An ideology of kindness...

M. Dumas

I have always been a kind man, at least this is what everybody tells me! I think that being kind has made my life easy to bear. The story of my life shows it. My ideology is to like everybody and to treat them as I would like to be treated. It started with my mother when I was little. I was the third of five children and my mother's favourite. She used to give me (not my siblings!) coloured pencils.

When I was young I attended a normal school in Clermont-Ferrand, the town where I was born in 1955. At fifteen I decided to study electricity. After two years, I started straight away to work for the Michelin Company in my home town. The firm was desperately seeking employees to work in their factories, so I didn't have any difficulties getting a job. I worked at the same place until I retired. I am glad not to be a young job-seeker today; it is hard for them…

After working for some time, I bought a motorbike. With my friends, I discovered France on my motorcycle. I later met my wife, and, in 1988, we had two daughters. So I lived a nice life with my family and my friends. Of course I was always friendly and helpful with everybody, but I didn't think about changing the world...

Today I do think about it. Here's why: one day, a friend came to my place and asked me and my family if we would like to host a foreign exchange student for a school year, with a volunteer-based exchange organisation without being paid. I thought it would be complicated and I saw no real interest. But my daughters and my wife were very keen to do so, so I accepted.

The next autumn Ricardo arrived. He was an extraordinary boy from Ecuador. The year with him was full of misunderstandings and joy, far more than I had expected. We learnt so much from each other. Since it was such a great year with Ricardo, we ended up hosting seven other students after him! It would be seven completely different and precious experiences.

I realised before long that hosting students had an even deeper sense. This is why I decided to become a volunteer for the exchange organisation, which is called “AFS”. I started to help the different exchange students make their year a success. There were a lot of things to do: organise meetings, talk to exchange students having trouble, and so on. I've always preferred the tasks in direct contact with the students, rather than doing the logistic support because, through direct contact, I have been able to exchange ideas with many different young and dynamic people. This has helped me keep a young and dynamic mind myself. And of course those tasks are far more amusing!

Today, I am still a volunteer for the organisation, but I no longer host students. My wife says we are “too old” and students would probably be a little bit bored with us. I am retired now and my daughters have been adults for a while, so I can do my volunteering without being stressed.

Through my volunteering I am promoting peace in the world, I think. I hope to give young people an important experience and to pass on to them my ideology of peace. When they return to their home countries they may pass it on to their friends and their family as well. Maybe, it might spread to all the corners of the world one day…

Article by Eduard ROUBIK