FSL India Blog

Date: 4th Aug 2011 to 28th Aug 2011
Work Camp Code: FSL-SPL 145
Location: Dharamsala
Name: Jihae LEE

India has always been my dream country. A place that exotic, fantastic, and unlike the rest of the world. I wanted to see the prayer in river Ganga. I also wanted to feel the love of a great man toward his wife in Taj Mahal. Last but not least, I wanted to eat real curry with Nan.

However, when I arrived at the Indira Gandhi Airport, I began to worry about everything. The weather was very hot and humid. The airport, which should be the most clean and high-tech place, was not like that. I went to the hotel with no air-condition and no proper chair taxi. On the way to hotel, I was afraid because it was 11 p.m. There were many people on the street with nearly naked body. Hunting-dogs were searching for food, and the road condition was worst ever. Next day, I bought a bus ticket to the meeting point at double price, which took 12 hours from Delhi without toilet! I arrived at the meeting point at 4:30 a.m. Again I was afraid of the dark-unknown city. I stood there in the heavy rain for 2hours with my 2 luggage.

Seven hours after my arrival, I met my team leader and teammates. Now, my Work Camp begins. I loved my 19 teammates. Everybody was so outgoing and kind. At first two Dutch were not nice at all. Racism!! Well, 3 days later, I could see their changes. We began to talk about our countries and that helped us understand and fix our prejudices. Our team re-constructed the local school near our accommodation. We did mural painting, built the wall around school, and fix the fence. Working was very much a fun because we could talk a lot during the work and I could leave some mark in India by painting the walls. However, I hoped that, I would work more than I did. Because of the rain, we could not finish our work. That was my one of the reason, why I join this Work Camp.

I liked the country presentation during the daily meeting. I could learn a lot from their presentation and that helped me rethink about other culture. I was very much impressed to learn about each country’s real situation.

I had very close relationship with entire village community which was the greatest part. At first, I was afraid of Indians. I tried my best to ignore them. Later, I realized that I was wrong. People treat me the same way I treat them. After a week, they greeted all the time, helped me get a taxi and free laundry service.

It was a great time to look back myself. Through meditation, I learnt how to endure things and how to think carefully before deciding on anything. I also learned not to judge other people by their appearances. I thank so much to the Work Camp, FSL India and my school to provide such a valuable time. I could learn life lesson and appreciate the beauty of Indian culture including Taj Mahal.

-Jihae LEE

Work Camps of FSL India are aimed at increasing social, cultural, educational and environmental actions in the rural and urban areas of India through international and national volunteers. These camps offer valuable opportunities for the volunteers to learn values of life from different parts of the world through cooperative operations and services. Altogether 8 Work Camps were conducted at various locations during September and October. A total of 58 International Volunteers participated in the Work Camps.

Dharamsala - Tibetan culture / Construction / Environment

05.09.2011 to 25.09.2011

Engaged in digging foundation of the toilet for the school, educational wall paintings, cleansed school kitchen, painted walls of the classroom, doors, windows, black boards of the schools. Interacted with the Tibetan Youth and monks, visited Tibetan Museum, Dalai Lama’s temple, Tibetan Library, Medicine Museum, waterfall, temples, Tibetan Children’s Village, Norbulingka Institute, Tibetan cooking class and attended McLeod Indian Gusthi (Martial Art) - part of a local festival.

Goa - Social / Happy Hearts / Kids

12.09.2011 to 25.09.2011

Volunteers painted two rooms, one hall, and one kitchen and balconies of Boy’s Orphanage Home. Taught Basic English, Maths, Action songs and simulation games to orphan children. During the evening hours helped the children in their home and interacted with them. Country-wise inter-cultural Performance.

Chennai - Social / Happy Hearts / Kids

03.10.2011 to 16.10.2011

Volunteers painted two rooms, one hall, and one kitchen and balconies of Boy’s Orphanage Home. Taught Basic English, Maths, Action songs and simulation games to orphan children. During the evening hours helped the children in their home and interacted with them.

Kundapur - Sea Turtle Conservation / Environment

10.10.2011 to 23.10.2011

Volunteers built 2 TIC near the Beach South & North of Kundapur (Maravanthe and Bejadi Beach). Volunteers conducted awareness program to save Sea Turtles to near the Beach side and in Malphe Harbour to fisher-folk community about conservation of Sea Turtles the Eggs. Renovated Community Center and Water Shed (cleaning & Painting). Henna class, Indian cooking class, Kannada class, Boat trip, visited Hindu temple, attended Hindu family marriage   and Indian family, and performed in country-wise presentation of cultural event and Kannda Nudi Theru.

Bangalore - Social / Kids

12.09.2011 to 25.09.2011

Educational pictorial wall paintings and taught English and interacted with children and community people.

Attended Health on Stage program hosted by FSL India, visited families and learnt Indian cooking and Kannada language.

FSL hosted six work camps in August: Bangalore, Coorg, Kundapur and Kerala in the South and Dharamsala and Kolkata in the North India.

In Bangalore, 12 volunteers from 8 different countries took part in the work camp. They taught the children English, maths, dance, songs, games and awareness of health and hygiene. Volunteers painted the walls and did some educational paintings. They attended a cultural dance programmes, visited local people’s houses and interacted with the locals.

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In Kannur, 19 volunteers spent 3 weeks learning yoga, ayurveda, and volunteering in a school. Volunteers taught children English and played games with them. The volunteers had many cultural activities like visiting temples, learning about traditional martial arts and interacting with the locals

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In Dharamsala, 18 volunteers did educational, cultural and construction activities. They worked on a playground, painted the rooms and the toilets walls of the school .They also interacted with the children, Tibetan youth and Tibetan Monk. They also had cultural activities: visiting Dala Lama temple, Bhagsu temple and TCV (Tibetan Children’s Village). On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared them with each other. The third week of the work camp they went for trekking.

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In Kolkata, 11 volunteers painted walls and 40 benches and did some educational painting in the school. The volunteers interacted with children and had activities like singing songs and played games of different countries. They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting the local houses and the local women helped them to wear sarees.

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In the month of July, FSL hosted 10 work camps in different parts of India including bilateral camps. Four work camps were bilateral camps. Eighty two volunteers from eighteen different countries took part in these work camps.

In Kudapur, 14 volunteers worked for 2 weeks in a school. They painted the walls of the school and did some educational paintings. Planted trees, made trash bins and educated the children about awareness of Sea turtle. Volunteers made presentations about their culture to the children and among themselves. They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting the local houses, a Hindu temple and they painted their hands with Henna.

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In Pondicherry, 5 volunteers did construction activities like shifted stones, sand, bricks and   mixed cement and helped mason. They have cleaned and painted the walls and also did some activities with the children like singing songs and playing games of different countries. They conducted sport, dance, drawing competition for children. They also visited local places of interest like a temple, a beach and a market.

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Rajasthan – Mount Abu was another place where FSL conducted a work camp to help a school. Seventeen volunteers did educational drawings, taught the children about the awareness health and hygiene and had various activities with the school students. They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting the local houses, a Hindu temple and attended Hindu wedding.  They also painted their hands with Henna.

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In Dharamsala, 20 volunteers participated from different countries worked in the school for 2 weeks and one week was trekking. The volunteers did educational, cultural and construction activities. They rebuilt a wall and made playground, did educational paintings and learn about Tibetan culture. They also interacted with the children, Tibetan youth and Tibetan Monk. The cultural program included a visit to the Dalai Lama temple, Bagru temple and waterfall. On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared them with each other

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Bilateral Work Camps

In Mysore, Bangalore and Kundapur, FSL held work camps exclusively for volunteers from two of our South Korean partner organizations. The volunteers taught English, games, origami and educated the children about hygiene and also planted plants. They conducted sport, dance, and drawing Competitions for the children. They did educational paintings about environment and hygiene, painted walls, blackboards, toilet walls and pillars of the school.  The volunteers worked in the garden and play ground. On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared with the children. They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting the local houses and they painted their hands with Henna. The volunteers did an extensive tour of historical locations to learn about Indian history and culture.

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In the month of June, FSL hosted 4 work camps in different parts of India. Three of the work camps were in South India: – Kundapur, Kannur and Mysore. One was in Dharamsala in North India. Twenty one volunteers from eleven different countries took part in these work camps.

In Kundapur, 3 volunteers worked for 2 weeks in the school. They also did gardening, painting, fixing mosquito nets and rubber sheets for the children in Ashram school and also interacted with children. They also visited local places of interest like a temple, a beach and interacted with the locals. The volunteers also learnt about each other’s culture and cooking.

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Mysore was another place where FSL conducted a work camp to help a school. Three volunteers did educational drawings, worked on the school’s garden, playground, painted windows and had various activities with the school students. The volunteers also visited a nearby temple and interacted with the locals.

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In Dharamsala, 8 volunteers worked for two weeks in the school and one week was trekking to the beautiful mountain ranges. The volunteers taught the children English and drawing, songs and dance etc. They did educational paintings, painted blackboard, windows and doors of the school.  On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared them with each other.

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In Kannur, 7 volunteers spent 3 weeks learning yoga, ayurveda, and volunteering in a school. Volunteers taught children English and played games with them. The volunteers had many cultural activities like visiting temples, learning about traditional martial arts, interacting with the locals, etc.

FSL hosted two work camps in April: Bangalore and Yercaud in the South of India.

In Bangalore, 11 volunteers from 4 different countries took part in the work camp. They taught the children games and English. Volunteers painted the walls, Black boards, windows and doors of the School building and also did some educational paintings and cleaned the playground.

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In Yercaud, 9 volunteers did painting the walls, chairs and benches, worked on the school’s vegetable garden and had various activities with the school students. On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared them with each other.

FSL hosted two work camps in March: Dharamsala in the north and Goa in the south of India.

In Goa, 16 volunteers from 8 different countries took part in the work camp. They taught the children games and English. Volunteers painted the walls of the orphanage building and also did some educational paintings. The volunteers also visited nearby places of cultural interest.

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In Dharamsala, 20 volunteers from 9 different countries worked for two weeks in the school and one week was trekking to the beautiful mountain ranges of Dharamkot and Triund. The volunteers taught the children English and drawing, songs and dance etc. They did educational paintings about environment and hygiene, painted blackboards and pillars of the school.  The volunteers worked in a garden and play ground. On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared them with each other.

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In the month of February, FSL hosted 6 work camps in different parts of India. Five of the work camps were in South India: - Yercaud, Pondicherry, Kundapur, Kannur and Mysore. One was in Kolkota in North Eastern. India. Sixty-four volunteers from seventeen different countries took part in these work camps.

In Yercaud, 3 volunteers worked for 2 weeks in a school. They did some educational paintings, taught the children games and introduced them to their culture. The volunteers also visited nearby places of cultural interest.

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In Pondicherry, 9 volunteers helped an orphanage construct an additional storey to their building. They also did gardening, painting and teaching. They also visited local places of interest like a temple, a beach and a market. They volunteers also learnt about each other’s culture and cooking.

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In the coastal town of Kundapur, 9 volunteers from 3 different countries worked for two weeks in the protection of the endangered sea turtle. The volunteers built a hatchery for the sea turtle eggs, and built a sea turtle information center. The volunteers also did some
paintings in a school, learnt about each other’s culture and visited local places of interest.

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Kolkata was another place where FSL conducted a work camp to help a school. Eight volunteers did educational drawings, worked on the school’s vegetable garden and had various activities with the school students. The volunteers also visited a nearby church and temple and interacted with the locals.

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In Kannur, 18 volunteers spent 3 weeks learning yoga, ayurveda, and volunteering in a school. Volunteers taught children English and played games with them. The volunteers had many cultural activities like visiting temples, learning about traditional martial arts,
interacting with the locals, etc.

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In Mysore, FSL held a work camp exclusively for volunteers from one of our South Korean partner organizations. It was one week camp during which the volunteers helped paint and clean a government school. They also planted plants, taught English and educated the children about hygiene. The volunteers did an extensive tour of historical locations to learn about Indian history and culture.
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Place: Bangalore        Theme: Social /Kids

Number of volunteers: 6 (S. Korea, Netherlands and Canada)

The volunteers taught children some general English and science; they also interacted with them to teach them songs, dances and games. They cleaned and painted the classrooms. After that they did educational drawing in the walls like solar system, organs of the body, Parliament and India Map. The volunteers said that they enjoyed the intercultural learning and also did wonderful work for the school.

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Place: Wayanad /Kerala         Theme: Tribal/Social

Number of Volunteers: 4(S. Korea and France)

In this work camp there were only 4 volunteers but they did much work.

They taught children songs, dancing and games of different countries with the help of the local teachers. The number of children were 180 and their age group was 6 to 15 years.

They painted 2 classrooms and painted educational drawings in the walls like India map, Kerala Map and parts of the body.  They cleaned the garden and the playground of the school. Volunteers made presentations about their culture to the children and among themselves. On international cooking day, they cooked dishes of their country and shared them with each other.

The volunteers said that they had a wonderful experience and it was the best work camp for them.

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Place: Rajasthan/Jodhpur       Theme: Social/Rural/Kids

Number of Volunteers: 7 (S. Korea, Germany, Austria, Serbia and France)

The volunteers and team leader worked together cleaning walls and painting walls. After painting the walls they drew educational paintings like village map and hygiene.

They did some activities with the children like singing songs and playing games of different countries. Volunteers made presentations about their culture to the children and among themselves. They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting the local houses, a Hindu temple and they painted their hands with Henna. The volunteers said that the work camp was really interesting and helpful for the local people where they worked.

Place: Darjeeling.  Theme: Social / Culture

Number of volunteers; 5 (Germany, S. Korea, France and Taiwan)

This is one of  the first work camps in Darjeeling. The volunteers had activities with children like singing songs, dancing and playing games of different countries. They also did educational drawing in the village school. They learnt about Indian culture by visiting a Monastery, a Museum, a tea plantation, a tea factory and visited some village people houses.  Volunteers made presentations about their culture among themselves and at the end of the work camp they saw Hindi Movie (Bollywood).

Place: Mysore.  Theme: Social /kids
Number of volunteers: 6 (Italy and S. Korea)

The volunteers worked with 80 children of age group 6 to 15 years old. They did some activities with the children like singing songs and playing games of different countries and teach some Basic English with the helped local teachers. They have painted 3 sides of the walls, windows, doors and pillars of the school. The volunteers has done educational drawing like world map and cleaned the garden and planted green plants in the garden

They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting parks, slums, other Government schools, a super market, lakes and local houses. Volunteers made presentations about their culture to the children and among themselves. The volunteers said that they are happy and satisfied with the work they have done.

Place: Kerala. Theme: Yoga/Ayurveda/Kids

Number of volunteers: 16(Russia, Switzerland, France, Canada, USA, Italy, Finland, Portugal, Netherlands USA and S. Korea)

This was one of the best work camps in the month of December 2010.  The program was intensive theory and practice of Yoga and Ayurveda. In the afternoon the volunteers worked in school and interacted with the kids. In this camp the team has cleaned and painted 9 blocks of walls in the school and also done educational drawing. They celebrated Christmas with the children at the end of the work camp.

They also learnt about Indian culture by visiting Kathakali temple, Theyyam temple, Kalari (Kerala Martial Art), Snake Park and the local people house. Volunteers made presentations about their cultural to the children and among them. The volunteers said that they had an amazing experience with this work camp and they also thank FSL for program.