Following is another testimonial written by long-term volunteers (LTV) Diana and Lisa who are volunteering at St. Albans, a day care center for special children, located in Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu. They have been volunteering there since August 2013 and will continue to do so until June 2014. “Today is the 1st January, so we both wish you a Happy New Year. “We both” means Diana and Lisa. We are volunteers from Germany and work in a…
Simona Skandro, a long-term volunteer (LTV) from Germany has been volunteering at Aruloli Home for Girls, an orphanage in the Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu. She has been volunteering since September 2013, and will be completing her term in July 2014. Following is an account of her time spent so far. “After finishing my school in Germany I decided to go abroad, far away. India sounded interesting to me whenever I heard of it. And I…
Antonia Hauser, one of our long-term volunteers from Germany, volunteered for four months at the Paramedical Educational Trust in Tamil Nadu. The organisation believes in “Health for the Rural Mass in India.” Antonia conducted awareness programmes for community members on the topics of health and hygiene and taught school children English and environmental studies. Following is her reflection of her stay in India. “When I planned my trip to India, I was talking to…
Svenja Melina Opitz, one of our long-term volunteers from Weltwarts AFS Germany has been working at the De Mercede Orphanage since August. She writes to us from the village of Paneer, in Mangalore Taluk, Dakshina Kannada District. Following is a personal account of her experiences. “Namaskara everybody! India – on the 4th of August I arrived here in the middle of the Monsoon. Actually I was really excited and counted the days before my arrival. And…
Jathanna School – Moodubidri Host Family: Lenet Rodrigues It is since two weeks that I am staying with the Rodrigues family in the Padumarnadu, Moodubidri village which is close to Mangalore. My day starts at 8 a.m. with a nice cup of chai (tea) and a typical Indian breakfast. For example Dosa with chicken curry. Afterwards I take my bag and go to the Jathanna School from which I leave at 16 p.m. When I return another cup…
Teaching in an Indian school is a nice experience in many respect, but I think what I liked the most was learning the games played by the Indian children. My favorite game is called Lagori. It is a traditional Indian game, very popular in Karnataka. Here are the rules from what I understood of it. The official ones might be slightly different. Two teams play against each other. There are usually 3 to 6 players in each team. One team…
In early July 2012, a group of 14 volunteers from 6 countries arrived FSL- India for long-term volunteering program. FSL-India organised a week-long orientation for volunteers in Bangalore and Kundapur. While twelve volunteers participated in the orientation in Bangalore two were given orientation at Kundapur. The orientation was scheduled from 2nd to 68th July 2012. FSL-India team cordially welcomed the volunteers with garlands of jasmine, vermilion tilak marks on the forehead and Aarathi. Several sessions were conducted to provide…