In the month of December 2019, FSL India, Kundapura hosted 3 Long Term Volunteers from Italy, France and Denmark at our CEL (Centre for Experiential Living), at Kundapur. Our volunteers underwent different practical, theoretical and outdoor sessions for their successful journey in India and actively took part in each session. FSL India’s facilitators have taken extra care in organising this Orientation, in which some sessions included conflict management, roles and responsibilities, culture and Indian lifestyle, safety guidelines information, project introduction and preparation with the coordinator.

The roles and responsibilities session started with asking questions on the definition of volunteerism and the required qualities for a volunteer. They really enjoyed this session which was designed like a group activity. The energisers and group bonding games during the Orientation were also a lot of fun. Every evening, the FSL India team organised different events for the exchange of ICL (intercultural learning) like Henna application and watching a Bollywood movie. FSL India also organised some cultural activities in the free time like a tour to Kundapur.

In the second part of the session, our volunteers were asked to discuss their roles and responsibilities towards the different stakeholders, i.e. FSL India, our projects and the host families. After the volunteers’ presentation, FSL India’s facilitator presented the Roles and Responsibilities of our Coordinator, Project and Host Family to the volunteers. We also helped him to buy an Indian outfit.

We received very positive feedback from the volunteers. Everything worked well and we are really satisfied with our work and the results.

Feedback:

• We all loved the traditional welcome
•  Food is perfect
•  Staff are awesome and lot of useful information
•  Maybe a longer Orientation?? (1 week)
•  It would be great to have more information before the arrival (practical stuff)

Rosanna Italy: We really enjoyed ourselves, we feel really thanks to the orientation and the place is beautiful