My name is Riath; we were 4 volunteers coming from France to participate in a group work camp. The objective of this camp was to improve the sanitation and hygiene conditions of the tribal community by building bathrooms and toilets.

We lived together in a host family in Hunsur. It is a good experience, because we can learn a lot about Indian culture and habits thanks to them. We bonded and formed a strong link with all the members. They were preparing all our meals, in the beginning it was hard because Indian food is really different from western food, but we learned to appreciate it after some days.

At first, we started working on the foundation. We were used to working in the morning and in the afternoon, go to school. This was a great experience because the children are so kind and appealing. With the younger children, we played many games and with the older ones, we taught them some Basic English and French. On Independence Day, 15th of August, we celebrated with the children,  who had prepared a show mixing traditional dance and song.

On the weekend, we went to many cities: Bangalore, Mysore, Coorg, and Mangalore. We saw so many beautiful things, like the Abbey Falls in Madkeri and the Tibetan settlement. Before our work camp, we did a tourism week which allowed us to see New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. We saw how beautiful India was, the architecture and colours of the temple was so impressive but on the other side, we saw some beautiful landscapes.

During the work, we shared good moments with the community. Our team leader Mr. Manju had prepared an interactive session where we could exchange with some members of the village and learn more about their culture. They have a vision of life which is pretty different from us; they didn’t have any project or plan for the future. He also introduced us to the planting of ragi and paddy. This allowed us to work with the other workers in the field. Field work is their main source of income.

Thanks a lot Ballenahalli for the wonderful, memorable moments which I had it in my life!

Join us at Balenahalli tribal village: camps@fsl-india.org

Donate towards sanitation at Balenahalli: communications@fsl-india.org