From refugee camps in Myanmar to Scout camps in Utah

256px-Burma-CIA_WFB_Map_(2004)I believe every family needs Scouting, but this group of refugees might have needed it more than most.

As the BSA-affirming video below explains, a group of refugee families fled brutal government leaders in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma) in 2006.

Officials in Myanmar forced these families out of their villages and burned their homes, churches, and schools. The refugees escaped and settled in Salt Lake City. Many of the young men joined Boy Scout Troop 1262, part of the Great Salt Lake Council.

The story gets even better: Under the guidance of Scoutmaster Bob Roylance, 11 of the refugee boys earned their Eagle Scout Award at a ceremony last month.

Many of these Eagle Scouts are straight-A students and have their eyes set on becoming attorneys, doctors and engineers some day. Doesn’t surprise me.

These young men had the strength to escape an unthinkable situation in Myanmar. Now Scouting has given them the strength to go wherever they want in life.

Take a look at the video below.


H/T: Thanks to David Beck, president of the LDS church’s Young Men organization, and Bob Mersereau, director of the Office of the Chief Scout Executive, for the blog post idea.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.