Voluntary Training Documentation

I. Voluntary Work
The voluntary worker puts his personal interests aside in putting himself at the disposal of another for the common good. The wages of the voluntary worker are the moral and intellectual satisfaction that he gets from completing a job for the good of the community, as well as the experience that he gains from the work itself.

II. Types of Voluntary Participation

1. Short Term Voluntary Work
This is a commitment that can last from a couple of weeks up to two or three months. Different projects may be assigned: educational support; construction; reforestation; raising medical/sanitary awareness, etc.

2. Medium to Long Term Voluntary Work
This is a commitment that can last from six to twelve months. The projects are of the same nature as the short ones, but their complexity demands much greater attention.

3. Voluntary Internship
A student, teacher, craftsman, coordinator, development agent, etc puts himself at the disposal of the association for projects requiring more specialised skills.

III. Working Camp
Before participating in a building camp, it is necessary to ask yourself some questions. What is a working camp? How does this work?

1. A Camp
By camp, we mean the gathering of individuals in the same place for a given period of time. Inside a camp, the interest of the group is of utmost importance. In a camp there is often between ten and twenty people. The workers must abide by the rules and regulations.

2. A Working Camp
The working camp is a place wherein the volunteers work to successfully complete the project. In the working camp, so that the group work creates a favourable dynamic to learning, communication plays a vital role.

IV. Life in a Working Camp
What is the most efficient way to organise a working camp? How to divide up the work? What rhythm is the best to follow? Even if the working camp is first and foremost a space of creative freedom where everyone instinctively finds their place, it is the responsibility of the camp leader to define, in agreement with the volunteers, the work methods that the project requires. As a general rule, different work groups are formed according to various needs: groups for washing up, for cooking, for housework, for getting water and for time off. Outside of the projects already detailed, the volunteers and host population organise different activities taking place in the afternoon or the evening: theatre, sketches, sport, dancing. These are essential things in the spirit of giving and taking.

Programme quotidien type :

• 6h00 wake-up
• 7h00 Breakfast
• 8h00 – 12h00 work on site
• 12h30 lunch
• 13h30 – 19h00 rest or work
• 19h00 dinner
• 20h00 – 22h30 activities

During the weekend, volunteers are often off duty

V- Evaluation

1.Daily report
In turns, the volunteers hold a report book in which they report the activities of the day.

2.Weekly evaluation
An evaluation form is distributed amongst the volunteers each week. Any comments concerning any specific aspect of the working camps which are reported and thus allow the organisation to improve the working camp conditions for the current volunteers and the future volunteers.

3.Final Report
This is a report that each volunteer must return to their leader/person in authority at the end of the mission. It represents more than a global impression in relation to the working camps but an evalution in a strict sense. Therefore it serves as a guide for future volunteers/working camps.