By Carol from India,

“Gartentag” is a day where anyone and everyone is welcome in the Volunteershouse. As we do have a very big garden around the house, it is always good to have some help. We want to keep our surrounding neat and clean and hence, it is very important for all of us to have a gardening day. It’s not about cleaning the garden but it is about working as a team,inspiring each other, sharing the work load and becoming responsible and keeping the environment healthy.

It was my first Gartentag in Dortmund. On Saturday morning (23/11/2019), everyone arrived at 10am at the Volunteershouse. We sat and ate German breakfast together. Breakfast here in Germany is extremely delicious, trust me, the best part was different types of breads and cheese. In all there were 10 people, later 2 more people joined us. While having breakfast we sat and talked about our plan. So, we got separated in two different groups. First group (team A) was working inside the house and second group (team B) was working outside the house.

I wanted to work outside the house, in the garden, so I was in team B. I never thought that working and cleaning could be so much amusing. Yes, I have cleaned before but not with so many people.

Today I realized the true meaning of, ‘’UNITY IN STRENGTH’’. Unity means staying together. It means helping and supporting each other. A young poet once said that, ‘’There is unity in strength: when there is team work and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved’’.

We all proved at that unity can bring success and that’s how we successfully cleaned our garden and our kitchen. Staying united is the key to build a strong and successful society. Today I have learned how to use different types of tools (manual and electrical) for cutting the plants along with the team. And that’s how we spent our entire day working and cleaning today as a team.

When I will go home in one year (to India), I will surely organize a Gartentag for my family and friends and will encourage each other to do the same. This is what I am going to do when I go back to home. What about you?