Adventure of a lifetime at Kandersteg for three Rover Scouts

The European summer has just begun, and three Scouts NSW members are ready for the experience of a lifetime.

Ruby Mavor, Zoe Cowen and Grace Cummins have arrived at Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) in Switzerland to work as short-term staff (Pinkies) from June to August. The trio arrived at KISC on 2 June ready to start work on 4 June with a week of training.

Ruby, a Rover Scout from the Newcastle Rover Unit, said she had always wanted to work as a “Pinky”, but did not think she would ever get the opportunity. Then, the airline for which she works as a flight attendant offered extended leave while they transitioned aircraft. This gave her the perfect opportunity to take a chance at spreading her wings in a new environment.

“I’ve been involved in International Scouting for nine to 10 years now, so it’s been a big part of my life,” she said.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Kandersteg, but I’ve never been at all, so I’m flying in very blind in this whole experience.”

Ruby’s foray into International Scouting started with World Jamboree in Japan in 2015. At the time, she was a Scout at New Lambton Scout Group with her Patrol deciding to attend World Jamboree on a whim following a presentation at Hunter and Coastal’s Region Rally. While she was keen to go, she honestly believed it was “this wild, crazy idea” and there was “no way” they would actually go to Japan. In the end, there were nine from New Lambton and 11 or 12 from Hunter and Coastal in total.

It was that trip to World Jamboree 2015 where Ruby was first introduced to KISC.

“KISC had done a full set up and I started speaking to a few of the people there and they told us about the Pinky program and all about Kandersteg,” she said. "Over the years I’ve spoken to many people about it.

“Between World Jam 2019 and Korea 2023 I was Deputy International Commissioner for a few years and the International Commissioner who was running the Kandersteg 100 (KISC100) trip was trying to convince me to go. She was like ‘you have to come to Kandersteg, don’t worry about World Jam, you’ve been to a few of them, come to Kandersteg’.”

Ruby ended up going to World Jamboree in South Korea, which had some of the most challenging conditions ever, including floods, a heatwave and a typhoon. Upon her return, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity to work at KISC.

Workers at KISC are sorted into three teams – House and Campsite; Catering and Shop; and Program. The most popular team is Program, where workers put on the experiences that are remembered by visitors, including workshops, camp activities, and outdoor activities, including climbing and hiking. New workers are tested on their proficiency on arrival before being assigned to their specific team and activity.

Ruby said she hoped she would be in the Program team, although it includes a lot of alpine hiking. “I looked at the website and they do a lot of Jamboree activities, kind of like Messengers of Peace, but it sounds like we’ll be running alpine hikes most days,” she said.

Ruby’s passion has been International Scouting since she went to her first Jamboree and not just because of the travel. She said it has opened up many doors and opportunities.

“I learned way more in Scouting and especially Scouting overseas than I ever did in school. The doors that it’s opened, the opportunities that it’s given me, and the personal growth is just absolutely wild,” she said.

“You don’t get to experience that when you just travel by yourself or with your family. Travelling within Scouting, there’s this sort of magic about it. International Scouting is such a wide breadth – it’s not just travelling internationally, it’s all the international programs like Messengers of Peace that are so important. It’s another branch of Scouting that we don’t see a lot of it, but we’re starting to and it’s great.”

Ruby, Zoe and Grace will be at Kandersteg until 1 September.