{"id":18571,"date":"2020-02-13T12:24:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T06:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fsl-india.org\/blog\/?p=18571"},"modified":"2020-02-13T12:24:50","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T06:54:50","slug":"why-i-love-volunteering-notes-from-france-puviarasan-sivarajan-outbound-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fsl-india.org\/blog\/why-i-love-volunteering-notes-from-france-puviarasan-sivarajan-outbound-volunteer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Love Volunteering \u2013 Notes from France: Puviarasan Sivarajan, Outbound volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

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PC – Bharath <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Place: <\/em>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Camp:<\/em> <\/strong>With all excitement, I was introduced to my fellow volunteers for the 2 weeks\u2019 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\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Everyday begins with an adventure, walking the trails along the hill to reach our work site on the top. PC – Bharath <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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PC – Bharath <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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PC –\u00a0 Bharath
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Work site on the top of the hill. Clouds brushing the surrounding hills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A short article about our volunteering work published in the local newspaper <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Camp life:<\/em>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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bharath, one of the volunteer from India explains about the Indian food to Mayor of Laragne, prepared on the occasion of International dinner night\u00a0 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I opened up so much. There was no fear of judgement. Everybody here is new and that make you feel to be yourself. Just being myself for next two weeks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My free time was spent exploring the streets, admiring churches and tasting cheese\u00a0 wine and most importantly writing & reading<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What I am taking home:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leadership:<\/em>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.\u00a0A few important highlights and lessons I personally noticed and learnt are:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n