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The Siberian Scouting Symposium
Lake Baikal, Russia, June, 1995

In June of 1995, the Siberian Association of Scouts (SiBAS) hosted the Boy Scouts of America at a US-Russia Scouting Symposium. The Boy Scouts of America were represented by 29 adult and youth from across America. The Symposium was held near Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, where several hundred Russian youth and leaders joined the Americans in a week of sharing knowledge, skills, friendship and fun. The photos and graphics are from the collection of one of the American participants.

Lake Baikal in Siberia is the large lake west of China and just North of the Mongolian border. It is the 8th largest lake in the world, with an area of over 12,000 square miles. With a depth of 5,315 feet, it is the deepest lake in the world.

Siberian Regional Patch

Emblem of the Symposium

Click thumbnail for full-size photo (approximately 100K each)
	Siberian Scouts cooking. Most everything is boiled in two pots. A Russian improvement on a "one-pot meal."
	Dancing, Siberian style. " Dosey-doe your partner and alamen left." It looks familiar and it was fun too.
	Part of the Russian campsite. Just like home.
	Just like home, too. Let’s line-up before the next activity.
	The Camp was right on the river leading to the Lake.
	This is a serious bonfire. No Scout camp is complete without a campfire and singing.

	One of our Russian friends.
	The gateway to our camp near Lake Baikal.

Background information on Lake Baikal is provided in this site developed by the Russian National Tourist Office.

Links to Scouting in Russia

Several Scout associations are actively supporting the growth of Scouting in Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union.

	Scouting in Russia reports on the activities of the Boy Scouts of America in Siberia and its Siberian Scouting Intitiative. The Americans work primarily with SiBAS, the Siberian Association of Scouts.

	Network Russia documents the work of the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and British Scouts in St. Petersburg, Moscow and European Russia. The British are working with several associations. The largest, the Federation of Scouts of Russia (FSR) is based near St. Petersburg. Other organizations in European Russia include, the Union of Moscow Scouts, the St. Petersburg Scout Association, and the Volga Scout Association. (U.S. Mirror Site)

	The Scouts de France are active in the Crimea, Ukraine and Belarus. Other European Scouting organizations, including the Danish and Belgian Scout Associations, are contributing to these efforts.

	The 1st Russian International Jamboree was held on the shores of Lake Ladoga near St. Petersburg in June, 1994. (Photos by Scott Potter). This site is not currently available.

	National Organization of Russian Scouts (Australia). The National Organisation of Russian Scouts (N.O.R.S.) carries on traditions of Russian Scouting from its foundation in 1909, through its exile from Russia, and to the present day. The Chief Scout of the National Organisation of Russian Scouts in Australia, has written this short history to create an awareness that Russian Scouting remained active for 85 years and that the rebirth of Scouting in Russia is another phase in a long tradition.

	A Chronicle of Scouting in Eastern Europe and Russia. With the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia, Scouting has returned to many lands where it had previously taken root. These pages chronicle the return of former members and the addition of new members to the World Organization of the Scout Movement. They also report the growth of Scouting in the other nations of Eastern Europe. Currently, the "Chronicle" reports on the progress of Scouting in 19 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The Chronicle Home Page provides links to each.

	Scouting Along the Silk Road: A Chronicle of Scouting in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Scouting’s emergence in the fabled lands of Central Asia and the Caucasus, including the former Soviet republics, Mongolia and Afghanistan, is chronicled in Scouting Along the Silk Road reporting on the progress of Scouting in 8 countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

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Please write to: Lewis P. Orans