My name is Ganesh Arunachalam, I am 25 years old and I come from Auroville, a city in the south of India. Since the beginning of August I have been a weltwärts volunteer sent by FSL India to accompany with the German Red Cross, at the DRK social services in Meschede. I support the caretaker team on site in my work.

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My working day starts at 8 a.m., first we have breakfast together in the canteen. Every morning we get a list of tasks and the associated room numbers that we work through during the day. Sometimes there are problems with the TV, the water is dripping or the light does not go on. We also take care of garbage disposal 3 times a week and provide tables and chairs for events. Outside we mow the lawn and keep it clean, cut the bushes and take care of the outdoor area, fixing broken furniture’s and other things, painting, electrical repairs, sometimes we also go to a school to mow the lawn there.

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Meschede is a beautiful small town surrounded by beautiful mountains and channels of water stream, it’s a very quiet and peaceful place who loves to be nature. It has a railway station and few supermarkets for a small town which I find amazing for shopping and travelling connection is not a stressful.

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Through my life in Auroville, I know a lot of people in Germany whom I visit on the weekends. Because weltwärts volunteers from Germany come to Auroville every year to work on a wide variety of projects for a year. Through this opportunity of volunteering in an exchange program through FSL India, I was able to learn about the culture, language, could visit new places and visit old friends in and around Germany. 

By Ganesh Arunachalam.