Scouting in Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Council (Spanish: Concilio de Puerto Rico) was founded in 1927[1] as the Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Council, part of the Northeast Region of the Boy Scouts of America. The Virgin Islands District was separated into a new Virgin Islands Council in 1965.[2] Thousands of youth and volunteers participate in four programs, Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting, with the mission of preparing youth to make correct choices ethically and morally for their future by learning the Scout Law and Scout Promise. According to a statistics report by Scouting Magazine, Puerto Rico had 189 Scouts reach Eagle Scouts in 2016 and 128 in 2017.[3]

Troop 55 from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Council is divided into six districts, all named based on the Taíno name of each of the districts' base area:

• Arasibo District, based in Arecibo, covers the northern and central area of Puerto Rico, from Quebradillas to Vega Baja.
• Borikén District, based in Caguas, covers the eastern area of Puerto Rico, from Aibonito to Ceiba.
• Caribe District, based in Ponce, covers the southern area of Puerto Rico from Yauco to Patillas.
• Guaitiao District, based in San Juan, covers the northeastern area of Puerto Rico, from Guaynabo to Fajardo.
• Majagua District, based in Bayamón covers the north-northeastern area of Puerto Rico from Vega Alta to Bayamón.[4]
• Yagüeka District, based in Mayagüez, covers the western area of Puerto Rico, from Isabela to Sabana Grande.

Puerto Rico is the one of the few councils of the Boy Scouts of America organization that uses Spanish as its main language for all programs, including the Scout Promise and Law.

English: On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Spanish: Por mi honor, prometo hacer todo lo posible, para cumplir con mis deberes para con Dios y mi patria, obedecer la Ley del escucha, ayudar a mis semejantes en toda ocasión, mantenerme físicamente fuerte, mentalmente alerta y moralmente recto.

A Scout is: – Un Escucha es:

• Trustworthy – Honrado
• Loyal – Leal
• Helpful – Servicial
• Friendly – Amigable
• Courteous – Cortés
• Kind – Bondadoso
• Obedient – Obediente
• Cheerful – Alegre
• Thrifty – Ahorrativo
• Brave – Valiente
• Clean – Limpio
• Reverent – Reverente

Guajataka Scout Reservation or Campamento Guajataka, often simply referred to as Guajataka and nicknamed Santuario de Amistad (English: Sanctuary of Friendship), is the Puerto Rico Council's camp reservation, located at the northwest part of the island in San Sebastián annex to Guajataca Lake, from which the camp takes part of its name. Founded in 1938, Campamento Guajataka is a Scout Reservation where their members mostly attends for recreational activities, summer camps, seminars, leadership training and Scouting-related meetings.

Scouts and leaders who visit are lodged in one of the ten campsites, in-campsite cabins or stand-alone cabin-campsites of the reservation. These campsites feature a series of concrete-and-wood cabins that house its campers. The campsites are named by letters with some exceptions (Campsites A, B, C, D, M, SP). Also, the Paquito Joglar, El Palomar, Manolín and Cobana Negra campsites are stand-alone cabin-campsites that are located inside the camp's vast tropical mamelluelos woods and nature. The Paquito Joglar and Manolín are cabins named in honor of distinguished Scouting figures of Puerto Rico while the SP or Swimming Pool Campsite, Palomar and Cobana Negra cabins are named based on their location, flora or physical characteristics.

The camp's runs all year round. The most popular seasons are Holy Week, Summer and Christmas and the time frames varies. The main program is presented during the summer, in which ten weeks are divided for Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, and Venturing. The Christmas season runs for a single week and summarizes the summer's offerings open for both Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA. A short three-to-four-day camp has also been offered during Spring Break with a similar program to the one offered during the Christmas camp. The camp also operates off-season for special troop activities or external groups that wish to experience the outdoor spirit of the reservation.

Guajataka is the official home of Yokahu Lodge, the council's Order of the Arrow Lodge. Most of Yokahu Lodge's activities are celebrated in the camp and for years the Order has given service to the facilities. The OA has its own campsite, called "The Cabin", which occupancy has been discontinued due to structural damages, but remains standing. In the past, the Paquito Joglar campsite area was considered the official gathering place for the Lodge, later becoming a campers area due to the need of space for the many Scouts that attended camp in summer.[5]

The staff of the camp are structured based on Scouting's patrol system. These patrols are based on different specialization areas in the camp's program. The current patrols are Program Aide (Scoutcraft/Scout skills), Nature Team (ecology and conservation), Aquatic Team (pool and lake activities), Sport Team (sports and recreation), Staff Administrativo (camp administration), Voyagers (high adventure, treks and Project C.O.P.E.) and the Order of the Arrow patrol.

The patrols are led by a Director, who serves as an administrative official, and a Patrol Leader, in charge of the patrol's specific program. In the past, each patrol had its own campsite in which they pitched their own tents and worked on pioneering gates that awed campers and visitors alike. All staff members were located in a single house cabin called "Casa Staff" (Staff House) from 2006 to 2018.

Due to its long history, the patrol system has served to develop a series of traditions inside each patrol. A tradition shared by all patrols is a simple recognition, symbolized by a neckerchief, presented to a Staff member who has truly served the patrol and the camp, demonstrates and shares their knowledge, and, most of the times, has been a member of the patrol for two or more years. Their neckerchiefs as well as their shoelaces (a tradition of Guajataka Camp patrols) have different colors, each color representing a specific patrol: red (Program Aide), forest green (Nature Team), light blue (Aquatic Team), purple (Sport Team), yellow (Administrative Staff), and navy blue (Expedition Voyagers).

Yokahu Lodge 506 is the Order of the Arrow Lodge of the Puerto Rico Council, founded in 1954 by Luis Matías Ferrer and Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth.

Caribe Girl Scout Council
Map of Caribe Girl Scout Council and its campsites
Owner	Girl Scouts of the USA
Headquarters	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Location	All 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra
Country	United States
Founded	1926 (1926)
Executive Director	Ness Marie Tollinche
Program Director	Denise Sambolín
Website cgspr.org

Girl Scouting in Puerto Rico is administered by the Caribe Girl Scout Council of the Girl Scouts of the USA. It is headquartered in San Juan. The first troop was formed in 1926 in Cabo Rojo by Elisa Colberg.

The Council owns Camp Elisa Colberg, established in 1948,[6] in Rio Grande, Camp María Emilia in Añasco and Camp Provi Biaggi in Ponce.[7] The Spanish translation of Girl Scout is Niña Escucha but it is also widely understood and used in English in Puerto Rico.

The council's newsletter is called Niña Escucha.

Girl Scouts earn a uniquely designed badge created by the council called Los Faros de Puerto Rico (The Lighthouses of Puerto Rico).

In 2006, painter Moisés Fragela donated one of his paintings entitled Quedo en Nada (Left in Nothing) to the Caribe Council[8] which was sold in auction for funding part of the renovations and improvements towards the council's campsites.[8]

In 2017, shortly after Hurricane Maria, 2,000 new members joined the Caribe Council.[9]