Friendships Across Borders
In 2022, the Danish group Kong Svend Gruppe met a group of Ukrainian scouts. This has grown into a strong friendship, and at Jamboree Denmark 2026 the two groups chose to share a campsite.
It is the summer of 2022, and the scouts from Kong Svend Gruppe are away at Jamboree Denmark. In the same subcamp,there is a group of Ukrainian scouts, and they are facing a bit of a challenge. It is the first time these young people have ever taken part in a jamboree.
Jamboree Denmark takes place a few months after the war in Ukraine has begun. In this situation, a group of young people have been given the chance to take a break from the war and experience a real jamboree. An invitation their leader gladly accepted.
There was just one problem: neither the leader nor the Ukrainian scouts had ever been part of guiding and scouting before. Instead, they are an ordinary school class and an ordinary schoolteacher. They therefore do not know any of the basic skills that Danish guides and scouts take for granted, such as building a dining table from poles, cooking over an open fire or how to pitch a tents.
Rescue and Friendship Appear
As luck would have it, help for the Ukrainian scouts is not far away. On the first evening of the jamboree, a leader from Kong Svend Gruppe and the leader from Ukraine get talking. The conversation quickly turns to all the difficulties the Ukrainians are having as they try to structure their campsite.
That will never do. The Danish leader immediately offers, together with his junior and clan guides and scouts, to come and lend a helping hand. The Ukrainian leader quickly accepts, and before the first-time Ukrainian scouts know it, a campsite has taken shape – and they have learned a great deal of new skills.
But this chance meeting between two leaders led to more than just a finished campsite. Because the Danish and Ukrainian scouts are roughly the same age, friendships quickly begin to grow. Every day the scouts visit each other, and the Danes take the Ukrainians along to activities.
Today, this means that the Danish and Ukrainian scouts are living together on the same campsite at Jamboree Denmark 2026
“We Felt So Welcome”
Julia and Vika, now 17 and 16 years old respectively, are two of the Ukrainian guides and scouts who were at the jamboree in 2022 and have returned again this year. They credit their great experience at Jamboree Denmark 2022 as the reason they are still part of guiding and scouting today.
What they remember most clearly from the jamboree four years ago is the evening when the Danish scouts invited them to a cosy campfire.
“We roasted marshmallows, sang, talked and had a fantastic time. It made a really strong impression on us, because it was our first jamboree,” say the two girls, who also remember how fascinated they were by Danish food.
“When we were at Jamboree Denmark in 2022, we got homesick. It was hard for us to be in a situation where we did not know what to do, or how to handle it when the weather kept changing. So we are very grateful to the Danish scouts who helped us,” says Julia with Vika adding:
“We would have liked to stay at the jamboree for much longer. We felt so welcome and included in the jamboree. We loved the atmosphere that the Danish guides and scouts created,” they say.
Learning Goes Both Ways
However, it is not only the Ukrainian scouts who have learned something from the Danes. Clara and Elisabeth, both 15 years old, are part of Kong Svend Gruppe.
They have learned several Ukrainian words, tasted Ukrainian food, sung Ukrainian songs and learned about the traditional clothing worn by the Ukrainian guides and scouts. But there is one particular experience that made a deep impression on the two Danish girls:
“We were sitting having lunch together, and one of the Ukrainian girls told us that she had not seen many of her family members for a long time, and that her cousin was ill but still could not go to hospital. At the same time, we can easily visit our family members and go to the doctor or hospital to get the help we need. That conversation really stayed with us,” say Clara and Elisabeth.
Jamboree Denmark 2022 Ends with a Tough Goodbye
Both the Danish and Ukrainian guides and scouts remember how hard it was to say goodbye when Jamboree Denmark 2022 came to an end.
The very next summer, the two groups meet again. One of the leaders from Kong Svend Gruppe has raised a substantial amount of money with the help of sponsors. This means that the Danish guides and scouts can invite the Ukrainians on a full two-week guiding and scouting holiday away from the war.
This led to a lot of cultural exchange, with the guides and scouts visiting Bakken amusement park North of Copenhagen together, exploring castles and forts, going canoeing and holding a Ukrainian Day to learn more about Ukrainian culture. There was also time for Danish traditions such as æbleskiver and strawberries with cream.
