‘Open to the world’ is learning about You – Lexane Payen, Work Camp volunteer at Balenahali Tribal Community

‘Open to the world’ is learning about You – Lexane Payen, Work Camp volunteer at Balenahali Tribal Community

Hello, I’m Lexane and I am 21. I’m from France and for my holidays, I decided to participate at a work camp with the organisation FSL-India. The purpose of this internship was to build bathrooms and toilets for people in an Indian village. We were a team of 4 students from ESTP Paris and we shared this experience together.

This trip began at Bangalore where Manju, our coordinator and a member of FSL-India, came to pick us up at the airport. He took us in the house of our host family at Hunsur. She fed and housed us during the next 6 weeks. It was very nice to live like Indian people, to discover a new culture and new food. It was the best way for us to discover India.

When we weren’t with the family, we were in the village for work. During this time, we had to dig, carry stones, paint, take measures, build walls, and put cement.

Two builders helped us. They were really generous, and they loved to share their knowledge. It was a pleasure to work with them, we learned a lot. Despite the language barrier (they talk Kannada), we succeeded to share funny moments. It was interesting to discover a different way of working than in France.

In the afternoon, we used to go to the school and play with the children. The kids were amazing and were always smiling. We were happy to see them every day. They were a concentrate of good humour.

Our week-ends were free. So we could visit some places in Karnataka like Bangalore, Mysore, or Mangalore. A week-end trip was organised with FSL-India and we visited the district of Coorg. Landscapes in the South of India are amazing. With the monsoon, the plants are of a very beautiful green. There are lots of different plant cultures like banana, tobacco, cotton, coconut, rice, mango or coffee. So it was very good to see new plantations. India is a country which deserves to be visited.

There are lots of temples because of the important number of different religions. So, we can see different architecture. India has many resources.

This was a very good trip. I met very nice people, and I was able to immerse myself in the culture of the country. I learned some things about the world and I grew up. ‘Open to the world’ is learning about you. Manju helped us during all the experience and he was always here for us if we had any problem. People in India are very nice. I’m grateful for this trip. It was a very good experience and if it’s possible, I’ll do it again. Thanks for all.

If you would like to volunteer at Balenhalli tribal village, please contact camps@fsl-india.org

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