FEAST OR FAMINE

I did not volunteer to be a volunteer when I was nine years old. My mother made me do it, but I’ve been volunteering happily ever since. The culmination was being a full-time volunteer in the Press Operations Team at the Grand Palais during the Paralympics taekwondo, triathlon, and wheelchair fencing events.    Of the approximate 300,000 applicants to volunteer at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I am grateful to be part of the 45,000 selected. I am grateful for the all the work and support of the Volunteer Committee and team. The process was long but easy, with regular emails, manuals, videos, podcasts, and both online and venue training. During the Games, everyone in the Press Operations Team were the best – ever – in making it an enjoyable and memorable experience.    It takes a multitude of teams to run an event on this scale, so thanks to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), ticketing, helpdesk, ...

I have been provisionally accepted as a volunteer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games as a “substitute”, pending acceptance after training, accreditation, security, and so on to become a “full-blown volunteer.”    This summer the Paris 2024 the Games will occur as follows: Olympic Games from 26 July to 11 August and for the Paralympics from 28 August to 8 September.    Volontaire Paris 2024 The two-month application window was open in early 2023 and applicants were notified from September to December 2023 – with a registration number. Some volunteers already commenced their placements in late 2023 in preparation for the events, and the rest of the volunteers will start in 2024 – but first there are several procedures to undertake and processes to attend.    In December 2023, I was given a provisional offer of a specific venue and events placement for both the Olympics and the Paralympics which I accepted and which I’m excited about – but mo...

The history of the Paris Fire Brigade (Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris) begins in 1699 with the introduction of water pumps. The Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris is known as BSPP or the Sappers.   Sappers stems from “sapeurs” meaning brigade – a sub-division of the French military that dug trenches to allow forces to advance towards the enemy.    The firefighters in Paris became a more important organization after the 1810 fire at the ball in the Austrian Embassy to celebrate Napoleon Bonaparte’s marriage to Marie-Louise. After this catastrophe, Napoleon reorganized the public service and created the first military unit of firefighters in September 1811, an innovative idea at the time. This military unit was under the authority of the Police Prefect.    The current Paris Fire Brigade has six regiments: 1) the 1 st  Fire and Rescue Regiment, 2) the 2 nd  Fire and Rescue Regiment, 3) the 3 rd  Fire and Rescue Regiment, 4) Dedicated Support ...

  For 50 years, the Claude Pompidou Foundation in Paris has been supporting charities and people with various needs, particularly children with disabilities, the elderly, and the hospitalized.   On the occasion of this anniversary, the town hall is presenting an exhibition of photographs tracing the history of the Foundation from the first volunteers led by Claude Pompidou in 1970 through to their events held in 2019. The exhibition is from 11 December 2021 to 12 January 2022.    Claude Jacqueline Pompidou (1912-2007), a philanthropist and patron of modern art, was the wife of French President Georges Pompidou (1911-1974). MARTINA NICOLLS MartinaNicollsWebsite   Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website Flower Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS   is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce ...

Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018) provides a collection of examples of randomized trials and experiments. The book desribes randomized experiments in medicine, business, and government programs – for improvements to prison programs, preventing scurvy on long sea voyages, encouraging philanthropy, and so on. Not only does it show that randomized tests are important, but it shows the surprising and unexpected – and often counter-intuitive – results.  Andrew Leigh describes how the randomized tests work, and what they reveal about people’s choices and behaviours – even how political parties win elections. Randomized control trials, tests, and experiments are when researchers randomly allocate participants into two or more groups: one that gets the treatment or program (or different groups receive variations of the treatment or program), and another doesn’t.  Leigh devotes time to the pioneers of randomized trials – the early ra...

Women of the World: The Rise of the Female Diplomat (2014)  is about the  personal and professional struggles of women to work as foreign diplomats for the government of their country, against the challenges of expectations of women at work, war, and super-power rivalry over the past 150 years. This book is written in four parts spanning from 1878 to the present day: (1) Unofficial Envoys, (2) The Battle for the Foreign Office, (3) Lady Diplomatists at War, and (4) Equal Colleagues?  Until 1946, no British woman could officially represent her nation abroad. It was only after decades of women campaigning for these government positions and careers that the doors were finally opened.   Researching letters, memoirs, personal interviews and government records, McCarthy follows the historical changes of the female diplomat – initially travelling with their diplomat husbands before being given a posting of their own. The first female ambass...

International Volunteer Day, mandated by the United Nations, is celebrated annually on 5 December. The United Nations (UN) announced International Volunteer Day (IVD) for Economic and Social Development on 20 November 1997 and proclaimed 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers (IYV).  The year aimed to further the recognition of volunteers, and promoting the benefits of voluntary service. In 2001, the UN adopted a set of recommendations to support volunteering and set 5 December 2001 as the first International Day of Volunteers.  IVD aims to celebrate the efforts of individual volunteers and volunteer organizations and to promote their work among their communities. The 2017 theme for International Volunteers Day is ‘Volunteers Act First. Here. Everywhere.’ IVD 2017’s theme recognizes the contributions of volunteers as first responders in times of crisis. Volunteers answer calls in times of need, helping save lives, and supporting those who want ...