What the second half of 2015 has in store for Matt Minski

News from Matthew Minski (Assistant Scout Leader)

First up I’ll be attending the World Scout Jamboree along with Julian Green, Gabe Braverman, and 300 other Australians from Mid-July to Mid-August, at a camp with over 30,000 Scouts from across the globe. My role will be on the International Service Team (IST) to help keep the two week camp running in any way possible. This could include running activities, cooking meals or cleaning toilets, its all fair game, and I’ll find out my role once I’m on site. It’ll be my third World Jamboree, and funnily enough they will have all occurred before having ever attended an Australian Jamboree! I’m very much looking forward to catching up with a number of International Scouting friends I have made over the years, and swapping a few badges as well (it can become quite addictive).

Next, after a two week pit-stop back at home, I’ll be heading to Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) as a Short Term Staff member from September to November, which is a chalet and camping ground that is staffed 365 days a year by volunteer Scouts from across the world to help run and maintain a permanent mini-World Jamboree. The campsite is open to Scouting and non-Scouting visitors, and as a staff member I’ll be responsible for helping to run the centre and keep the Scouting spirit alive. Every way will be different, and due to the quieter time of year (just after the European Summer) my roles will centre around preparing the campgrounds for winter and taking part in any maintenance work which will be needed – on top of more cleaning toilets of course…someone’s got to do it!

Lastly, after another two weeks in Melbourne, I’ll be off to join 10th Caulfield and 15,000 other Australian Scouts up at Cataract Park from the 2016 Australian Jamboree! This will be quite special for me personally as I’ve heard so much about AJs over the years but never been able to see it for myself. It will be great to go away with Scouts I actually know for a change and get to share in all the fun and activities with all of them. For those that are still on the fence about this opportunity I implore you to act now before you miss out, after all the stories I’ve heard about the Australian Jamborees over the years I know for sure it will be an experience that will stick with me for many years to come.

And the moral of the story here? Well, I’m hoping that through my stories I am able to inspire everyone about what’s out there, and to raise the awareness that there are quite a number of opportunities available within Scouting outside of the (awesome) Tuesday and Thursday night activities that we run. It’ll also explain the bulk of my absence for the second part of the year! To those reading this, a number of these opportunities you will need to go out of your way to find. However, with enough perseverance, there are so many rewarding experiences out there to be had and I have no doubt that the past experiences I’ve had in Scouting and the ones I’m yet to still take part in have and will continue to shape who I am as a person today (hopefully for the better!).