Switzerland: Igloo village breaks record
On March 17-18, about 500 Swiss Scouts gathered at an altitude of 2800m on the glacier of the “Plaine Morte” near the mountain resort of Crans-Montana, to build 216 igloos in order to mark the Centenary of the Scout Movement.
It was a global village of igloos, where each construction was meant to represent one of the member countries and territories of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
With 130 igloos built, the Swiss Scouts fell slightly short of their audacious goal, but set a new world record, beating the previous one of 100 igloos.
In addition to constructing their snow houses, every team composed a message of peace for the National Scout Organisation represented by their igloo. When sent, the letters will include a photo of the igloo village taken at night-fall when all of the igloos were illuminated by torches laid out in the snow, spelling out the word "peace."
Throughout the weekend the igloo village was open to a curious public, who came to discover how igloos were built, and assist in the construction of the village. This igloo village will remain after the departure of the Scouts, symbolising Scouting's culture of peace.
For more information about this project go to the IG100 website. (Available in French & German)
For more information on Swiss Centenary plans, see the Swiss Guide and Scout Movement website. (Available in English, French, German & Italian)
Click here to find out about the Swiss Scouts Gifts for Peace project.
Countries represented in the Igloo Village. (Please note: placards for all WOSM members were created, but time ran out before an igloo could be created for every member country).
Albania - Algeria - Angola - Argentina - Armenia - Australia - Austria - Azerbaijan - Bahamas - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Barbados - Belgium - Belize - Benin - Bhutan - Bolivia - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Botswana - Brazil - Brunei Darussalam - Bulgaria - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cape Verde - Canada - Chad - Chile - Scouts of China (Taiwan) - Colombia - Comoros - The Democratic Republic of the Congo - Costa Rica - Côte d'Ivoire - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Ecuador - Egypt - El Salvador - Estonia - Ethiopia - Fiji - Finland - France - Gabon - Gambia - Georgia - Germany - Ghana - Greece - Grenada - Guatemala - Guinea - Guyana - Haiti - Hondura - Hong Kong - Hungary - Iceland - India - Indonesia - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Jamaica - Japan - Jordan - Kenya - Kiribati - Republic of Korea - Kuwait - Latvia - Lebanon - Madagascar - Maldives - Malta - Mauritania - Republic of Moldova - Mongolia - Morocco - Namibia - Nepal - Netherlands - Oman - Panama - Papua New Guinea - Peru - Poland - Portugal - Russian Federation - Rwanda - Senegal - Sierra Leone - South Africa - Spain - Saint Vincent & The Grenadines - Suriname - Swaziland - Sweden - United Republic of Tanzania - Thailand - Uganda - United Arab Emirates - United States of America - Venezuela - Zambia - Zimbabwe
