La Maison Des Jeunes – A Successful Experiment in Creating an Internal Volunteer Community

Imagine being a young person, discovering, participating, and actively dedicated to the development of Auroville. Imagine living in a group of twelve, all volunteering in the community: people from different parts of the world, with different cultural backgrounds, but with a common intention to experience and contribute to Auroville.

Unfortunately, long-term young volunteers coming to our community often have difficulties finding affordable accommodation, and an integrated community experience within Auroville. Louis, the founder of La Maison des Jeunes, was inspired to come up with a solution, and created an affordable, communal place in January 2015, for a monthly contribution of only Rs. 1500.

La Maison des Jeunes (“The House of the Young”) is in the centre of Auroville, close to the Matrimandir, next to the Town Hall and Citadines – and surrounded by nature, bordering Bliss Forest and Mahakali Park. The accommodation is minimalistic, with common dining, kitchen and bathroom facilities. Each volunteer has their own cabin, named after one of the twelve qualities of the Mother. It is a simple and cosy space, that doesn’t heat up too much in the summer and cools down fast during the night. The structures are easy to dismantle, so that they can be reassembled at another site as the city center develops.

For many of the young people coming here it is the first time that they experience community living. We come together as a group to make decisions, share responsibilities, coordinate and organise to maintain and manage our communal life: A typical weekly meeting is followed by cleaning, maintaining the common areas, and taking care of the plants, together. Other fun activities involve potlucks, movie nights, game nights and sharing circles. Volunteers, from the age of 18 to 30, from different walks of life and nationalities, dive into diversity and find a lot in common. The current members of La Maison des Jeunes, nicknamed “MDJ”, are convinced that if Aurovilians would encourage similar projects, it would contribute towards creating meaningful and engaging experiences for our volunteers.

A Word from the Project Holders:

In 2013, a very small group of youth coming from a community on the beach, a mix of volunteers and Newcomers, was making a lot of noise in Auroville. They wanted the community to hear the call of the youth to join Auroville, and the need to make it accessible for them. Some people like Louis heard the call, and decided to act upon it.

La Maison Des Jeunes was born from this in 2015, and since then we have seen more than a hundred young people experiencing community life at MDJ – often for the first time. It is very enjoyable to see them change through their exposure to this communal lifestyle. We emphasize self-responsibility, encouraging each group to take care of the place on their own. There is no cleaning maid or gardener, the young people act as both the care-takers of the physical space and the managers of the social space created here, dealing with their differences together, and creating some unity within this tiny microcosm. We consider this place to be an experiment, so we observe the dynamics, and try to evaluate the benefits of this model. It is interesting to see how the proportion of men and women, and the balance of nationalities, considerably influences the character of a group. It has not always been easy to facilitate and oversee this project, but we always feel so rewarded to see the transformation it sparks in the hearts of its members. We surely witness that this is a life-changing experience for them, and we feel blessed to be part of it. We feel it is very important for Auroville to have more places like this. It gives a chance to young people to stay longer, and have a much deeper experience of the different life this place represents, giving them a better opportunity to consider joining our community permanently – as some of them have!