BÉNEVOLAT À RÉAUVILLE

June 2024 - September 2024

Supervisor's name: Maribel Virgili
Contact to supervisor: mvirgil6@xtec.cat
Learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

📌 Réauville

Investigation: My friend Júlia, who was taking the 2nd year of the IBDP, suggested me to volunteer in a foreign country and told me she did it with COCAT. So, after looking for volunteering opetins, I made a list of options. This was not my first option (it was the 8th), but I don't regret going to Réauville as my first bénévolat international. I searched for the village and the conditions I was going to be in. I know I would sleep in a tent, which I found strange, but I decided to go for it!

Preparation: In June, COCAT prepared a session in Barcelona to get to know other people that volunteered andd I got to know the other Catalan boy that went to Réauville with me: Pol. We decided to pick the TGV together and get there.

In the session, we did some reflection on what to expect in the workcamp and some qualities we needed to have in order to have a good experience there and we did receive some tips.

Action: The 7th of August, I picked the train from Camp de Tarragona to Valence. There, Pol and I picked a bus to Montélimar and the camp ccordinator picked us up to get us to Réauville. Once all the volunteers arrived there (we were 7), the camp leaders explained us everything we needed to know: the house rules, our work schedule and they show us our workcamp or chantier. We had to build a wall using an old technique: la pièrre sèche.

The day after, we started working with the wall. We digged deep to create a drain and a base to continue building the wall. Then, we picked some stones from somebody's farm and we brought them to our workplace and we continued to make everything.

When the drain was done, we started making the stones match to build the wall and adjusting them to do so if we needed. Additionally, we created some wood structures to respect the line of the wall.

A part of doing work during 5 hours a day, we did some activities to relax and make some deep bonds in the group and with the village. I thought it was very fullfilling to see that.

Reflection: After the project was done, I got home and felt a feeling of reward. In September, they made us a post-workcamp session where they asked us about how did we feel and if we wanted to go next year. I said yes.

Demonstration: The wall I have built is now used to separate the main road from the new town hall, meaning that my action did have its effect.

EVIDENCE