On Wednesday of last week, there were 513 people attending the suur/laager, 62 of them from abroad. The largest groups from afar were 30 scouts from Iisrael and 14 from neighbouring Läti. On the photo, Tormilinnu cubs Merili and Ellen are getting the last jäätised left in the sügav/külm (freezer) that day. In Estonia, skautlus is co-ed, but there were also tens of gaidid (guides) attending. The girls are wearing 2 kaela/rätid (neckerchiefs) – one is their usual lipkonna (troop) kaela/rätt and the yellow one designates their current all-laager (sub-camp), in this case IDA (East). At European scout and guide events, it is customary to wear your neckerchief 24-7 to identify where you're from and like Ellen, to even don your uniform during everyday camp activities. It does a lot to raise spirit and pride.
Riina Kindlam, Tagametsa
