Hello steemians ! This is my first post on this wonderful website, so I thought I will tell you about an easy and rewarding way of traveling. I always blamed myself for not having the courage to try an experience abroad, so one day I made a so called "yolo" decision when I stumbled on L'Arche en France website.
L'Arche is an International Federation dedicated to the creation and growth of homes, programs, and support networks with people who have intellectual disabilities. I won’t tell you more about it as you can search for yourselves on wikipedia and on their website. Long story short I went in France to do voluntary work with people who have intellectual disabilities with no experience in that domain and no french language skills.
I went at L’Arche through a sending organisation called INITIATIVE CHRETIENNE POUR L'EUROPE
In Niederbronn les Bains, Alsace. Before actually starting my voluntary experience I made a 2 weeks seminary with ICE with other 30 volunteers from all over Europe. There we learned basic french and we learned about what we are going to do for the next year in France. As the seminary was over the organisation spread every volunteer across France, so during the year in France I had friends (fellow volunteers) in every region.
For one year I lived in Dijon in one of their homes. L’Arche homes and programs operate according to a not-for-profit “community model” which is distinct from "client-centered", medical, or social service models of care. At L’Arche, people with disabilities, and those who assist them, live together in homes and apartments, sharing life with one another and building community as responsible adults. My job was actually living with them and helping the community with the daily chores. I worked 6 days a week with one day off and after 5 weeks of working I had a week off perfect for visiting my fellow volunteers working in different cities. I payed no rent , no food, and I got payed 500 euros per month.
It was the best experience of my life and I got to visit a huge part of France, plus that I learned to speak french ( helps a lot with the ladies outside France)
If you have questions don’t hesitate.
