On March 20th, SCI France gathered for the shared Solidarity Meal at Guinguette de la Paix – a well-established monthly event at SCI France, centered this time on sub saharan cuisine.

It was a welcoming event in which it was shared a pleasant meal in the spirit of interculturality. It was also a chance to introduce our new volunteers Lauriane and Rosanna and share a bit about the role they’ll play in the months ahead!

Of course we’d like to say a huge thank you to our partners and everyone who attended. Together, we’re building something truly meaningful in the name of solidarity.

• Rosanna

“I finished my Master’s in Modern Languages and I decided to take a gap year to explore volunteering in NGOs and join an association that actively works on causes I care about. I’ve been volunteering for six months now and I can say I’m really proud to be part of SCI so far! We are quite active at a local level and it’s definitely one of the things I love most.

Solidarity and community are the core values of SCI France, and I get to experience them at every Guinguette we organise! It’s like we are all crafting a sense of belonging with each cooking workshop and shared meal: we cook together, we help each other, and then comes the best part—a bunch of people smiling, chatting, and eating together. Those moments truly feel magical!

My tasks here revolve around managing the applications of incoming and outgoing volunteers that participate in SCI workcamps. I have participated in other volunteering projects before and being able to contribute from behind the scenes really motivates me. Plus, I share the office with my colleagues so I always feel supported and in a welcoming environment all the time.

I hope I will continue enjoying my mission here!”

• Lauriane

“I’m in my last year of a master’s in humanitarian action and development engineering. I decided to volunteer to fulfill the requirements for my degree and to gain practical professional experience within the volunteering sector.

I started at the end of February, so I have now been in SCI France for two months. My missions include organizing our monthly event “Guinguette de la paix”, contributing to the regional project and providing support to our national delegates in their various tasks.

I genuinely enjoy working here because the people I’m surrounded by are kind, attentive and share my values. The focus on themes such as sharing, community, intercultural exchanges, and wellbeing resonates deeply with my aspirations and things that I want to work on. In the future, it’ll be really pleasant to work in the association sector. However, I’m also eager to explore opportunities in the humanitarian field (whether in emergency response or development initiatives) as this aligns directly with my academic background.

Now, I’m truly happy to be working alongside my colleagues here, and I hope it will continue in the future.

Inspired to be part of SCI France? Whether you’d like to help with the cooking or simply get involved in our community, you can contact us at guinguette@sci-france.org!