What is a workcamp?

A workcamp is a place where people of all races, ideologies, and nationalities live and work together for two to four weeks on a project organized by a local sponsor. Most workcamps occur during the summer months and have between 10 and 20 international participants. They volunteer, they socialize and they work with the local people. They are a multicultural, voluntary workforce. That is a workcamp - and it works!

Workcamps provide an opportunity for individuals to combine their energies and together address problems vital to our shared global future. Whether working at a children's center in Paris, on an environmental project in Colorado, or a skills workshop in Sri Lanka, the volunteers' efforts contribute toward world peacemaking.

Projects fall into three broad categories -physical work, such as building, planting and restoration; social work, often with children or people with handicaps; or work/study, where work and learning opportunities are integrated.

Workcamps attempt to carry out SCI's aims. They promote equality in living. All workcamp members live by local standards. The camps promote internal decision making, problem solving, and develop a sense of group identity. They encourage alternative forms of community life with the objective of increasing tolerance and facilitating the questioning of values. Through workcamps, SCI has managed to incorporate and sustain visionary aims through hard but fulfilling day to day work.

An international workcamp is such an open ended experience and depends so much on the input of its participants that it may seem to lack definition. Rather than providing a definition, we would like to give prospective volunteers some guidelines for thinking about workcamps so that the decision to take part in one is better informed.

Participation in an international workcamp means:

• A commitment to a group experience.
  Workcamps are opportunities to explore the potential of an international group working together, to accomplish work, to develop dialogues, to have fun, to spark community interaction. Workcamps should not be seen first as a means for accomplishing individual goals, such as touring a particular area, learning a language, looking for a job, or having a cheap vacation!
  In the course of a workcamp, some of these individual goals may be achieved, but attention to them should not detract from the group experience. Part of the group experience involves reaching beyond the comforts of one's own language and familiar culture. Workcampers should be aware of the importance of assisting everyone in speaking the stated language of the workcamp. Volunteers from the same countries should be careful not to exclude other volunteers by lapsing into conversations and cultural patterns which others may not understand.

• A commitment to working out decisions and problems together.
  Orders are not issued from above (i.e. the workcamp leaders); rather, the group discusses and guides, while individuals decide. It is important to be willing to take part in this process, which sometimes takes time and consideration of different perspectives within the group.
  For example, if a workcamper wants to pursue some interest which falls somewhat outside of the workcamp plans, it is a decision which is properly discussed by the group, even though it remains the workcampers' own decision. SCI's commitment to this process is an expression of working for peace and reconciliation on a personal level, as well as on practical level through the work of the workcamp.

• Attending the entire workcamp.
  It is strongly recommended that you do not arrive late or depart early at a workcamp. A person arriving late misses the crucial period of orientation and friendly awkwardness as group members get to know one another and a group spirit builds. A person departing early erodes the feeling of solidarity in a group and leaves the remaining volunteers with a sense of having been left behind for something more important. No matter how successful a workcamp is, an early departure can create among the volunteers a feeling of waiting for the workcamp to come to an end.

• Being sensitive to the camp's place in the community.
  The workcamp represents a group of people who have come together for a relatively short period of time. They are guests within the community and are unfamiliar with the intricate and subtle patterns which exist within the community of which their project sponsor is a part. Consequently, there is a challenge in having the workcamp gracefully blend in with the community, especially when local customs and mores differ from the workcamper's own. Workcampers should regard the differences as opportunities to learn, not as sources of conflict.

• Being open to learning.
  SCI appeals to a broad range of people because an open mind is a far greater qualification than a particular skill. Volunteers unskilled at certain jobs are encouraged to learn new skills. Often cultural stereotypes need be broken to ensure an equal representation in jobs traditionally labeled women's work or men's work. In this learning process volunteers may have to seek a balance between good, efficient work and allowing mistakes to be made due to inexperience. A workcamp is also an opportunity to learn from people of different ages. Generally, volunteers are aged between 18 and 35, however, there is no upper age limit. Volunteers may feel challenged to work with others outside of their peer group, and yet find it refreshing to be part of a group unified by a common purpose.

• Contributing fully to the work.
  The work is important. It may not always be to a volunteer's liking, nor is it merely concocted as a vehicle for bringing people together. There are expectations by the workcamp sponsors that the work will be done, and all volunteers, though directed by workcamp or project leaders, should feel a responsibility toward doing it well. If there is a study component of the workcamp, volunteers should inform themselves before the workcamp in order to add to the discussion.

• Having lots of self motivation.
  A workcamp is what each volunteer makes of it. It requires seeking out opportunities, looking to see what needs to be done, taking responsibility. A workcamper should feel equally a part of shaping the workcamp as the leaders do. Workcamps thrive on the initiatives of individuals.

• And, of course, having fun!