Nicaraguan David Silva, 49, is a lawyer, married with 4 children. He has had a long career in non-profit organizations and his path in life has demonstrated a deep interest in social affairs, driven to find ways to build a better world since his teenage years. As part of his academic training he specialized in international relations, which led him to a career as a journalist with Nicaragua’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Until a year ago, David was executive director of an NGO working on the rehabilitation and social integration of young people in troubled situations. David has no experience in Scouting, but in these few months he has shown a grasp of the technical aspects of our organization, bringing all his professional know-how in running and administering non-profit organizations to the Scout Association of Nicaragua. He has turned his experience in education to formulating the Association’s proposals in the task force on Handbooks for the Venturer and Rover Sections, of which Nicaragua is an active member.

During the working sessions, David had the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of the strategic areas of the Regional Plan (Youth Programme, Human Resources and Institutional Development), as well as the project and actions driven by the Regional Plan for 2006-2008. In turn, David reported on the Nicaraguan Association’s progress as regards Human Resources, Youth Programme (especially the material being prepared for the Venturer and Rover Sections), Operations and Image Management.

David also met with Regional Director Gerardo González to discuss Nicaraguan youth, the expectations of Scouting in the Region and the possibility of building cooperation linkages between the Picarquín World Scout Centre and the training facility of El Coyotepe. The Picarquín World Scout Centre’s ongoing work at the regional and world levels is a subject of great interest to David and the Nicaraguan Association, with a view to creating their own high-quality facility to provide programmes for Nicaraguan youth.

In the afternoon of Thursday 25 May, David paid a visit to the Picarquín World Scout Centre. He got to explore aspects of the facility’s administration that he would like to apply in El Coyepe, where the Nicaraguan Association has been working to create an open centre for young people, schools, religious groups and other organizations with aims akin to education and development.

During his visit, David shared his kindness, good humour and broad knowledge of Nicaraguan youth with the ISO team. A cordial and attentive student, he welcomed the opportunity to catch up on all the regional policies and contribute his own experience to the work in hand.

Our best wishes go out to David Silva and all the children and young people in the Scout Association of Nicaragua. We encourage them to continue developing and progressing along the path of the Founder.