📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
We have collaborated with the lovely district of Rougon twice now and its dwellers are impatient to host us again! We want you to discover this lovely district and the culture of its inhabitants!
💼 What the programme involves
Come and take part in the renovation of the picturesque streets in a city of vultures in Provence!
A small village of Rougon is situated in the heart of the Verdon Gorge, just next to Point Sublime, a vantage point where you can spot vultures hovering over the river canyon. The village has 56 habitants â and this number rises to as many as 150 in the summer period.
The Rougon district wishes to continue renovating the village with help of a second youth volunteering project. It is going to aim to support the district and local associations in carrying out the renovation works of a dry stone pavement, traditionally called calade, which first began in 2022. The stone pavement is formed in a stair-like manner. The part constructed in 2022 is 5 meters long and 1.5 meters wide. The stones used need to be worked into the overall design, onto which plaster is applied. The latter will be prepared at place. You do not need to have any specific competences to take part, but an overall technical agility would be appreciated. You are going to learn directly on site about the stonemasonry and conditions of that profession!
As a secondary objective, if time allows, wooden stairs adjoined to the pavement will be filled with gravel or mortar.
🏠 Accommodation on site
You are going to be accommodated in the municipal camping Carajuan, 8 kilometers from Rougon. You are going to commute by car or / and bus, depending on the circumstances. You will be accommodated in individual tents, with an access to camping showers and toilets. The group is going to set up a marquee tent or a tarpaulin in order to create a shadowy place in which the collective life of the group is going to take place. Please remember to take your sleeping mat or airbed and your sleeping bag with you.
The budget is going to be handled by your camp leaders, you are going to participate in doing shopping and preparing the dishes, favouring local seasonal products.
Since the site is remote, access to telephone signal and internet is not guaranteed. However, you can quite seamlessly get the phone signal in the village of Rougon.
📍 About the location
Rougon is located in the heart of the Verdon Gorges. The Verdon is one of the most beautiful rivers of France, famous for its emerald color, which is a result of a reaction between the fluorine and microalgaes. The water is particularly pristine, fresh and abundant in fish. Named one of the most remarkable places of Europe, the Great Verdon Canyon is a place attracting many tourists every year.
Rougon, a fort dating back to 814, is placed at feet of vestiges of its medieval castle. In Rougon, you may spot griffon vultures, first introduced to Verdon between 1999 and 2004, black vultures, introduced in 2005 and white scavenger vultures which dwell in Verdon Gorge since 2007.
The entrainment activities will be mostly nature-oriented: hikes and swims in the river (an every-day!). Festivities of the Rougon village are planned for the last weekend of July, at the end of the project and all volunteers are going to be invited for the anchoïade and ailloli contest which involves degustating local specialities prepared by the locals themselves and to an evening convert with live music played by a DJ.
⚠️ Requirements
The village is some distance away from the meeting point and since there is no public transport, it is imperative to be present punctually at the meeting point!
Please note that it is recommended to know how to swim.
Foreigners belonging to the European Union must bring with them a personal EHIC (European Health Insurance Card), and everybody must, in any case, bring their insurance certificate. If health issues arise on the project, volunteers will have to pay for them, and will then be reimbursed once back in their home country.
This project is supported by the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program for young people between 18 and 30. It is open to all volunteers that fit the ESC criteria.
The participation to ESC volunteering teams is subjected to several principles and conditions, presented on the ESC webpage: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/mission_en
- volunteers do not have to pay any fee (neither sending, nor participation fee) to attend the project and will receive financial support for their travel, according to a maximum amount established depending on their travel distance and upon the presentation of original tickets;
- volunteers need to enrol in the PASS, the ESC Portal; then Concordia France will organise their matching, on the online system, with the volunteering project;
- volunteers will receive pocket money, calculated on the basis of 6€/day, once they arrive at the project in France;
- volunteers will have to complete a participation report, submitted online through the portal.
ℹ️ Additional information
Remember to take clothing adjusted to work and hiking conditions. If you have safety shoes â take them with you, they are strongly recommended. Nights might be cool, take a good sleeping bag, a sleeping mat or an airbed. In order to avoid mosquito bites, take an anti-mosquito spray and loose fitting and covering clothing for the evenings. Days might be very hot, so take a cap or a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, a small backpack and water bottles.
For the open days and shared meals, you may take some easily transportable local specialities to share with others.
The village is some distance away from the meeting point and since there is no public transport, it is imperative to be present punctually at the meeting point!