Gap year

I have made the choice to take a gap year to explore United States. I have set the objective of helping an association in each place I visit.[pic 1]

To begin, I have chosen to discover the town of Austin in Texas in the United States. When I arrived on site, I inquired about volunteering opportunities and I found the Texas Food Bank which is only 12 minutes from Austin's city center.[pic 2][pic 3]

 In this food bank, I was able to separate, clean and pack food received and then prepare donations for distribution for families, seniors or unattached individuals who do not have a lot of money

I later helped the cook to prepare meals in the warehouse.

I also distributed lunches to the Texans thanks to the numerous distribution sites, 3 times a week: on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.[pic 4]

This experience allowed me to meet another volunteer

from Austin with whom I shared a flat during my time in Austin.

After three weeks in this organization,

 I Felt like exploring another one.[pic 5]

I discovered “Austin pets alive”. My duty was to help socialize cats and dogs in order to facilitate their adoption: it was necessary to pet them, feed them, play with them to get them used to human contact. For the dogs, the most important thing was to take them out on a leash and have them to walk and follow the instructions.

For sick animals or animals at the end of their lives, it was necessary to make them feel happy in the shelter: for this reason, we regularly set up activities for them.

The volunteers' job is also to clean the facilities and to receive adoptive families and help them find the most matching animal and take care of the administration. It is a tiring and demanding mission: we are responsible of the lives of many animals; we must not forget caring while ensuring the proper functioning of the sanctuary.[pic 6]

After three very intense months in this refuge I wanted to discover a new city and I decided to go to San Diego.

San Diego is one of the most populated cities in the United States. It has several hundred associations in all corners of the city.[pic 7]

A well-known association called streets of hope consists of creating links with the homeless and bringing them meals every Monday evening. To do this, volunteers gather to sort out donations of clothing, and to prepare meals. After that, we went to distribute the meals in the San Diego center. I wanted to help this association to bring dinners to the homeless: for me it is something essential to help people who have a difficult life and who do not have a roof over their heads to sleep at night. Trough the association the homeless has access to free of charge haircuts, toiletries, clothing, etc. I went there every Monday night; I stayed several hours to talk with them. They were happy to know that every Monday they would have a hot meal and someone to speak with for a while.[pic 8]

On the days when I wasn't working with the homeless, I felt like taking care of children and more specifically those who are or have been abused. I volunteered with the association "voices for children" that provides specialized lawyers during legal proceedings and loving adoptive families to take a new turn in their lives to these children. For this purpose, along with other volunteers, I went to schools, listening to children to help them to open and confide, and we have several places where people witnessing violence can confide without fear of revealing their identity.[pic 9][pic 10]

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