Somewhere in the Swiss Forest Written by Lena Schneider and Paul GriesbergerOctober 2019 For my second time as a SCI Switzerland workcamp coordinator I wanted to be at a special place and country I haven’t been before. That’s why I choose the Swiss Alps. The Alpe Loasa which is right at the border to Italy, surrounded by forest…
A summer of workcamps in Kosovo Written by Ismael LasantaOctober 2019 Imagine hiking up the mountains to a village whose houses spread all over the lush slopes of a peaceful valley, then going deep in the forest until you hear some bells ring, look up and notice the white tower of a monastery pointing at the…
Paint the walls away in Mitrovica Written by Jeremy FlauraudSeptember 2019 fter the First World war devastated France, the authorities picked one of the numerous fallen soldiers who could not be identified, and buried him under the ‘Arc de Triomphe’, one of the main monuments of the capital city. To this day, people gather to pay…
Mutual integration in Monar Wyszków Written by Eliane PreiswerkSeptember 2019 Have you ever been greeted by a big applause upon arrival at the workcamp? This is how the community of Monar welcomed our little group of volunteers to their summer camp in Bachotek. Dancing around the campfire to the sounds of Disco Polo, we celebrated the…
At least I tried. Our workcamp in the wild Written by Shirin HodzhevaAugust 2019 It all started with the Gendered Realities project and the call for local activities on gender equality topic by SCI. The team of three girls Bea from Poland, Vili and Shirin from Bulgaria, who already had organized two workcamps on women empowerment…
It is part of your work “to improve the environment a bit” Written by Mitzi de Jesús Conejo LunaAugust 2019 My name is Mitzi, I am 21 years old and I volunteered at the VIA VZW Project in Meihof Asylum Centre in Lint, a small village in the province of Antwerp (Belgium), where there are around…
Relaxation, spirituality and excitement in Draganac Monastery Written by CéliaAugust 2019 Draganac Monastery is this kind of place that you cannot describe with one sentence. The moment I arrived there, I felt different vibrations, between relaxation, spirituality and excitement. I arrived there on a Saturday afternoon to help settling the workcamp that GAIA Kosovo and the…
Wonderful days at farming workcamp in Malaysia Written by LooWee ChiaJanuary 2019 It was a great learning experience to attend Organic Farming and Meditation workcamp at Cameron Highlands (Malaysia) last December (11-21). We got to learn the ins and outs of organic farming from seeding, planting, compost making, to harvesting and packaging. Among all, weeding was…
Experience in language teaching workcamp Written by LooWee ChiaJanuary 2019 The language teaching workcamp (Nov 19 – Dec 2018) was held in Ho Chi Minh city (Vietnam), a vibrant and crowded city full of life and motorbikes. Our first two days were welcomed by Khai, the local representative from Volunteers for Peace Vietnam (VPV). In our group,…
BioBlitz at Jenolan Caves Written by S. HornDecember 2018 An IVP Weekend workcamp team recently pitched in to assist organisers of a citizen science event at a popular tourist destination and nature biodiversity hotspot, near Sydney. For this occasion we advertised for volunteers at the Asylum Seeker Centre in Sydney, and three people on temporary visas…