Bangalore : 7 volunteers from 6 different countries – Julia Jewell from USA, Gautier Zoé and Simon VAN POUCKE from Belgium, Cornelia Groiss from Austria, Shoko SEKI from Japan, Linda Hillberg from Sweden and Camille GOUWY from France were the participants for February month with their projects in different fields like – Physically Handicapped and Mentally Challenged Children’s project, Orphan Children Teaching, Women Empowerment, Ethnic Tribe Teaching, Eco tourism and Street Children Teaching. The volunteers arrived on 4^th of February for their Orientation week at FSL India’s Bangalore office.

The sessions conducted during this orientation were – Kannada and Tamil Language, Introduction about FSL India, project introduction and reporting, project visit, voluntarism and roles & responsibilities of all the stakeholders of LTV program, setting up aims, conflict management, Indian Pedagogy and different indicators of culture.

Apart from these there were some other activities like – drawing Mehendi on the palms, visit to the famous Bull Temple and Lalbagh Botanical garden and Bollywood Cinema were quite interesting to the volunteers. Also, as the participants were from 6 different countries, the Country presentation – their food, culture, clothes and facts and figures was very interesting and inter-cultural.

The Group atmosphere during this orientation and also the participation of the volunteers was very impressive. The participants were encouraged to ask questions, engage in discussions and clarify all their doubts by the facilitators. The Orientation week ended on 8^th of February, 2013 with a great feedback from the participants.

Kundapur : A batch of 4 Volunteers landed in Kundapur on 4^th of February to participate in the orientation week from 4^th to the 8^th of February, 2013. The volunteers were – Juan Ballesta Martin from Spain, Charlotte De Vroy from Belgium, Inna Shaforostova from Russia and Lisa – Mara Schulz from Germany.

The sessions conducted during the Orientation were – Kannada & language, Introduction about FSL India, project introduction and reporting, project visit, Indian life style, Hindu philosophy, voluntarism and roles & responsibilities of all the stakeholders of LTV program, setting up aims, conflict management, Bollywood Cinema, Boat trip and different indicators of culture.

This Orientation had a perfect blend of theoretical sessions, group activities, field visits, excursion, etc. The volunteers also had a lot of fun watching the Bollywood movie – 3 Idiots. To experience life in an Indian family, the volunteers during their Orientation week were taken for a host family visit in Kundapur along with that they also visited a local project to get an overview of the working style in India. On the 7^th of February, the volunteers went for a boat trip and enjoyed the scenic view of backwaters. On the final day of the orientation the volunteers shared their feedback and left to their respective project destination.