International Volunteer Day

Our village decorations - made by volunteers

Advent Day Five

The 5^th of December is International Volunteer Day, or in French Journée mondiale des bénévoles. I read this morning that giving your time gives you a sense of worth and purpose, whilst creating positive feelings, and connecting you with other people, thus helping improve your mental well-being. As someone who arrived in France with a young child, knew no one in the village and had a husband whose work took him away from home a lot of the time, volunteering was my lifeline for all the reasons stated above. It has also proved to be an effective way to improve my French, boost my self-confidence and ultimately led to paid employment too. 

 

One of the first things I became involved in was our village magazine and I can vividly remember sitting in the meetings and not understanding a word, let alone being able to contribute anything, apart from helping with the folding, stapling and distribution. Eighteen years on, and I’m still folding, stapling and delivering, but I’m also translating parts of it into English and enjoying the chat and gossip that goes on around the table when we meet up once a month.

 

When Ed started at the local nursery school, I made a point of always saying yes when parents were asked to help out. The weekly craft activities when he was under six and the overnight school trips in primary school, were great fun and gave me a sense of reassurance and a better understanding of the French school culture. Ed’s step up from primary to secondary school was certainly smoother for us both due to the fact I’d been running a weekly English language club for the two years before he moved up. It was an unexpected bonus to learn that this had given me ‘cool’ status among his peers.

 

Life in our French village would be nothing without a core of volunteers. Aside from the monthly magazine, the library, the summer social events, the handmade Christmas decorations, the Children’s Christmas party and more, all exist in our village solely thanks to volunteers. Being one of these volunteers has not only helped me find my place in the village, but it also led to me being elected onto the village council in 2014, something I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of for over six years and offered me many experiences I would otherwise have missed out on. 

My 121st monthly piece in The Deux-Sèvres Monthly

 

Working at the library in Chef-Boutonne came about thanks to being a volunteer at our village library, and in turn led to me being offered the position to work at the Château de Javarzay this year. Having a wealth of new and exciting life experiences here in France encouraged me to start this blog back in 2006. This in turn led to regular contributions to the Deux-Sèvres Monthly magazine and despite never having written anything longer than a letter, I can’t now imagine not having these creative outlets in my life. 

 

I am not the most confident or outgoing person, so to think I could have moved here all those years ago and shut myself indoors for fear of my French not being good enough, is a scary thought. What would I have done with my days when Ed was at school? How would I have met people and learned French? I shudder to think how different my life would be now. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been rewarding, and volunteering has shaped the person I am today.

 

If you are also a volunteer – Happy Volunteer Day to you. If you’re not yet a volunteer – what are you waiting for? It could change your life.