http://lepotagerduroy.over-blog.com/

WHO WE ARE:

Solidarités Jeunesses is an organisation that works for non-formal education. It runs a number of small community centres in rural environments and organises short and long-term international workcamps, social integration projects, training programmes and actions for international solidarity.

VOLUNTARY SERVICE:

A voluntary service is an act of mutual exchange between a person or a group who offer time, work and energy to a general interest project in a host community who in return offer the volunteers an opportunity to learn, to experiment and to achieve personal and collective construction.

A workcamp for young international volunteers gathers together 10 to 15 people from different nationalities. Together you will organise your everyday life according to the local possibilities and to the goals set to achieve. The work is open to everyone and it doesn't require any specific skills or expertise. For the project to go go smoothly from the beginning to the end, the participants will need to be motivated and reliable. The time devoted to work is about 30 hours a week. During the workcamp we promote exchange, encounter and the achievement of a useful action which is part of a local project.

HISTORY'S PROJECT

The municipality of Rochefort has a very rich history. This city wishes to host an international workcamp for the first time to renovate a garden : « Le Potager du Roy ». This remarkable place situated in the heart of the town is an ancient garden with greenhouses and a well.

Municipality had the idea to install an educational garden in this old “Potager du Roy”.

"Until last year, this place was just abandoned and closed to the public. We have reopened for the day in the garden and the latest Heritage Days and we decided to install an educational garden. "The place will be reserved for schools, leisure centers and nature activities. Philippe Eppert, gardener of the City committed to the schools, will always be there when children come.

"It's a way to allow children to take root in their city and teach their parents to grow healthily. "

YOUR PROJECT AND WORK:

Technical objectives:

For this workcamp, work will consist in the restoration of the masonries of “Le Potager du Roy”. The principle activities will be:

• to rebuild the damaged parts in stone of the garden (the well, shelters for plants...) with stones, bricks and lime mortar.

Inter-cultural objectives:

• Organize some inter-culturals events like “an international meal”, games with children and their families...

THE TEAM: There will be approximately 8 volunteers in the group and two camp-leaders who will help to organize the everyday life with the group. The team will manage a budget for food and everyone will cook in turn. Please don't forget to bring recipes from your country! The languages used on the workcamp are usually English and French.

LEISURE TIME: The group, with the inhabitants, will organise its own free-time. In the Charente Maritime region there is a beautiful historical and culinary heritage to discover. There are no vehicles on this workcamp.

ACCOMODATION: community rooms will be at your disposal (sleeping, cooking, meals, washroom). It is situated 2 kilometers from your working place.

Don't forget your sleeping bag !

INSURANCE :

Solidarités Jeunesses insures you in « civil responsibility » (third-party insurance) and accidents, but it is up to you to have a health insurance. Volunteers from the European Union have to bring their E111 form and the other volunteers must have their own health insurance. Think to update your vaccinations.

DO NOT FORGET :

• Sleeping bag

• Backpack

• Rain clothes

• Good shoes (or boots) and clothes adapted to work

• ... and music instruments, games and other typical things from your country...

MEETING POINT:

On Monday june 8th, we will meet at Rochefort's train station at 04:30 PM.

Please try to be on time if you want us to pick you up. Otherwise, you can go directly by yourself to Rochefort's town hall.

HOW TO GET THERE:

BY TRAIN : you must arrive directly in ROCHEFORT's TRAIN STATION.

Rochefort's Train Station

For example:

from PARIS Montparnasse 11:00 AM

by NANTES 12:59 PM – 02:09 PM

to ROCHEFORT 04:17 PM

or from BORDEAUX Saint Jean 02:05 PM

to ROCHEFORT 04:52 PM

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE REGION:

ROCHEFORT is a french seaport on the Atlantic ocean. There are about 26 000 inhabitants. It is situated in an agricultural region, Charente Maritime.

In December 1665 Rochefort was chosen by Jean-Baptiste Colbert as a place of "refuge, defense and supply" for the French navy. Its military harbour was fortified by Louis XIV's commissary of fortifications Vauban. Between 1666-1669 the king had the "Corderie Royale" (then the longest building in Europe) constructed to make cordage for French ships of war. Today it has been restored for municipal and tourist purposes.

Is a notable example of 17th-century "ville nouvelle" or new town, which means its design and building resulted from a political decree. Well into the 20th century, Rochefort remained primarily a garrison town. The tourist industry, which had long existed due to the town's spa, gained emphasis in the 1990s.

THE ORGANIZATION :

SOLIDARITES JEUNESSES is a voluntary service organization, the French branch of the international movement Youth Action for Peace (YAP). Founded in 1923, after the first World War, by French and German protestants. YAP was from its origins a movement of secular people who were convinced of the necessity to go beyond the national, sectarian and cultural borders to work for peace. Thanks to a network of local associations, Solidarités Jeunesses developed an action towards and with young people. Workcamps are places for multicultural and inter-generational exchanges and active solidarity.

Member of the movement SOLIDARITES JEUNESSES, Solidarités Jeunesses Poitou-Charentes organizes about fifteen international workcamps in the region during the summer season along with other international and local development activities during the whole year. The “Maison des Bateleurs” is a hosting centre that co-ordinates the workcamps and it has been working in the village of Montendre for 14 years.