The federal scout camp “Mova” is looking for helpers

30,000 scouts will populate Obergoms in Valais from July 23rd. In order for the “Federal Camp” to be carried out as planned, numerous volunteers are still needed.

The first tents are already up. Soon 30,000 scouts from all over Switzerland will be staying here in the valley near Ulrichen.

Laurent Gillieron / Keystone

Martigny would actually be the second largest town in Valais after Sion – actually. Because for two weeks, a gigantic tent city will outstrip Martigny: the federal camp (Bula) “Mova” of the Swiss scout movement. 30,000 scouts will populate the valley near Ulrichen in Obergoms from July 23rd. It is the largest scout camp that has ever taken place in Switzerland.

In other respects, too, the federal camp “Mova” is a mammoth logistical and organizational task. Tens of thousands of scouts have to be supplied with food and water, toilet facilities and showers are needed. Then there is the transport: On the route from Brig to Ulrichen alone, 1200 people per hour have to be transported on July 23rd. This requires 21 trips by extra and regional trains on the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn, plus 83 buses. The connections from Göschenen, Andermatt, Meiringen and Airolo to the Upper Valais will also be massively increased.

Numerous extra trains and buses are required to transport tens of thousands of scouts.

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But is the implementation of the camp a week before the start on the brink? At least that is what a chat message that is currently circulating in various Whatsapp groups suggests. In it, the anonymous author writes that “requests for help that are becoming more and more desperate are reaching him from a wide variety of sources.” The Bula urgently needs more helpers, especially in the area of ​​security: “Because the official permit is linked to it, in the worst case it can go so far that we are withdrawn shortly before the camp if we don’t find enough people.”

Melanie Widmer’s scout name is “Mitis” and she is currently working on a voluntary basis at the media office of the Bula. When asked, she explains: “We are not currently meeting all the requirements of the authorities. But the camp doesn’t have to be canceled under any circumstances.” You are still looking for helping hands, but the situation is not dramatic. 98 percent of the required operations are covered, and the trend is rising: “People who still want to help are currently reporting every day.”

There are already 400 voluntary scouts on site who, together with civil defence, the military and craftsmen, are setting up tents, laying paths and even setting up a temporary Migros branch. Next week there will be 1000 helpers, during the federal camp even 3000.

Unpopular night shifts

Cédric Vogt, known as “Power”, has also been investing a large part of his free time in the Bula for four years. Vogt is Head of the Medical and Safety Department; on average, that’s a 30 percent job. The content of the alarmist chat message is not entirely wrong, he explains. Because the approval of the municipality of Obergoms is based, among other things, on the security concepts that were submitted in advance. “If we don’t meet these, we would violate the permit,” says Vogt. “But we won’t let it get that far.”

Vogt and his team are currently looking for people who are willing to work in the area of ​​security – who, for example, check compliance with the camp rules and the night’s rest or serve as contact persons for scout groups. The fact that volunteers are still missing for some tasks also has to do with the way they are recruited. On an online platform, helpers can choose which tasks and which shifts they want to take. “The night shifts in particular are less popular,” he says.

A logistical mammoth task

Vogt is still convinced that choosing the work yourself is the right approach: “It is important to us that people are motivated and enthusiastic about doing what they want to do. That would be jeopardized if we simply divided people up.” Only then, if important functions are not yet filled shortly before the start of the camp, will one have to make isolated redistributions in the existing personnel pool. But Vogt wants to rely on volunteering for as long as possible, he says: “Whether forklift driver, firefighter or doctor – everyone is here on a voluntary basis. As organizers, we have a duty to ensure that we can give them a positive experience.”

With the medical and safety department, Vogt is responsible for a large post. In the small scout town in Obergoms there will not only be security forces, but also ambulances, an emergency practice and its own volunteer fire brigade. In addition, the Valais police will operate a post with 40 police officers on the camp site: temporarily the largest police station in the canton.

Two weeks later the whole spook will be over – almost. Because the warehouse still has to be dismantled. Helping hands are also needed for this, as media spokeswoman Widmer says. At the moment, around 70 percent of the personnel requirements are covered. “The fewer people there are, the longer it takes to dismantle. But we expect that many people will spontaneously agree to help.”

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