ages of five to 17 years old.
In the past, Faith Morris, representing the 1st Muizenberg Sea Scout Group, collected toys, books and toiletries for children with life-threatening illnesses. She wanted the community to join her cause.
Johnston is currently majoring in physics and applied mathematics at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Her favourite hobbies include sailing, hiking, camping and drawing.
“I joined Scouts only at the beginning of last year, but I’ve been in the Guides since I was four and half years old. I was inspired to join the Scouts because of all of the adventures I had in the Guides that I enjoyed. I thought I could have twice the adventures if I were a Scout too. I’m so grateful for the adventures; both of them have given me the opportunity to explore,” she recalled.
One of the highlights and challenges she endured throughout her Springbok Scout journey was the two-night, three-day expedition through the Cape Point Nature Reserve, leading four Scouts through the bush.
“Finding shelter, cooking under the wide-open sky, navigating your way through over 30 km – these are all secondary challenges to being solely responsible for four younger people for those three days. Another challenge was building a 13 m long bridge over a slipway at Zandvlei using nothing but poles and rope,” Johnston said.
She finds great pride in the community service element associated with the Scouts and Guides as one of their most rewarding features.
“I enjoyed the service project I led at the local Safe House for women and children immensely. During this time I got to renovate their garden space.”
Johnston was overjoyed upon hearing that she was selected as one of the scouts who earned their Springbok badge and Protea Ranger award.
“Both my Springbok Scout and Protea Ranger award took a lot of planning, resilience, and perseverance every step of the way. Even with these challenges, however, the awards wouldn’t have been achievable without the support I had from my family, my friends, and my older mentors. It felt incredible when I found out officially that I’d be earning the awards! I was so happy to have a physical representation of all of the challenges I had tried and overcome throughout my journey,” she said.
1st Fish Hoek Sea Scouts Scout Group Leader Andrew Wannenburgh is beaming with pride for Johnston’s award and commends her for her dedication.
“There are 34 000 Scouts in South Africa, but only 45 Scouts earn the Springbok Scout Award (highest award) each year. This is a great achievement,” he said.
In the future, she hopes to keep expanding her skills within the scouts.
“I can’t wait to start a new chapter and get more involved in Scouting and Guiding from the side of adult leadership! I’m also looking forward to furthering my studies of the world in my degree.
“I’d encourage people to join Scouts and Guides both as adults and as children for the outdoor adventures, leadership skills and opportunities to give back that they can offer,” she said.
