My
International Volunteer Projects 2014
Of all the summers I’ve spent participating in
international volunteer projects, this was one of the most memorable. This was
the summer I became a project coordinator. This was the summer I had one of my
best - and healthiest - projects abroad in what is surely one of the world’s
most beautiful countries, Iceland.
The story begins in Brighton, at the William Clarke
Park, known affectionately to its local residents at the Patch. The other
volunteers were Marketa from the Czech Republic, Raphaël and Ronan from France,
Andrea from Italy, Irene from Spain, and Eleanor and Shannon from the UK. Our
work initially involved setting up marquees, gazebos and stages in the park for
the annual Patchfest, a community festival, an event which included music, food
and drink sales, and a market. On a day of gloriously sunny weather we
marshalled, served food and drink, and helped to organize the recycling at the
end. When we woke the next day to pouring rain, we realized just how lucky we
had been with the weather, as we prepared to take down the equipment. We slept
in tents during our project and cooked in our kitchen tent. Our free time
activities included pub visits, games, a social event with volunteers from
another project and exploring Brighton, surely one of the must-see British
towns. We also watched Germany defeat Argentina in the World Cup final on a big
screen on the beach.
In the days before my flight from Manchester, I took
the opportunity to visit two parts of England recommended by my Lonely Planet guidebook: Warwick, with
its impressive castle, and the Peak District, where I
enjoyed beautiful walks and visits to the elegant town of Buxton. On arrival in
Reykjavik I put up my tent at the city campsite before doing a whirlwind tour
of Iceland’s capital. The next day I boarded a bus to the Hveragerði, famous
for its thermal energy and NLFÍ
Health and Rehabilitation Clinic, the site of our project. The
other volunteers were our coordinators Karina from Russia and Joanna from
France, as well as Ella from Israel, Fredrik from
Finland, Daisy from South Korea, Lara and Laura from Spain, Cindy and Dory from
Taiwan, and Emma from the United States. Our work
consisted of harvesting tea and tomatoes, weeding and helping in the kitchen. In our free time we
visited the town’s thermal springs and bathed in the nearby hot stream, as well
as visiting the town’s art gallery. We also joined other volunteers from nearby
projects for a two-day visit to the south coast and a day trip to the Snæfellsnes
Peninsula. During what may well have been the healthiest two weeks of my life,
we ate from the glorious vegetarian buffet, much of it organic and grown in the
grounds of the clinic. There was also a heated indoor and outdoor swimming
pool, with jacuzzis, a sauna and steam-room. Before you get too envious, I
should add that, with the extra fee charged by the volunteer organization in
Iceland, this was my most expensive project to date.
After a flight back to Manchester and a train journey
to the Surrey town of Haslemere, I was ready to be a coordinator again, this
time at the annual MADhurst festival in Sussex, the site of my twenty-second international
volunteer project. The other volunteers were Charlotte from Belgium, Ema from
the Czech Republic, Tom from France, Carolina from Germany, Paolo from Italy,
Daniel from Spain and Ayşe from Turkey. Our work included putting up and taking
down marquees, gazebos and fences, serving drinks, waitressing, picking up
litter, selling tickets and taking part in the Big Make, which involved
preparing a display on the theme of the Rio Carnival to be carried through
Midhurst on the main festival day. We slept in a hall above a local café and
cooked in the adjoining kitchen. As well as working, we were given every
opportunity to enjoy the festival events, each distinctive and memorable in its
own way. There were two sumptuous barbecues laid on by the MADhurst committee; a
classical church concert with beautiful music and wonderful acoustics; a jazz
concert, memorable not just for the music but for the imaginative and humorous way it was
introduced to the audience; the film Walk the Line; a cookie-making workshop; visits to art exhibitions and the
town’s museum, described on its website as “probably
the smallest museum in the World”; a lively church service held in a marquee next to Cowdray Ruins;
a tour of Cowdray Ruins itself, followed by an outdoor concert and picnic … oh,
and I nearly forgot, even a burlesque evening, where, I have to admit, I did my
best to keep a low profile whenever the microphone came close! On our free days
we went on a day trip to Brighton and did a circular
walk in the beautiful Sussex countryside.
Thank you very much to our wonderful hosts, Duncan at
Patchfest, and Trina and David at MADhust, whose energy, enthusiasm, generosity,
humour and patience knew no bounds; to Fran, for helping prepare me for my
first summer as project coordinator and for visiting us at MADhurst; to Fiona
and her family for all their help during Patchfest (not to mention the hot
showers and breakfast!), and for hosting me overnight after the project; and to
the other volunteers for sharing this special time with me. As project
coordinator I was on a steep learning curve last summer, and I am grateful to
all of you for helping me on that journey.
by Barney Smith
Well, and I had the luck that we was a fantastic team from Concordia, we
laughed, talked, played sport games and enjoyed being outside a lot. I felt
very comfortable and welcome. We had
interesting talks with the monks and nuns in the centre that live a friendly,
open and peaceful life, which was sensible in the atmosphere everywhere. There
is a 15 minutes meditation each day, where everybody is free to go – I went
there most of the time. I didn't know much about meditation before. I enjoyed
it and I think it helps me reflecting things and finding my inner peace. An
experience I can only recommended anyone to try.
As it was an international volunteer projects, of course we also had to work
each day (besides weekends) for 6 hours. But the funny English people are crazy
about tea and, at least this Buddhism centre was also crazy about tea breaks. So
together with lunch we had so many breaks that we never worked for more than 2
hours at a time, which can be quite a challenge, when you want to paint
something. The work was quite diverse: we were painting the toilets, garden
work around the temple, hoovering the temple to sanding the Buddhism-statues in
an art studio which is situated on the area. I liked doing a little bit of
everything, and also there was something for everyone.
