The Warmest Lesson Came from the Coldest Place

I thought I was travelling to Switzerland to experience winter. Instead, I returned home with a

completely different way of viewing the world.

Back in January 2026, I had the privilege of representing Malaysia at the International Rover Week (Winter Edition) at the Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC), Switzerland. Nestled in the

heart of the Swiss Alps, Kandersteg was everything I had imagined-the snow-covered mountains,

freezing temperatures, and breathtaking landscapes.

However, what made the experience unforgettable was not the scenery; it was the people.

For a week, I lived with over 30 Rover Scouts from every corner of the world. We came from different continents, spoke different languages, practised different religions, and grew up in completely different societies. Yet every morning, we woke up under the same roof. Every evening, we gathered around the same dinner table. Somewhere between hiking through snow-covered trails, cooking together, and sharing stories late into the night, I gradually became friends with a bunch of strangers.

One evening, our conversation shifted from adventures to reality. Instead of talking about mountains or travel, we spoke about home. My brother from Portugal, Ricardo Barata, said to me that KISC had always been a special place for him, and soon, it will be mine too.

One of the Rovers shared how communities in his country had been displaced by conflict. Another spoke about indigenous peoples fighting to preserve their identity and ancestral lands. Someone else described volunteering with children who had never possessed an official identity, making education

something they had to fight for instead of something they could simply receive. As I listened, an unsettling feeling washed over me.

Before that night, I had known these issues only through headlines, documentaries, and classroom

discussions.

Refugees. Indigenous communities. Stateless children.

These were words I recognised, but experiences I had never truly understood.

Then I looked around the table. These stories were no longer statistics. They belonged to the people

laughing beside me. The people I had spent the week hiking with. The people who had become my

friends.

That moment changed everything.

Scouting has always taught me that we are one global family, but it was in Kandersteg that I finally

understood what those words meant. Being part of a global family is not about wearing the same

neckerchief or reciting the same Scout Promise, it is about recognising that someone else's struggle should matter to you, even if it has never been your own.

Living with over thirty Rovers from across the world taught me that privilege often hides in the

problems we never have to face.

The opportunity to go to school without question. To belong to a country. To speak our language freely. To have a place we can always call home.

These are things many of us assume everyone has. They don't. When I left Switzerland, the most valuable thing I carried home was not souvenirs or photographs, but a shifted perspective.

Today, whenever I hear conversations about refugees, Orang Asli communities, stateless children, or

families trapped in poverty, I no longer picture distant news stories. I remember the faces around

that dinner table in Kandersteg. I remember that every issue we discuss has a human face behind it

as I imagined a family, a dream, a future waiting to be recognised.

People often ask me what I learned in Switzerland. Some expect me to say resilience because of the

snow. Others expect me to say leadership because of Scouting. Both are true, but the lesson that has stayed with me the longest is much simpler.

The world does not become smaller because we travel. It becomes smaller because we begin to

understand one another. Perhaps that is Scouting's greatest gift. It does not only teach us how to survive in the wilderness, but also the fact that no matter where we come from, humanity will always be our greatest common ground. About Author

Hakim Irmie is a King's Scout and Malaysian youth leader who believes Scouting and Youth Engagement are more than an adventure as it is a lifelong journey of service, empathy, and global citizenship