Mother of Scout who raised thousands to attend South Korea jamboree says troubled event ‘clearly wasn’t safe’

Excited teenager became disheartened amid ‘perfect storm’ of failures, including lack of food and medical facilities, ‘filthy’ toilets and showers, and mosquito ‘infestation’

A mother of a Scout who spent months raising thousands of pounds to attend the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea has said the event “clearly wasn't safe”.

The 45-year-old, who did not want to be named, told The Independent her daughter, 16, managed to raise almost £3,500 over 18 months of hard work. Among other fundraising efforts, the 16-year-old, with the help of the rest of her family, held bake sales, washed cars, and wrote to her local parish council asking for sponsorship.

However, her expectations turned out to be far from the disastrous reality - a “perfect storm” of failures, including a lack of food and medical facilities, “filthy” toilets and showers, and an “infestation” of mosquitoes that caused “severe” bites, said her mother.

The Scout camp has now been evactuated ahead of typhoon

The Scout, from the East Midlands, had been “really excited” about travelling to South Korea to be with the more than 40,000 Scouts from over 150 nations, said her mother. “She is very outgoing and was really keen to meet with other Scouts from around the world.”

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But the 45-year-old said the event was plagued by headaches as soon as her daughter’s flight landed, with the young people and volunteers forced to spend an extra night in a hotel in the capital Seoul because they were told the campsite in Saemangeum was not ready for them.

The group was finally transferred to the site last Wednesday, a day when South Korea also raised its hot weather warning to the highest “serious” level for the first time in four years. Hundreds of Jamboree participants fell sick from heat-related illnesses over the following days amid temperatures that hit 38C.

The Scout’s mother said: “A lot has been made out around the reasons behind the failure being the heatwave, but in reality this was just the final part of the perfect storm. I don’t think the site worsened, it was bad to start with.”

She told of how there were not enough medical facilities and the food was “scarce”, with young people eating merely a bread roll for lunch and those with dietary requirements “struggling as there was nothing for them”. She said the only fresh water available was warm and a 15-minute walk away under the scorching sun.

British Scouts were the first group to leave the campsite in Buan (AP)

She described the toilets as “filthy”, with no soap available for attendees to wash their hands, while the showers were flooded and unclean. “The site was also infested with mosquitos and other bugs and a lot of the Scouts have suffered severe bites,” she said, adding that the ground was waterlogged, which forced the Scouts to pitch their tents on pallets.

“The Scouts tried to be positive as the leaders had been promised things would improve,” said the 45-year-old. “But my daughter went from messaging me every day in Seoul, excited about what they were doing, to quite disheartened as there was nothing to do.” She told of how all the outdoor activities were cancelled because of the heat, for which the organisers have been criticised by both parents and the public alike for not anticipating.

Then, when children were falling sick in their hundreds, the South Korean government initially insisted the event was safe enough to continue. Authorities channeled resources to keep the Jamboree going, adding medical staff, air-conditioned buses, military shade structures, and hundreds of workers to maintain bathrooms and showers. Provincial governor Kim Kwan-young later apologised on Sunday for not being well prepared.

Just three days after the Jamboree had begun, UK Scouts withdrew its more than 4,000 people from the event on Friday. Its chief executive Matt Hyde later said this decision was made due to “severe” health and safety fears following concerns over the extreme heat as well as issues with food and a lack of hygiene.

Parents have criticised the event due to a range of issues (AP)

The East Midlands Scout left the campsite with her Unit on Saturday and returned to Seoul, where she had to sleep on the floor of a conference room in a hotel because there were not enough rooms available initially, said her mother. The 16-year-old was provided with a room on Sunday, where she will stay and continue with Jamboree activities until she flies home to the UK on the original end date of 13 August.

The teenager’s mother described the withdrawal as a “real shame”, especially considering the age limits of the event. As it happens every four years and is for Scouts aged 14-18, this was effectively her daughter’s one and only chance to attend a Jamboree.

But, even though she was “disappointed”, the 46-year-old said: “I completely support the decision to leave the jamboree by UK scouts as it was clear that there were significant safety concerns. I do believe there are questions to be answered though about how the Scouts were able to go to the jamboree on Wednesday when it clearly wasn’t safe.”

When approached by The Independent about criticism of the jamboree, the World Organization of the Scout Movement shared the following statement.

Ahmad Alhendawi, secretary general of the WOSM, said: “Nearly 40,000 participants have now safely departed from the 25th World Scout Jamboree campsite in SaeManGeum and are being relocated to multiple sites in Seoul and the surrounding areas ahead of the expected arrival of Typhoon Khanun.

“The Korean Government, supported by hundreds of volunteer Scouts on the ground, facilitated the successful departure of participants ensuring that everyone left the campsite safely and securely.

“Scouts have once again demonstrated true leadership, determination and teamwork in the face of adversity, putting their skills to good use during this challenging situation,” he said, adding: “It's disappointing that these adverse weather conditions have forced us to shift our plans.”