Scouting honor

Dr Cyrus B. Wadia, a noted interventional cardiologist by profession, received the Asia Pacific Regional (APR) Chairman’s Award for 2012 at the 24th Asia Pacific Region (APR) Scout Conference held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from November 24 to 29, 2012. The award, in recognition of his outstanding leadership and invaluable contribution to the promotion and development of scouting, was presented by Jejomar C. Binay, chairman of the APR Scout Committee and vice president of the Philippines, states a write-up received by Parsiana from Wadia’s wife, Roshan, herself an active Guider who trains Girl Guides at the Alexandra Girls’ English Institution. Cyrus was one of nine awardees for 2012. Only four members of the Bharat Scouts and Guides Association had been conferred this award earlier, the write-up mentions.
Currently the District Chief Commissioner of East Bombay District of the Maharashtra State Bharat Scouts and Guides, the medico started his scouting career as a Cub in 1951. Later, as a Scout, he qualified for the Gold Cord and Jungle Goph badges. In 1972 he joined the training team and in 1983 played an important part in formulating the new Boy Scouts/Girl Guides program, incorporating radical changes in the existing one. Cyrus was involved with several Assistant Leader Trainer (ALT) and Leader Trainer (LT) courses and for over two decades conducted Himalaya Wood Badge courses every year in the month of May at the National Training Centre in Panchmari, Madhya Pradesh, the write-up reveals.
As a member of the APR training team Cyrus has participated in ALT and LT courses in India, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He has also been part of the team conducting Wood Badge courses for the Vietnam scouts and in the Philippines, sponsored by the APR. His dedicated services over decades earned him, in 1993, the Silver Elephant Award, the highest scouting accolade of the Bharat Scouts and Guides, reports Roshan.