My first 3 months at CICD!

By Monica Owen, Argentina

I am Monica, a 58-years-old Argentinean retired woman. I have always wanted to experience living in a community, living in England. If you dream it, you can achieve it!!!
I was interested in the 7 month program about climate change and sustainable living that started in October 2024. It was all planned for that, but fortunately, something good happened!! Marie, our promotion responsible person, told me about a place left to join the Gaia team and raise a scholarship to help cover the costs of the program. So, I joined CICD’s life in August 2024.

An international community - well organised!

After a long journey from Argentina to England, I arrived in the afternoon, just after lunch at CICD. There were a lot of people, around 30, all very kind!!! From different countries such as Colombia, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Chile, South Korea, Uruguay, England, Wales, etc. The first days were amazing with a lot of things to learn, responsibilities, and adapting to different cultures, different backgrounds, and times, but the school is so well organised! So it was not a problem.

It is true, I have a lot of timetables and places to be, but everything works in a great way. And I learnt quickly because of the fantastic people here, the staff, students, and volunteers. Moments to keep in mind: the challenge to cook for a lot of people, share moments at the bonfire listening and singing songs, or the gym, sports (as a fan only =) or just to talk in the garden, walk around the park trying to see some deer, and watch the squirrels and rabbits running very near me.

The teams are learning how to make a water filter with sand and soil

Monica and Paula were also in the Gaia team, helping to find more places for our clothing banks

The workshops are out doors in good weather!

Being part of the Gaia team

And the dream started. In the Gaia team I was doing site-finding and site-improvement, it was amazing!! I visited a lot of small towns in the north of England like Newcastle or Durham and Sunderland. The experience of meeting native people, and immigrant people, learning a bit more about their cultures, the experience of driving, on the other side!!!! It was amazing. And we studied as well, about activism, poverty, history.

Being part of the 7 month programme

I started this program this week…. So it is another story…so soon !!!
I am so happy to be here. It doesn’t matter your age, where you are from, or how good you can speak English, here you can be part of the community - be happy, improve the language, and get over a lot of challenges. You can do it!!