Even as one half of me was struggling to describe my experience at France, my other half was constantly enjoying the memories and skimming through photos, contemplating what I have learnt and gone through those beautiful 2 weeks. France and Paris – what could one possibly think when we hear those words – love, romance, life and lifestyle. The experience at France completely filled my expectations of a developed country. But more importantly, it helped me to de-condition myself at many instances.

The Place: Arriving at the end of September in France means winter is about to kick in, anytime. The South of France is a magnificent blend of geological wonders and rich French culture. I was at Laragne, a small town at the region of the Alps. Laragne is dotted with farms, churches, markets and various adventure activities such a paragliding, off road cycling, many good climbs for short hikes and treks. One can actually feel the French side of France, here.

The Camp: With all excitement, I was introduced to my fellow volunteers for the 2 weeks’ assignment. The volunteers are from all over the world (South Korea, Russia, Mexico, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland) with a mixture of personalities and skillsets, but united by the interest towards volunteering. We were together on a 2 week mission  to renovate the century old castle located at the top of the hill, through indigenous and eco- friendly methods. We were part of this project to support the ministry of culture and patrimony, to rebuild the castle and promote awareness about the history of French culture among the locales.

Camp life:The mood changes automatically when you are back from work at the camp site. A sense of friendship and camaraderie kicks in, often for many reasons. Every volunteer will get an opportunity to work with every volunteer, for whatever time period you are there, at camp. It may be cooking, washing utensils, other admin that is to be done to run the 2 week camp smoothly. It is a collective life. Every other decision is taken democratically, and it is made sure none of the volunteers’ interest in affected during this process. Our camp leader also makes sure that every evening is spent productively by engaging in any group activity, or exploring the town nearby.

What I am taking home:

Leadership:Leaders at the camp showed much respect and care towards the volunteers. Amille was the technical leader of the camp. She demonstrated on how to handle all the tools safely, with care. A few important highlights and lessons I personally noticed and learnt are: 

• The work of a camp leader is to manage the work and not the volunteer. Hence, take good care of your health.
• Whom do you think will win when it comes stone vs fingers. You know it – of course, it is stone. Hence, be careful when you are on the field, working with tools and stones.
• When it comes to work, there are no genders. There is no conception like only men could do all the manual hard labor work, or women are supposed to all the kitchen work. Hence, everybody does everything here.
• It is always okay to reach out to people for help when you find something difficult to do.

Volunteering has taught me many things. But I also realised It is also important to be realistic when you think to apply for volunteering. One volunteer’s visit to a country cannot change much for the country. But as a volunteer, I can say with all confidence that volunteering can bring many changes within self. It affected my personality at various levels. One among them is being a more responsible person towards this society, and the little work we do.

However, responsibilities of a volunteer are often underestimated. It may be because of multiple reasons, such as it is unpaid, and most volunteering programs are short term. But volunteering should be treated with the same seriousness as a typical job. The objective here should be to learn during the short period and give our best to the community we work with. Volunteering cannot change everything in the community, but it has the potential to foster good relations with people from diverse cultures and change our understanding about the world.