Al-Mabarrat Scouts Held Their Annual Conference

The Al-Mabarrat Scouts Association held its annual scouting conference entitled “The Al-Mabarrat Scouts: A Caravan of Pioneering in Service and Worship” at the Al-Saha Heritage Village on the airport road, under the patronage of the president of Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association Sayyed Ali Fadlallah, and in the presence of the deputy Emile Rahmeh, the director general of Al-Mabarrat Association Mohammad Baqir Fadlallah, the president of the Scouts of Lebanon Union Joseph Khalil, the president of the Al-Mabarrat Scouts Association Afif Al-Zayat, a number of religious men, former presidents of the union, and representatives of scouting associations.  The conference opened with the national anthem and the anthem of the Al-Mabarrat Scouts Association, performed by the Imam Al-Hassan troop, then a welcoming speech by the conference's secretary Mohammad Nasrallah, in which he said: It is pride enough for this scouting movement that with its modest means and its authentic aims it has been able to attract to itself a large number of young people, to snatch them from between the jaws of the city clamouring with what technology has produced, and to walk with them into the embrace of nature, where life is hard and rough.  He added: The Al-Mabarrat Scouts Association will be part of the process of continuous development and self-evaluation that Al-Mabarrat Association follows in all its works and accomplishments. Certainly everything presented by way of planning and working papers at this conference revolves around this context and contributes to fulfilling the aims of Al-Mabarrat's message and to spreading its thought and its culture through creating an aware, cultured and steady generation that releases its energies for the sake of goodness and openness.   Afterwards the Al-Sayyeda Mariam troop presented a singing segment entitled “We Are the Youth”, and there was a speech by the president of the Scouts of Lebanon Union Joseph Khalil, who said: At the start of the sixth millennium I visited, with my companions the members of the administrative body of the Scouts of Lebanon Union, His Eminence Allama Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah at his residence. I remember that he that day likened the scouting movement to the sun, which flows into the universe without asking permission and gives light to the world, life to humanity and warmth to the earth. In these difficult days we remember His Eminence and contemplate the depth of his words, and we affirm through this meeting that in our Lebanese and international scouting movement we are children of light and of life, friends of the environment, and children of a humanity built on the civilization of love and on filling the bridges of meeting.   Fadlallah  Then there was a third singing pause by the Imam Al-Mujtaba troop entitled “My Homeland, O Song of Al-Mabarrat”, then a speech by the president of Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association Sayyed Fadlallah, in which he said: I am full of hope that this conference will open a door that looks out upon a better future for our new generations and for this homeland, which is living the worst stage of its history as a result of the collapse we are witnessing of all national, moral and human values, and of the corruption that has come to control its joints at every level.   He added: Al-Mabarrat Association's entry into scouting work came from its belief in the importance of this work at the level of building the human being and directing his capacities so that they pour into serving society and building the homeland. It held that this work helps it to achieve the aim for which it came into being, namely raising up the human being and strengthening his presence.  He continued: I value the slogan the association put forward for this conference under the title A Caravan of Pioneering in Service and Worship, where it headed its role with two things: serving people first, which it placed before worship - not out of any diminishment of worship, but because serving the human being is the practical expression of worship.  Fadlallah affirmed that we want scouting to be a unifier through moral values, and a builder of them, and an institute for educating young people in self-reliance, in the spirit of volunteering, in living in interaction with the other and in attachment to the land. Through this conference we want to contribute to restoring vitality to scouting work, which needs to be activated at the level of presence in public service and in all its fields, so that its role is not confined to accompanying activities, celebrations and parades; rather we want it to be the pioneer of civil and community activities.  He concluded: The hopes are great and the ambitions are many, but before them are obstacles, and we are able to face them if our efforts are united at the level of programmes, activities and the exchange of expertise and competencies. For our part we are ready to begin working together, and to unite in a practical, unifying formula; for if the politicians have failed to unify this country, then let scouting seek to carry out this role.  Afterwards certificates and medals were distributed to the leaders, so that the specialized workshops could begin on the new scouting programmes prepared by the association to suit technological development, in addition to social service activities. Then the recommendations were raised for approval by the general assembly of the Al-Mabarrat Scouts Association.