In this article I will describe some of my experiences and learnings from the first four weeks of my stay as a volunteer. Below I will drag the key of my first experiences when it comes to: Host family stays CREDIT I – projects Darasa Festival – Mysore I landed in Bangalore on the 14th of September 2022. FSL coordinator Manjunath met me at the Airport and followed me to Hunsur, where I was warmly welcomed by my first host…
My overall experience of India is very positive!After the first weeks of constant confrontation with new things I got to see all the beautiful things about Indian culture, people and the land. Because literally everything is different to Germany it was obviously a lot to handle in the first place, though I had a very warm welcome and felt home soon! Indian people have been so welcoming and open towards me and for that I am very thankful. I got…
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. My working day starts at 8 a.m., first we have breakfast together in the canteen. Every morning we get…
In the month of September 2019, FSL India hosted 16 Long Term Volunteers from Germany at our CEL (Centre for Experiential Living). The volunteers underwent different practical, theoretical and outdoor sessions for their successful journey in India and actively took part in each session. The sessions included conflict management, roles and responsibilities, culture and Indian life style, safety guidelines, information and project introduction and also, preparation with their coordinators. The roles and responsibilities session started with asking questions on the…
In the month of August, FSL-India hosted 39 Long-Term Volunteers from Germany, from 5th-10th. For this orientation, our LTV team organised different events for the exchange of ICL (Inter-Cultural Learning). The sessions conducted on diverse topics like ‘Indian’ welcome, introduction to FSL-India, local language class, practical information, Indian lifestyle, safety and project information, each volunteer’s role and responsibilities. It was observed that the participants were interested to know about Indian culture and practices. The volunteers actively participated in the orientation….
From the 30th of June to the 20th of July, a team of 6 teens from Spain arrived in Bangalore, and started their summer camp journey with FSL-India. The teen group, composed of Paul, Rosa, Martha, Pablo, Manuel and Raquel along with FSL-India’s Manjesh, delved deep into Indian life, with tasting the Indian dishes, riding in the local transport and experiencing the typical Indian lifestyle. Right from the very beginning, the group had a very positive attitude towards Indian life…
On 6th of May, FSL-India Kundapur organised a Cultural Event for 2 LTV volunteers. Every month, we organise a cultural event for our regular volunteers and we take them to any cultural and historical places which are located in and around Kundapur. This month, the Cultural Event was mainly focused on a housewarming ceremony at Hemmadi. Mrs Geetha, FSL-India’s staff invited us to the housewarming ceremony of her new house on 5th June night, which lasted till 6th morning. The…
Vanakkam! My name is Thorben Roth and I am a volunteer from Germany, and I came this year, in April, to India. I am doing a social service, which will last 11 months and I came with a group of people, who are also doing the same. My organisation is AFS-Germany, but the partner organisation which is the organization I am working with is FSL-India, located in India. My project in which I am working is a school for special…
In the month of January 2019, FSL-India Kundapur hosted 9 Long Term Volunteers, i.e. 5 from France, 2 from Germany, 1 from Sweden and 1 from Finland at our CEL (Centre for Experiential Living), Kundapur for a week-long orientation. At every orientation, our volunteers are taken through different practical, theoretical and outdoor sessions for their successful journey in India. Some sessions include conflict management, roles and responsibilities, Culture and Indian lifestyle, Safety guidelines, an introduction to their project and preparation…
In the month of September 2017, FSL-India, Kundapur hosted 24 Long-Term Volunteers from Sweden and Germany, at our CEL (Centre for Experiential Living), Kundapur. The volunteers participated in practical, theoretical and outdoor sessions for their successful journey in India. The volunteers actively took part in each session. FSL-India’s facilitators took extra care in organizing this orientation, in which some sessions included conflict management, roles and responsibilities, Hindu philosophy, culture and Indian life style, project introduction and preparation with the coordinator….