Recently, we had the great pleasure of seeing one of our volunteers from last year, Caroline Pilling, revisiting us at our office at Kundapura. She writes about what it was like to go back home to Germany after volunteering in India and the sense of nostalgia she feels whenever she thinks of her experiences here. Thank you Caroline for still thinking of us, and you are always welcome back!

‘On the 20th of July 2012 the last volunteers of my batch left India. It was very sad to leave the country which had become our second home. Now, one year later I am back to this incredible country.

In the meantime in Germany for all former volunteers the life has been going on. We had to face the beginning of studies or working and various duties when we came back to our home. For some of us it was little hard to get used to all of these challenges again. I think, everybody felt strange, when I sat in the train and nobody tried to speak with me. At the beginning in India, I was surprised by spicy food in the morning, I missed it when I came back to Germany. The [best way] to deal with [these] feelings is staying in touch with your buddies and talking about your experiences.

Most of us feel still connected to the group of Germans [who were with us when we] stayed in India. It’s always like coming home to meet our project partners and other friends.

After one year, I am still comparing Indian and German culture and my behavior is still influenced by the time [there]… I am still reflecting [on] my experiences.

So it’s great having the chance to see how things are going here in Kundapura. On the one hand in Kundapura many things have stayed the same. I am happy to see many well-known faces again. Everybody warmly welcomed me. Nobody had forgotten me and it felt like I had never been gone. On the other hand, something is missing like some staff working in the home based projects Environmental Education and Eco Clubs. Other things developed a lot during one year. The old “small office” doesn’t exist anymore. It is substituted by the beautiful “Eco Office” in Church Road. The bright rooms are much better working places, then we had before. I heard of many nice activities last year’s volunteers conducted, but unfortunately during the two days I stayed [there], no program or session was conducted.

But I am sure that I will have another chance in the future. I would love to come back soon to India and Kundapura to see everybody again.’