When French traveller Helene Chalier arrived in Australia two months ago with her brother Thibaut, helping rebuild fences in bushfire-affected communities was not part of the plan. Now, after more than six weeks volunteering with BlazeAid from the Euroa Showgrounds home base, she is one of a team preparing to lead the organisation into its next chapter as it relocates to Creightons Creek. Helene and Thibaut travelled to Australia from Clermont-Ferrand in central France before learning about BlazeAid through social media, and with their farming background inspiring them to get involved, they did not hesitate. "We were super happy to meet Australian people and meet farmers because our family are farmers," she said. "My grandfather and my uncle have a dairy farm in France. "My father is quite proud of the work we are doing because we are helping farmers." Since joining BlazeAid, Helene has turned her hand to fencing, cooking, and camp operations and will be camp coordinator while long-serving manager Debra Ong takes a well-earned break. Helene said the volunteer experience had provided much more than hands-on work. "It's really amazing because we meet people from Korea, Japan, South America, China, France, and Australia," she said. "We talk together about cultures and the differences between cultures. "It opens your mind." While the move to Creightons Creek will mean a more modest base than the facilities available at the Euroa Showgrounds, Ms Chalier said volunteers were looking forward to continuing their work supporting local recovery. She plans to remain with BlazeAid until October before seeking paid work elsewhere in Australia. For now, helping farmers remains the focus, something Ms Chalier describes as "a great experience". Add to that the Euroa community making volunteers feel welcome from the moment they arrived, and the Chaliers - and other volunteers - might find departing a difficult thing. "As soon as I go into town, people say, 'Thank you for what you've done'," she said. "So you feel useful, and that's nice." As Helene and her fellow volunteers prepare for the move, the Creightons Creek community is busy preparing for them. CFA members, farmers, and locals began on Saturday to raise a shelter for BlazeAid's new home in what local CFA member John Chiswell described as a project that was "good for the soul". That story will feature in next week's Gazette.
