LILAS VERRON

Coach - Project Leader Pedagogical Development & Coaching, Inde, 2018 & Myanmar, 2019

"For the first 6 months, I was coaching a team of 17 Youth  in one of the LP4Y centers in Delhi, India. I worked with them on their life project, and accompanied them on their path to professional integration. The coaching mission requires a lot of organization because it is very versatile. Our missions consist in coaching the young people individually and in teams, giving trainings (English, IT, professional communication), developing partnerships, helping the young people to manage a micro-business and of course managing the budget of the program. This mission is very rich on the human level, and we see daily the impact of his commitment which is really motivating. For the next 6 months I was entrusted with the mission of Project Leader Partnerships and Pedagogy, to accompany the coaches on these two subjects. Training the coaches, creating tools, taking a step back to find ways to improve... This mission within the coordination team allowed me to have an overall vision of LP4Y's action. »

Aileen Salin

Coach du programme Communty Champions of Change, Inde, 2019/2020

Choosing to volunteer for LP4Y is accepting to jump in the unknown. We are not chosen based on our professional skills or knowledge about the country where we will be sent to. Instead, it is our human qualities and our will to have a positive impact that are evaluated. As a result, most of us have few to zero information before arriving on the field. It was my case. 

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My ignorance, my lack of self confidence and my will to be as good as possible pushed me to ask hundreds of questions during the Welcome Weeks and during my first weeks in Chennai. Yet, there were still so many questions left without answers and situations where I felt helpless: could this Youth find a better job than this one? Would they accept this behaviour in an Indian company? Should I intervene to help this Youth who will soon be forced to marry? 

All this made me think that I was not being the best coach for my team. I felt lost several times and found myself thinking: Indian people would do a much better job than me at this. They know the job market better, they speak tamil and may know more more about the inequalities in their country.

Yet, today I realise that of course some of them would probably do a better job than me, and thousands of locals are already making their country better everyday. 

However, I now treasure my ignorance because it is the reason why my actions are always based on what I observe and learn on the field. I try to adapt to the field and not the opposite. 

Moreover, I might not be the most skilled one but I am certainly among the most motivated! Moving from your comfort zone to a Indian Slum takes a lot of will, determination and a strong urge to change the world.

I have been asked many times why I did not stay in France to do social work (I was working with homeless people). I could say that India being a poorer country than France, there are more needs but I don't think it's a good idea to rank poverty or needs.  Of course, there are many people in need in Europe, and I will probably end up working with them again in my life. The simple reality is that I wanted to live in Asia, I was craving for new adventures and new challenges. 

Volunteering for LP4Y definitely calls for a lot of humility and when you know nothing, you are forced to use your common sense and listen to ones on the field. This year reinforced my belief that books are good but will never replace what the concerned persons have to say. 

This is applicable in your home country as well as in a country where you know nothing. 

I might not be the best possible coach to the amazing women of my team, but I am doing my best and they know it for sure. I think it gives me all the legitimacy to be here.

THAÏS LUNEL

Coach du programme Eco Construction, Philippines, 2018 - Coordinatrice  Philippines, 2019

"When I joined LP4Y and the Green Village, I was immediately seduced by the atmosphere of this place! The Green Village is not only a training center, it's also a real place of life and sharing where the Youth, trainers, volunteers and the entire community work hand in hand to keep it alive! Working daily with the Youth  gives me a nice dose of energy and a breath of happiness! Faced with their motivation, their spirit and their resilience, we are pushed to give the best of ourselves. And it's a real gift to be able to witness their fulfillment and progress within the team. This mission is a real life lesson! »

JULIEN VIDAL

Communication & Fundraising - Coordinateur Philippines, 2015

Excerpt from his blog: "With LP4Y, I was able to grow, experiment, meet, discover, laugh, exchange as much as I could have done in 2 lives (...). Getting out of your comfort zone is always a bit scary at first, but for me, it's the best way to really feel alive. »

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"If I have such good memories of my volunteer experiences, it is in fact thanks to my last mission in the Philippines with the NGO "Life Project 4 Youth". Indeed, during more than 2 years, with LP4Y, I was able to grow, experiment, meet, discover, laugh, exchange as much as I could have done in 2 lives.

Volunteering is already that, a gas pedal of emotions and experiences. Everything is stronger, everything is more intense, everything is more extraordinary. Everyday life is like a novel and every day I realized how lucky I am to live my dreams, my passions and my convictions.

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Thanks to LP4Y, I was also able to meet some wonderful people. Young people first, who are the symbol of the famous resilience that consists of bouncing higher than before the fall and having the strength to constantly reinvent themselves, improve and grow. Secondly, to be able to meet Filipinos, who every day, in their country, act for those who need it the most and to see how one can be an actor of a fairer world, whether in the social or in the corporate world. Finally, the volunteers, who themselves decide to no longer be the center of their lives but rather to put themselves at the service of others and use this desire as an inexhaustible force to overcome all the surprises, gaps, shocks and disappointments of expatriate life.

And LP4Y is a Mark Twain philosophy of life: "They didn't know it was impossible, so they did it. So many people have been reluctant about the NGO project, yet the principle of bringing together different people to produce the spark that will make these excluded young people get out of it is magical. The volunteers, with their fresh, almost naive look, in fact give them the virgin ground on which these young adults, sometimes completely broken, can reinvent themselves and plant the seeds of their new life.

Finally, LP4Y is a state of mind still inspired by another writer and which will accompany me for the rest of my life: "You must always aim for the moon, because even if you fail, you land in the stars" (Oscar Wilde). Do not set limits to our projects, do not restrain our dreams because others will take care of them for us. I am particularly aware of this back in France where, most of the time, people brake before they even start to move forward.

In short, these 2 years will have been for me full of examples of success, like so many life lessons on which I can now rely to imagine the life I want to have and spread it around me. Going out of one's comfort zone is always a little scary at first but nevertheless, for me, it is the best way to really feel alive. »

Catalysts’ testimonials

CLÉMENT HARDEL

Coach of TOTO 2 program, India, 2019

“170 days is enough for me to realize that I’m experiencing something inexplicable and unexplained, a sort of adventure in which each day is likely to bring something new and in which the word “routine” does not exist, where emotions are intensified and where what is true one day isn’t necessarily true the next. 170 days in which to think hard about yourself, others, the world. Days that remind you why you‘re here, on the other side of the world, far from the comfort of all that is familiar, from family and friends, from habits and a day-to-day existence that was becoming oppressive. 170 days in which to understand, learn, open up, exchange, share, read, discover, travel, breathe, reflect, love, put things into proportion, smile, cry, laugh and live.”

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Catalysts’ testimonials

LISA BONNION

Coach du programme Yummy, Inde, 2017  -  Coach du programme Deco Me, Philippines, 2018 - Leader du Green Village Mékong, Vietnam, 2019

“My contact with the Youth has taught me to trust, to have faith in myself and to be firm while retaining the ability to reexamine myself. When you’re a coach you have to make 15 decisions a minute, support the Youth in their Life Projects, give them confidence, and room to develop … This year strengthened my belief that challenges, caring and humor are the keys to a positive pedagogy. This experience has given me the strength to continue coaching, this time in the Philippines. I see this mission as a new challenge: getting to know new Young Adults, learning to work together in a new environment with new cultural codes, and above all, succeeding once more in developing a coaching system that combines high standards, appreciation of the Youth and team spirit!”

Catalysts’ testimonials

CAMILLE FORTIN

Coach du programme Aurora, Philippines, 2017

“I quickly grew attached to the Young Mothers at the Center. I got to know them, and learnt how to challenge them. I was demanding, caring and good humored as I helped them grow and take control of their lives. I will always remember their joy, their smiles, and their incredible resilience. I still ask myself how it is possible to give so much when one has so little. At the Center I discovered a micro-economic activity, but also a community. When we’re out of our comfort zone we are sometimes tested to our limit, but the love of the Youth bound us together and gave us the strength to persevere. This has been an unforgettable year, intense, overwhelming … I am so grateful for the responsibilities I was given and the trust shown by LP4Y!”

Catalysts’ testimonials

LUCIE TAURINES

Coach - Responsable Partenariats - Coordinatrice Philippines  Aujourd'hui, vice-présidente de LP4Y Paris

“When I arrived in the Philippines for my LP4Y mission, 3½ years ago, I knew nothing about poverty, the poverty that exists in certain countries affecting certain populations, and I knew nothing about the lives of the Young Adults, the same age as me, living the other side of the world …

And I met Young Adults who had nothing, who lived in conditions we can’t even imagine and yet, who had hearts filled with a joy we cannot begin to understand. I was looking for meaning, and they were looking to meet their most basic needs: shelter, food for one day, clothing …

I was brought face to face with my own barriers, my own limits. Life on a mission is extraordinary, because when you live and work with the Youth, the barriers within you come crashing down, and your outlook on the world changes. You undergo a transformation in the way you approach the world and life itself.

I – Immersion in a new world and discovering poverty. On my mission I learnt about poverty and all its contradictions: The reality of the hunger that nags at the guts of the Youth, who can’t make it through the day because they’ve just had one meagre meal that day; the lack of health coverage and the exorbitant medical expenses that can plunge a family into debt for generations, condemning them to abject poverty; the appalling conditions in the slums, and the Filipinos whose reaction is to laugh and say “It’s raining in my house; the violence of the typhoons that in 2 hours can destroy the basic dwellings; the reality of prostitution, just to pay an electricity bill; the sexual abuse suffered by young children that barely raises an eyebrow in the slums; the drugs to help forget life’s hardships.

2 – An LP4Y volunteer. What I learnt: I learnt to make mistakes and I learnt what it means to work on a development project. I learnt to meet new people without prejudging, without preconceived expectations.

I learnt that giving and helping doesn’t work.

I learnt what it meant to support / guide / share with the Youth, and the incalculable value of listening and sharing when it comes to LP4Y’s pedagogy.

I learnt to live and work with it, plunging deep into another culture.

I learnt to live the simple life, and to appreciate the freedom that gives!

I learnt to submerge myself, living and loving a country and a culture which won me over with its powerful and honest outlook on life.

I learnt smiling from the Filipinos, along with taking joy in simple moments, resilience, hospitality, generosity, joie de vivre.

I leant from my mistakes, I learnt patience and humility.

I learnt that being a volunteer is not about being a super hero, claiming to know everything, solving all problems as a Westerner might see it, instead it’s about giving the best of oneself, even when you can’t see the results, hoping that the Youth will, in turn, give the best of themselves, defying the odds which seemed to destine them for hell.

I learnt the importance of teamwork and living in community with the other volunteers, I got to meet extraordinary people, with huge hearts who astonished me with their caring, their generosity, their passions and their love for others.

When you go on a mission you are agreeing to let yourself be transformed, touched by the missions, by a country’s culture, by the contact with others. Above all,

I learnt to open myself to others and to the Youth. To consider them as adults, as equals, and that was the key to everything …”