At FSL-India, we feel that volunteering abroad is an experience that every Indian should try at some point in time. Our Outbound program offers this magical journey to all individuals between the ages of 18-29 years.

Last year, Margret  Johnson, Samson E Kanth, Canute D Souza, Nikhil Thomas, Gitanjali Srinivas Murthi, Prashanth Basavana Gowdru, Fedora Deepanjali, Robin Prakash and Anushri Joshi stepped into a plane and flew away to the other side of the world.  

It was a dream come true, an unimaginable tryst with destiny. The knowledge gained and given, the friends made, the challenges faced, a few painful incidents, the camaraderie, the cuisine, the places visited, all played a part in their evolution to confident and empathetic  human beings.

At the Final Evaluation at FSL-India’s office, on 8^th December, the travelers shared the highlights of their travel experiences with the rest of us:

Nikhil J Thomas: 

In my project, I helped with the transport of people as part of the GRC transport service.

I supervised and took care of disabled passengers, helped with car care and maintenance for readiness for use, transport service for the transfusion medicine department, menu service transport, supervised and took care of people in need of help, First-Aid/Paramedic-Level 1, lifesaving measures and Emergency eservices. Sometimes I had to face difficult clients and of course, overcome the language barrier.

In my free time I had the opportunity to watch/visit football games, festivals, concerts, museums, art and live street performances, other cities and villages. I took part in German family traditions and get-togethers, and many festivals of my state, got to visit a few countries during my stay – Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Denmark and Sweden.

There are things that I am proud of in my travel and experiences which help me step up, grow and learn so many new things – culture and how other people live, gaining a new family and catching up with old friends who I never thought I would meet again.

My take-aways: Promotion of personal initiative and self-control, analysis and discussion of the influence of development policy on a civil society structure of the host country, insight into globalisation structures and global learning, comprehension of policy of peace as crucial objective in terms of society policy, analysis and discussion of the sustainable goals (SDG), analysis and discussion of self-perception as opposed to perception by others and of personal identity of origin, strategies of coping constructively with crisis and conflict, reflection of experiences and qualifications acquired, promotion of social, personal and intercultural skills. Thank you, FSL-India for giving me this wonderful opportunity!

Gitanjali Srinivas Murthy, Berlin:

The programme was aimed at creating stronger relations between India and Germany, exchanging cultures and making us global citizens.I was selected for volunteering with the German Red Cross, as part of an11 member team from India and Namibia.

We were assigned to different cities and projects. I was assigned to Siegen.I worked in two kindergartens for six months each: Kita Weltenbummler and Kita Bismarckstrasse. I loved volunteering with both the kindergartens.The one thing that I loved about my second Kindergarten was that it was much more challenging than the previous one.

My main activities involved taking care of the kids, playing with them, doing the dishes, keeping the Kindergarten clean, changing kids’ diapers, putting the kids to sleep after lunch, disciplining the kids, attending seminars

My intercultural experience included learning a new language, eating a completely different cuisine, being involved in Christmas markets and being independent in a foreign country.

I have travelled to almost all the states in Germany and have also been to France, Switzerland, Poland,  the Netherlands,  Belgium and Italy. Most of my travels were solo but it was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and to know myself better. I enjoyed myself thoroughly while travelling… it was amazing. There were so many adventures in all my trips.

Of course, I did have a few challenges to overcome – adjusting to my German roommate, to the early and then the late setting of the sun, learning how to walk on snow, transportation delays and work pressures. 

The upside is that I became more independent, responsible, learned how to handle kids, crossed my comfort zone and at the end of it all, made many friends and memories that I would cherish forever, learned to and enjoyed living alone and with roommates. At the end of it all, I think I am a much better person than I was before and I thank FSL-India for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

Canute Dsouza, Meschede

I volunteered at a residential facility for mentally and physically challenged people at Spastikerhilfe/Cooperative Mensch.

My tasks at the facility were garbage maintenance, removal of old water from metal pipes, doing some electrical works like soldering, fixing the tubelights and sometimes fixing the windows and doors.

At festival time,  I had to support all types of work, maintain a clean front end door. Sometimes, I helped repair the food tables, old people‘s wheel chairs and sleeping beds, removed water taps and fixed new ones.

Once a week, I had to adjust the chairs for old people to say prayers, or play different types of games at the communication centre. Finally, every Wednesday, I had to take a training on First Aid knowledge with Jungend Rote Kreuz.

I traveled around Germany a lot and visited Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Köln, Münster, Munich, Karlshruhe and Ulm.

I also visited Armenia and Italy (Bologna, Florence, Rome).

I faced a few challenges – understanding  the language, coping with the cold weather and food, managing the waste disposal at the project,  creative activities and my time.

In spite of these, I am proud to say that I helped to build one pavilion with the youth team, a small garden in front of the building, appeared in a press advertisement, participated in an International  Youth Volunteer Program and also in the Armenian Red Cross‘ program on the’ Rules of war‘.

I thank FSL-India for giving me this wonderful opportunity and I hope to use my experiences to contribute to society in my country.