This year's World Scout Jamboree in South Korea has been so hot that at least 100 participants have been treated for heat-related illness, the president of South Korea has called for an "unlimited supply of buses and trucks to provide needed air conditioning and chilled water," and food and sanitation conditions have been described as "terrible, deplorable," the Boy Scouts of America's International Commissioner Lou Poulson tells USA Today.
"We spent extensive time with the US Embassy and Consul General and it came down to there being no choice," Poulson says, adding that if the site were in the US, "it would be declared a health emergency."
Poulson says cleaning staff have been increased from 70 to more than 500 for the 40,000-person site, which has also been plagued by uncleaned toilets, showers with fecal matter, and the sharing of shower facilities, violating the BSA's Youth Protection Policy.
The British and American contingents have also pulled out of the event, with the BSA's 14th Chief Scout Executive, Roger Mosby, telling parents in an emergency meeting Saturday morning that "the decision didn't come lightly or easily....
We spent extensive time with the US Embassy and Consul General and it came down to there being no choice."
The
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.