She had just moved there and as a painfully shy teenager, struggled with loneliness. “I joined scouting and it changed my life completely,” Candeias said. “I found a family and I found myself,” she added.

Thus, some years ago when the opportunity to join the World Organisation of the Scouting Movement (WOSM) came up, she jumped at the chance to help other young people the way she had been helped.

The organisation is present in 172 countries and involves millions of young people. Now 28, she is the WOSM manager for diversity, inclusion and life skills.

When asked about the significance of World Youth Skills Day in the context of WOSM, she said, “We celebrate this day to raise awareness on the need that young people have to be present in decision making.”

She added that the future was in the hands of the youth and thus, they must be allowed a voice. She also stressed that children can become changemakers but only if the adults in their lives let them exercise this right.

For many, the image of a scout is a boy who knows woodcraft. Candeias laughed, saying, “We don’t only camp and hike.”

She said that WOSM was heavily involved in community service, community development, fostering teamwork, critical thinking, and resilience.

“We want to give our scouts the sense of ‘who am I as a person and what is my role in my community’ on the local, national, and global levels.”

Candeias said that empowering young people to learn different types of skills also helped foster a love of learning which would hopefully stay with them throughout their lives.

“They won’t be so afraid to try new things or make new friends wherever in the world they go.”

Candeais explained that over the years WOSM expanded the repertoire of skills a scout can learn to include vocational, technical, entrepreneurial and home economics skills.

“We promote the discovery of these skills through proficiency badges.” She said that the badges were a recognition that the scout has acquired the skill. But, the journey to acquiring the skill can allow them to experience many other technical and soft skills.

“If you like hiking a lot, you can go for the camping badge. But you also learn how to navigate, respect wildlife, fire safety, communicate with your troop to assign tasks and ensure everyone’s safety, and more.”

In recent years, the climate crisis inspired WOSM to encourage scouts to help their communities in the areas of awareness, recycling, and community support.

“We have the Earth Tribe Initiative which focuses on the environment and young people learn how to tackle the issue of single use plastic and the management of plastic in their cities and communities.”

Globalisation has also sparked a need for greater understanding among different peoples from different backgrounds and WOSM has developed programmes designed around this objective.

“We have the Dialogue for Peace Program which emphasises transferable skills for mutual understanding of cultures, religions, genders and more.”

Scouting may start off with a small class in how to tie different kinds of knots or a knife safety seminar. It then builds on the interest the children form as they acquire these skills to encourage them to explore themselves and how they can contribute to the wider world.

This World Youth Skills Day, why not take a moment to encourage a young person to keep working at an interest they may be struggling with?

A word of encouragement today could make all the difference in ensuring they grow up to live in a brighter tomorrow.

Follow WOSM on Facebook to see how scouts are changing the world and giving back to their communities.