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home | study, work, & travel | work abroad | resources | volunteer workcamps Volunteer WorkcampsThis summer I had some time to kill after studying French in Aix-en-Provence, and not much money. So, I decided to join a volunteer workcamp. In retrospect, I couldn't believe I had even considered doing something else. Thinking back on the many months I have spent backpacking across Europe, my workcamp experience was far cheaper and more intense. Workcamps are an inexpensive and incredibly rewarding way to go abroad! I paid $220 total for my workcamp - that equals $10 per day - for food, housing, friends, foreign language enrichment, cultural education, masonry training, etc. The term “workcamp” sounds like it must denote an unpleasant experience; au contraire, it constituted the most fun and most memorable three weeks of my eight-month stint in France this year. The workcamp movement originated in Europe after World War I to increase cross-cultural understanding. The least expensive American organizations which offer workcamps are CIEE (Council for International Educational Exchange), SCI-IVS (Service Civil International Voluntary Service), and VFP (Volunteers for Peace). They charge $150-$400 for two- to four-week workcamps. (For more information, visit Service Civil International-International Voluntary Service (SCI-IVS, and Volunteers for Peace (VFP).) These are non-profit organizations which aim to help foster world peace, on a grand scale, through international friendship and understanding between individuals, on a smaller scale. VFP, the organization I joined, offers yearly over 2400 short-term volunteer experiences in 90 countries, with camps ranging from teaching, park maintenance or farming, preparing cultural celebrations, working with refugees, children, or the elderly, to construction and renovation work. The VFP fee does not cover transportation to the site, but it covers everything you will need during the workcamp. VFP itself does not “run” workcamps; the projects are proposed by individuals or groups in the host country who network through volunteer organizations such as VFP in many countries to find their volunteers; volunteers apply through their home countries. (VFP places volunteers abroad in exchange for receiving foreign volunteers into domestic programs.) Registration for the camps is on a first-come, first-serve basis (no experience required). Most take place in the summer - plan to register for summertime camps as early as late March (via the website or by mail). Workcamps are perfect for people who: have some extra time while already abroad, who want to get some experience volunteering (in a certain field or in general), who are not confident or skilled enough in the host country's language for more advanced work, who want to go to a place where more professional work is not available, and/or who (like me) don't have the resources for anything long-term but seek something beyond travelling. A workcamp team is made up of 10 to 15 (mostly) young people from different countries. Workcamp organizations strive to make each camp diverse, making it a rule not to place too many people of one nationality in any one camp. Each camp has a few co-leaders or “animators” who, although short-term volunteers themselves, take on an increased responsibility in acting as liaisons between the group and the host community, familiarizing the other volunteers with the project, and figuring out the logistics of the group life. MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I was sent to, out of my choices of several renovation workcamps, a site in St-Martin-Lés-Melle, a small village in central-western France. Our group of ten youth from six countries and four mother tongues was assigned to reconstruct the ruins of an old lavoir, a stone building people where in the village congregated to wash their clothes years ago. The council of St-Martin decided they wanted this lavoir renovated as an important part of their heritage. They wanted its ruins to be reconstructed in the traditional style in order to beautify the village. But, equally as important, they wanted a group of international youth to come and get to know them. Most nights (when we weren't too tired after mixing cement and building walls all day) we hung out with the villagers - playing volleyball or pétanque (like bowling outside) at the town hall, attending the fireworks show and dance on Bastille Day, hosting an international meal at our castle. What a door this experience opened to French culture! For the first time, I ate escargot and bantered with paysans. I felt our work had been especially rewarding when an old woman who lived across the cornfield came by the site, grandson in tow, and told me about how she used to come to the lavoir with her grandmother to do the washing; I knew our presence had been much appreciated when our tough “boss,” André the mason, tearfully videotaped our last morning together in St-Martin. Volunteers live co-operatively; we worked together to cook, clean, and be social with each other and with the locals. My group resided in a 16th century castle which is now a retirement home. We had a carpeted bedroom, hot showers, a full kitchen and even a microwave. However, volunteers sometimes live more rustically than we did - our Irish comrade told us stories of camping in tents for weeks in the rain, bathing in lakes, cooking over a fire, and going door to door to ask villagers for a shower in previous workcamps. All in all, my group really had it made: villagers loaned enough bikes for all of us, drove us to the supermarket as we needed, constantly brought snacks for our breaks at the site and wine, beer, cidre and pinot for our dinners at the castle. I feel our presence was really appreciated. We were constantly requested at this or that event, and we were even interviewed for the local paper and the television news. One member of the mayor's staff volunteered to help drive us and show us around places in the region - thanks to Sam, we got to spend one weekend canoeing and another camping by the ocean! Some workcamps VFP offers demand proficiency in the host country's language; most require simply English. The Turks at my camp could not speak a word of French while the Belgian could not speak English, but everyone just helped each other out so we all understood what was going on. I got a lot of practice translating! Thanks to the numerous challenges of living and working together - having to co-operate on so many different levels - we deeply got to know and appreciate each other as individuals and as people from other countries. After working on my French for six months among the snooty local bourgeoise fashion plates and self-absorbed students of Aix-en-Provence, I felt so gratified to be “out there” putting my language skills to good use and really getting to know French people - instead of being just another American student passing through (In St-Martin, I was the only person from the western hemisphere, period). I really can't rave enough about this experience. Next time I have a little extra money and a few weeks off, I will definitely join another workcamp. This article first appeared in Transitions Abroad, March/April 2004. Written by Angelica Leone, 2003-04 Peer Advisor Last reviewed: 5/07 |