Voortrekkers (youth organisation)
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This article is missing information about membership numbers, gender, history, uniforms.... This concern has been noted on the talk page where whether or not to include such information may be discussed. (May 2010) |
- Voortrekkers can also refer to the historical mass migration of the Afrikaner people: see Voortrekkers.
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The Voortrekkers is an Afrikaans language youth organisation founded in South Africa in 1931.
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[edit] Mission, values and principles
In the words of its mission statement, "Die Voortrekkers empowers the Afrikaner to be successful as positive citizens and dependable Christians."
Its Values are encapsulated in what they call the ABC:
- Afrikanerskap (modern Afrikanership)
- Burgerskap (positive citizenship)
- Christenskap (dependable Christianship).
The Seven Principles as guide its members are:
- 1. To embed the belief in the Triune God
- 2. To practice a Christian lifestyle
- 3. To pass on and cultivate the Afrikaner culture and to appreciate and protect our heritage
- 4. To take the good from the Afrikaner’s past and to build the future thereupon
- 5. To observe, appreciate and protect our environment
- 6. To develop contributing citizens and effective leaders
- 7. To nuture the positive habits of exploration, appreciation, sustainability, self discipline and voluntary service delivery
[edit] Origins
The founding of the Voortrekkers coincided with the growth of Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa, then a British colony. In some ways it was an Afrikaans language alternative to the largely English-speaking Boy Scout movement with its British heritage. However, the Voortrekker programme was substantially more race-conscious, nationalist and religious in tone and principles than the Scouting programme.
[edit] Organisation
Organisationally, the Voortrekkers are divided into a number of gebiede (areas) which correspond to the old pre-1994 South African provinces plus Namibia, which in turn are subdivided into oorde (districts) and then kommandos (commandos). Each kommando consists of a number of spanne (teams).
[edit] Membership levels
At primary-school level (ages 5-12), members are known as Penkoppe (boys) and Drawwertijes (girls); the emphasis at this stage is to develop personal leadership qualities.
In high school (ages 13-17), members are referred to as Verkenners and its emphasis is to continue what was learned in the earlier primary-school phase by applying its lessons to developing general leadership skills.
Young adult members (ages 18-35) are known as Staatmakers, with the program emphasising training for leadership positions at its several levels of organisation.
