IT was a special day for the Fiji Scouts Association on Monday as they marked the beginning of a partnership with Scouts South Australia (Scouts SA).
At a press conference in Suva, Scouts SA expressed interest in creating a mutually-beneficial agreement with Fiji scouts. "We hope this can be through a cultural exchange where Australian scouts get to explore some international scenes," said Scouts SA chief commissioner Chris Bates.
Mr Bates said this would mean Australian scouts experiencing the food, culture, weather and language of Fiji, as many of the scouts did not do much travelling at all.
"As well as this, we hope to be able to provide resources for the Fiji Scouts Association in the way of helping with infrastructure, repairing their training centre and training leaders here so that the scouting culture grows," he said.
Fiji scouts chief commissioner Jone Naisau, said the exchange would be good for the expansion of the scouts program.
"We are a small country but we have one of the biggest youth associations.
"We have 10,000 youths who are scouts and to have this exchange would really make a difference," he said.
"We hope our brothers from Australia can give us tips and advice on ways in which we can better scout services to the community."
At present, there is no timeframe for when the two associations will begin the exchange.
Mr Bates said the trip had left the Scouts SA team with a number of ideas to bring the associations together in the near future.