On May 5, five scouts from the scout group, Red-backed Dingoes, hiked 14 kilometres as part of the Trek for Timor Challenge.

The trek took the group around four hours to complete.

The scouts approached those they encountered during their journey to tell them what they were doing and ask for donations.

The eager hikers raised $600 in a larger community effort which raised a total of $47,442.

First Kangaroo Valley Scout leader Nicholas Carlile said he was proud of the team effort demonstrated by his scouts.

“They’re always up for a challenge,” Mr Carlile said.

“Some are experienced walkers, but it was a challenge for some of our inexperienced walkers, with the youngest being only 10 and a half years old.”

Mr Carlile said he threw a spin off for his group.

“They had fun raising money, but they didn’t realise it also contributed towards their badge work,” he said.

“They organised everything themselves and had to research what they needed to do to get involved, mapping, what they needed to take, and organised receipts to give to those who donated so they could claim it back at tax time.”

The money raised from the trek will be used to expand the Education Strategy in Timor Leste.

The strategy provides social housing to support young people pursue an education in Dili and scholarships to enable them to stay at school and continue onto tertiary studies.

With the money raised from this year’s event, they hope to build a second student house for eight to 10 students, offering them a place to stay while they study, access to IT support, living expenses and education-related fees.

Visit http://www.kvrp.net.au/ to find out more about the program or to donate.