You have probably heard of World or National Jamboree, each alternating every other year. However, the World Scouting organization, the group in charge of Scouting on a global scale, have begun hosting Jamboree on the Air, a radio-based event where Scouts can contact each other over radio across the world. More recently, the World Scouting Organization has created Jamboree on the Internet. It is a yearly event in which Scouts can participate in a variety of activities through their home computer or mobile device. These activities range from articles and webinars, to games and video chats.
This year, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, The WSO has created a special edition of JOTI to provide a better window to Scouting across the world. It contains more events, and more Scouts have participated in it than any other JOTA or JOTI yet. It is connected to its own radio channel for Scouts to listen in on. There are many new activities, some of which are related to the recent pandemic, others focusing on World Scouting.
To bring Scouts together, this year’s special JOTI has partnered with Scoutlink, the official World Scouting Minecraft server. For those of you not familiar with Minecraft, it is a game in which players can either build any creation imaginable, or they could choose to enter a world in which they must fend for themselves against monsters that haunt the night. It also provides online capabilities, which Scoutlink fully takes advantage of in an effort to provide a global platform for Scouts to connect online and have fun.
Jamboree on the Air is held annually in October alongside JOTI, but is focused more on its amateur radio aspect to help Scouts connect. The only problem that most Scouts face is the requirement of a license. The International Telecommunications Union requires all who operate a radio station on their own for personal use to have a license of some sort. Different countries have different types of licenses, but the concept is the same. This is a large reason why JOTI was created, but still to this day Scouts connect over radio every October.
The World Scouting Organization is, as I mentioned before, the group that is at the head of Scouting as a whole. This means that it has a responsibility to connect Scouts around the world through various events such as World Jamboree, Or JOTA JOTI. All nations’ Scouting organizations are a part of the WSO, and are all linked through it.
By the time this is published, the special edition of JOTI will have already concluded, but you can still join in on the fun. The link to this year’s October JOTA JOTI are yet to be released, but they will take place on Saturday, October 17th, to Sunday, October 18th, 2020.
