Owen has become a Beaver!

1st Doha Scout Group was first formed as a joint Scout and Guide Group back in 1984, and has run in various guises ever since. 

In Doha, the Capital of Qatar in the Arabian Gulf, our Scout Group now consists of two Beaver Scout Colonies, two Cub Packs and one Scout Troop. We hold meetings in several locations across Doha and we currently provide Scouting for over one hundred young people aged from 6 to 14 years of age. 

Our organisation is co-educational, welcoming boys and girls to join the adventure. We do some pretty amazing things in Scouting, but for us, adventure is a way of life and not just an activity or expedition. Our young people grow in confidence by trying out new skills and stretching themselves. 

We believe in helping our Members fulfil their potential by working in teams, learning by doing and thinking for themselves. We give people of every background the chance to stretch themselves, learn new skills and make life long friends.

We are part of the UK’s Scout Association, which offers challenge and adventure to 400,000 young people and 100,000 adults across the UK. We believe in helping our Members fulfil their potential by working in teams, learning by doing and thinking for themselves.

My Dad's Job

It's been more than a year since I blogged! Owen has his own email address so I have decided it would be good to catch up on what we have been doing and go back in time. Owen will receive these blogs and can keep track of his activities and photos. I love keeping an account of their busy and rewarding lives.

Owen had to do a project at school on a parents job. He chose Brendon's because it involved helping people, lights and sirens. So Owen and Brendon went on a trip around Doha to find ambulances and take pictures. They went to the new airport, Museum of Islamic Art and a spoke station. Owen learned about "know the 5 to stay alive" and had much fun cruising the streets in dads response car. He loved documenting his findings.

Owen at school

Owen loves school, to put it mildly. His close friends are Rabei, Omar and Ahli. They race all the time to see who is the fastest. Owen sits at the "leopards" table. They have a rewards system and at the end of the day the table that has the most points, for various duties/good behaviours, get's to keep the trophy on their table. Owen is very keen on learning about the body and comes home and tells me all about it. He reads on his own now, writes well and maths is a natural talent for him. Mondays is swimming and I am a volunteer parent in the pool for the year 1's session. Tuesday and Wednesday is P.E. They have to take their P.E. kit in a P.E. bag and get changed out of their school clothes. They return home in their P.E. kit though. Wednesday is library and they are able to choose one book and bring it home for the week. I am very pleased he is such a happy school goer.

Owen loses his 2nd tooth

Owen's bottom tooth (the second one to appear in his first year) has been wobbly for a little while now. He was sitting reading a farming magazine on Sheila and David's couch when he wobbled it right out. He came through with the little tooth in his bloody hand. Brendon decided that it needed to be spotlessly clean for the tooth fairy and went about giving it a good rinse in the basin. What followed next was a bit of a challenge. Before Brendon knew it the tooth had fallen out of his hand and down the drain. He looked at me desperate! I looked at him like "now that wasn't very clever was it?". Owen looked devastated. Without an exchange of words Brendon found a plastic basin and unscrewed the pipe under the sink. And there was the little tooth. The day had been saved! Owen was very pleased to have it in his hand so that he could put it in his shoe and next to his bed ready for the reward the tooth fairy is going to leave.

Owen loses his first tooth

Today Owen very excitedly ran down the stairs to tell me that his tooth was loose. He wiggled it about to show me causing blood to ooze into his mouth and for me to feel a little ill! When Brendon is away I always have to deal with something that I would rather not. So I looked on the internet and some opinions said pull it out and others said nothing. So I consulted the wise woman in my life (Lynese and Jo) and both said do nothing, let it come out on it's own. Shoooo, glad I didn't have to pull it. It is said that normally the first tooth to arrive is the first tooth to go and sure enough after going back to Owen's records this was his first tooth which arrived 8 July 2008.
We had swimming on our agenda today and that is the last time I saw Owen wriggling it about. After a grocery shop and some Arabic bread Owen informed me that the tooth had disappeared. So either it is at the bottom of the pool or the bottom of his stomach!
In anticipation of the tooth fairy visiting our home tonight we drew a tooth on a piece of paper and put it in a slipper that will go next to Owen's bed. The latest internet research shows a child can expect £5 for the first tooth then £2 for each one thereafter. Glad we live in The Gulf to keep up with the cost!