Forum des Associations

I helped out AVF this afternoon at the Toulouse Forum des Associations. Three hours of asking strangers walking by "Hi, are you new to Toulouse? Yes? AVF is just for you!" was tiring, but I think we got a number of new recruits.

The Forum in Toulouse was held in the main square, Place de la Capitole, but I was surprised that it was only set up on about a third of the space. I'm used to the Foire des Assocs in Montpellier that is held in the Antigone neighborhood and stretches along for about a kilometer. In Montpellier it's the Agglomeration that organizes the fair and just about every non-profit in the 27 or so communities that belong to the Agglomeration participate. It was there that I found the dance school I attended the year I was in Montpellier, and the community band where I played the flute and met B. I remember being confused by non-profit that promotes breastfeeding: "They're looking for new members? Huh? How can anyone participate in that except new mothers?" Now I know that a lot of groups participate just so people learn about their existence, and not necessarily to recruit volunteers.

The Toulouse fair is organized by the volunteer center in conjunction with the city, but it seemed very exculsive. Almost all of the groups I saw were social/health/humanitarian organizations like Secours Populaire, Secours Catholique, and Action contre la Faim. There were a large number of non-profits that work with the handicapped/mentally disabled/sick. It was kind of unfortunate that the fair was so centered around pauverty, illness, and other problems. I think people passed through and saw that the stands were mostly for "Help the Homeless" or "Help the Handicapped" and didn't feel like sticking around.

While I was walking around with flyers from AVF scouting for people looking lost and new to Toulouse, someone called my name. I looked over, and it was the secretary from Habitat et Humanisme, the non-profit I dropped dead from several months ago. She waved for me to come over, so I went and said hi. She said the woman I used to work with had just passed by and I should go and say hi, but after chatting for 3 minutes, I discreetly went in the other direction. I was supposed to help them with their communication, but after 2 months or so of volunteering for them, I realized that I really didn't fit into the culture of the organization. I had progressive ideas and wanted to really use the internet/technology, and the retired volunteers complained about how a database was really hard to print out (because it's not meant to be?....). I probably should have told them officially that I wouldn't continue with them, but I got fed up with them slowly and then realized it'd been weeks since I'd been back and I just couldn't face working with them. I figured they'd just forget about me if they never saw me again, but I've gotten an email or two recently... Needless to say, I avoided that area of the fair like the plague for the rest of the afternoon lest I should run into the woman I used to work with.