Hi, my name is Nathalie and I’m a 24 year old student from Switzerland. This summer I had the chance to participate in an astonishing project in the north of Italy, in Cumiana. The location can be imagined as being off the beaten track and connected with nature.

The project itself was – and hopefully will be in the future – all about springs and the discovering of them, the maintenance, the accessibility, the working process we experienced and naturally the beauty of  the spring itself. The neighbourhood around Cumiana is well known for the existence of so-called micro springs. So if you’re going for a walk with your dog in the part of the forest behind your house, a lovely hike to one of the local mountains or to have a barbecue at the fire place your know from your childhood memories – you’re more than likely to cross a micro spring, maybe even without noticing.

When the other volunteers and I arrived there, the summer was going on so dry that it was pretty handy and obvious that if there’s some muddy surface in the wood, you’re probably going to find a spring if you’re just going to dig deep enough! And this is exactly what we did. We dug into the stone, shoveled dirt away and cleared the paths. The water from the springs is said to be of such good quality that it can cause improvement of your health if you take a swig of it – so it would be a shame not to have it accessible.

The work itself was such a great experience with the people around that I didn’t feel as if I was working at all. The only two things I remain sad about: not being able to share this experience with more people and having to leave after 10 days already…

Photo by Alex Pe, “Mixing the cement to finish up the spring called „Toni“, Cumiana, Spring „Toni“, August 2016

Photo by Alex Pe, “The volunteers Martha, Martina and I discussing the following tasks, August 2016 Cumiana, Spring „Toni“, August 2016

Photo by Alex Pe, “Finished the work at the spring called „Toni“ after one and a half days of work”, Cumiana, Spring „Toni“, August 2016

Article written by Nathalie, SCI Switzerland, about her “Live and protect the Alps” workcamp experience in Cumiana, Italy, August 2016