About 25,000 pilgrims, mostly Asians and Egyptians, have been guided to their tents and Haj groups after they became lost in Mina and Arafat. According to reports from the Saudi Scouts Society (SSS), the rate of lost pilgrims is much lower than last year. Abdullah Al-Fahd, General Supervisor of the Saudi Scouts Society, believes that the arrangements put in place by the participating bodies has made the mission of the Boy Scouts a lot easier. He also highlighted the cooperation between SSS and different ministries including Haj, Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance and different security departments. He said Boy Scouts, who have volunteered to help the lost pilgrims, are doing a wonderful job. Children formed the bulk of the lost pilgrims owing to the confusing geographical nature of the holy sites. There are more than 20 centers around Mina equipped with a computerized system to give the required help to lost pilgrims. Muhammed Al-Saeed, who is taking part in the duty for the second time, said the different languages spoken by pilgrims was the most troubling aspect in guiding them back to their tents. “We have some members who can speak English and some Asian languages, but every time we find an African pilgrim, it requires great effort,” Al-Saeed, who comes form Al-Jouf, said. Sami Al-Yousuf , another volunteer, said that SSS is using modern technology to save time and help pilgrims as quickly as possible. “If we do not know the place on the map, sometimes we use the GPS service to find the best shortcut to the pilgrim's tent,” Al-Yousuf said. He added that the mission of the Boy Scouts starts once a pilgrim asks for help or visits one of the centers. “We receive pilgrims here in the office and we sort them out according to their nationalities. Then, we start calling their offices to properly identify them before sending them back to their tents with boy scouts,” Sami told Saudi Gazette. There are about 4,000 Boy Scouts working this Haj. About 1,500 of them are representing the Ministry of Education while the remaining are from different Saudi universities.
