Kundapur : Every month Get Togethers (GTG) are conducted to give all the Long and Mid Term volunteers of FSL India, a chance to share their experiences with the group and also a one to one talk with their coordinators and this month’s GTG met its goal too.

With 4 International Long term volunteers and 3 Staffs, the GTG in the month of June was conducted on 12^th of July at the Green Wood Resort in Senapur.

Although the group was quite a small one, but the energy and the spirit was a no less than a larger one. The GTG started with a visit to the famous Mookambika Temple, situated on the banks of the Sauparnika River, which is popularly known as the never drying river. This attractive temple on the west coast of Karnataka is one of the most important places of pilgrimage attracting Hindu pilgrims from all over India. Thereafter, the group visited, Chitrakoota, a special learning and a local partner project of FSL India.

The group then returned to the resort and after a traditional coastal sea food lunch, the group then visited the flower garden spread around the green Woods resort. The volunteers were very impressed to see the different varieties of ornamental flowers at the garden. In the afternoon, after a nice cup of tea, an evaluation session was conducted by the FSL India coordinators through a game called Clouds and Sun, the volunteers wrote down their best experiences in the Sun shaped cards and challenges they faced in the cards shaped liked clouds. Thereafter, they presented it to the group and the GTG concluded with a one to one discussion between coordinators and their respective volunteers.

Bangalore : The Get Together (GTG) in the month of July was held between 11^th to 12^th of July at the Youth Hostel in Mysore. This Youth Hostel, conforms to the norms followed by International Youth Hostel Federation and is a joint venture of the Central Government of India & State Government of Karnataka.

Keeping the usual objectives of a GTG – Sharing of experiences, one to one discussions, motivational games etc. in mind, this GTG started with an activity in Bhartiya Sevadal School.

The volunteers had a chance to interact with the children of the school and had a lot of fun with them and also the teachers through games like – three legged race, Balloon bursting, Tug of War, Bindi Sticking etc.

After an awesome afternoon with the children, it was a time for relaxation of the body and mind and hence a Yoga session. The Yoga instructor with his student Mrs. Radha, taught basic Pranayama and Suryanamaskara to all the participants.

Two days of fun and experience sharing came to an end with an evaluation and feedback sharing about the overall GTG program and project work of the participants, at the banks of the scenic Karanji lake. Also, the volunteers and their respective FSL India coordinators had one to one’s to discuss about the activities in the project, challenges faced and areas where support is required.