Yesterday, I lay aimlessly on my bed, staring at the ceiling fan rotating at its lowest speed, wondering how I barely noticed its absence over the past year. Hoping to find something better to do, I picked up my phone and saw that I had a message from a friend – another volunteer who’d returned to Bangalore from Berlin last week. “Me too” read the message, a response to one I’d sent a few hours earlier saying “I want to…
Somehow, time has flown past me and it is exactly 10 months to the date since I first set foot on German ground. I still remember that moment, stepping out into the bright September sunshine at Berlin’s Tegel airport, heaving a sigh of relief on seeing somebody right outside holding a sheet of paper with our names (and a friendly little flower) on it, and wondering if the rest of my year in Europe was going to be just as…
Hello, I am Manjunath Kannal, 100th Monkey facilitator from Mysore zone. I am working for the last 4 years with FSL-India, for their long term and short term programs. My first session with the Vijaya High School students was very exciting. I introduced our 100th Monkey program to the children. Some laughed and some smiled because of the whacky name ‘100th Monkey’. So, I decided to share the story of the 100th monkey on the Japanese island of Koshima, from the…
I am Ajith Kumar, working as a Weltwärts volunteer in Germany. Right now, I am working in a small city called Meschede, in an old age home as a house technician. My working hours are from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. I work together with 4 other people and their names are Martin, Uli, Kamphone and Thorsten. I also travelled a lot and made new friends. In February, I visited München and Ochtrup and also went to Holland. I stayed…
My name is Thamizhselvam Velmurugan, a volunteer at the German Red Cross, at Billerbeck, Germany. I am working as a caregiver at HausBaumgarten where 24 people live. My role at my workplace is to go for a walk with the residents, help the cook to prepare meals and to take the residents shopping. I am staying in an apartment near my workplace, at about 650 mtr distance, along with 2 other volunteers from Tanzania. January was a normal month –…
After having worked at a German language and cultural institute, working with German teachers and interns, while also simultaneously learning the language, for a total of close to 4 years, it only made sense for me to go to Germany to be in the country that I was working for and also virtually surrounding myself with. The most practical option I found was an international volunteering project. Working for a social cause was something that I was always keen on,…
I am Ajith Kumar, working as a Weltwärts volunteer, for the German Red Cross. Right now, I am working at Meschede, in an Old Age Home, as an in-house technician. I arrived in Germany on the 21st of November 2018. When I reached Frankfurt airport, the wind and the climate was really cold. But it was a new experience for me, because suddenly, I needed to adapt to the climate. Two German people were waiting for us, and then we met…
On the 2nd of September 2018, I moved from India to Germany for the Weltwärts volunteer program, facilitated by FSL-India. I was excited like everybody else, as this was a huge transition in every way. The last 3 ½ months in the city of Berlin has given me many fresh experiences I will never forget. My host organisation IJGD has been such a great support over the last few months. From the first day at the airport till we got to…
At FSL-India, we feel that volunteering abroad is an experience that every Indian should try at some point in time. Our Outbound program offers this magical journey to all individuals between the ages of 18-29 years. Last year, Margret Johnson, Samson E Kanth, Canute D Souza, Nikhil Thomas, Gitanjali Srinivas Murthi, Prashanth Basavana Gowdru, Fedora Deepanjali, Robin Prakash and Anushri Joshi stepped into a plane and flew away to the other side of the world. It was a dream come true, an unimaginable tryst…
Ever thought or had the urge to contribute something good to the society that addresses or effects an issue directly with your help? What about traveling to a different country discovering, exploring, meeting new people, scratching off must-do’s from your bucket list, volunteer and be a part of a social project that contributes to a global good? Or maybe do all of the above with almost all your expenses paid for. That sounds like a good treat! (At the Reichstag…