An Adventure in Service: Why Trek is the Ultimate Challenge for Scouts

Scouts are built for this.

From knot-tying in the mountains to leading community service back home, Scouts are no strangers to taking on big challenges to make an even bigger impact. For Bay Area Life Scouts Aeron Gurskis and Julian Vignoles, joining a buildOn Trek to help build a school in rural Senegal represented a logical next step from their usual scouting activities.

“It’s definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Aeron says. “It didn’t really hit me until I was on the flight home. We used the resources we have to help other people, and we did it in the best way we could. buildOn emphasizes solidarity. We’re not just sending money. We’re showing up.” 

What is Trek? 

Trek is more than a trip. It’s a chance to live and work alongside a local community to help build a primary school, brick by brick. Participants stay with host families, immerse themselves in the local culture, and learn firsthand what education means in communities where access is anything but guaranteed. 

Julian and Aeron, accompanied by Aeron’s brother and fellow Scout Orion, decided to take on this immersive experience this summer.

Scout Values and Skills in Action 

For Scouts like Aeron and Julian, Trek taps into everything the Scout Oath, Law, and Motto represent.

Scout Oath:

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law:

A Scout is…
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent

Scout Motto:

Be Prepared.

“Within the Scout Oath, one of the points is to help other people at all times,” Aeron says. “That definitely ties in with Trek. You’re extending beyond just being helpful. You’re actually showing up and helping in the best way possible.”

And yes, it can be physically demanding. But Scouts are used to that. Aeron and Julian’s troop spends every summer in the mountains building their own campsite from scratch—clearing land, constructing kitchens, and even digging latrines. But the work they did on Trek felt more impactful. “There is a big difference between making something for someone else versus making something for yourself, and that’s really cool.”

“In Scouts, you do hard things that you’ve never done before,” Julian says. “When you’re 11 or 12 years old and you’re going to camp, no parents, you’re getting super homesick. It’s rough and tumble, right? It prepares you not only for the physical but also the mental strain of being in 102 degree weather and working 4 hours a day.” 

To him, the Trek experience encapsulated the Scout Motto. “It definitely helped me a lot being mentally and physically prepared but not only that but being prepared for the things that could happen,” he says. “I think that’s the biggest part of Scouts—that you should always come prepared.”

While in Senegal, both boys got to put many of the skills they learned in Scouts to the test, including latrine digging! Their Trek group dug one for the community to use along with the new school. And they faced new, unexpected challenges, like a large dust storm that engulfed the village while they were there.

“One of the points in the Scout Oath is to help other people at all times. That definitely ties in with Trek.” —Aeron Gurskis

Lessons in Resilience and Solidarity

In Senegal, Aeron and Julian witnessed the community’s determination. Children as young as five pushed wheelbarrows full of gravel. Mothers carried babies on their backs while mixing concrete. “That was amazing to see,” Aeron recalls. “They definitely had enough excuses not to work, but they saw it as an opportunity to help.”

And the impact of their work will be long-lasting. “The school we built will mean more children can go to school, especially girls,” he says. “We saw firsthand how gender equality starts with education.” 

“Two or three of the people in my host family were in high school and you could see a significant difference between the education levels of the adults and the high school kids,” Julian adds. “I hope the new school gets a lot of people in the village to go to high school. That’s my hope—for them to become literate and go to Dakar (Senegal’s capital city) and work.”

Why Scouts Should Choose Trek 

So why should other Scouts consider Trek?

“I’d recommend it to anybody who has the time to do it,” Aeron says. “There are a lot of intersections between Scout values and buildOn values. We have a base for understanding that allows us to build an even higher understanding of what exactly we are doing in the community. I would definitely recommend it to anybody in general but also other scouts.”

The experience getting their hands dirty is also a plus. “They’re also used to doing all the manual labor,” he adds. “So that’s not going to be a problem for them.”

“Not only does it directly follow the Scout code, but it’s an experience that you don’t get in Scouting,” Julian adds. “In Scouts, you go camp and you fend for yourself. You do work with each other, but there isn’t always a greater purpose other than having fun. Trek is a combination of going with your friends and having fun and getting a new cultural experience as well as doing community service. That’s an experience that very few have and I feel like a lot of Scouts would be up for.” 

“A lot of the people that live where I live wouldn’t really find it appealing to go into the desert for 10 days and do 4 hours of manual labor each day. It’s just not that appealing. But Scouts, they’ve already done this, they’ve already signed up for this. It’s what they enjoy. If you like Scouting, you will like Trek because there are so many parallels.”

“Scouts have already done this. They’ve already signed up for this. It’s what they enjoy. If you like Scouting, you will like Trek because there are so many parallels.” —Julian Vignoles

Want to take on the ultimate service adventure? Go on a buildOn Trek and help build a school where it’s needed most. Start your journey today!