What is a SEList

We saw a small announcement in the local newspaper, unfortunately not in the Calijournal, about a meeting to be held in Availles Limouzine.  It was not very clear as to what it was all about but as it mentioned food we decided to go.

The meeting got off to a bad start as people arrived at the Salle de Fetes and milled about for half an hour, then eventually headed off down to the picnic area near the camp ground.

When we all arrived we were all introduced and eventually the organising group from the MJC in L'Isle Jourdain explained the purpose of the group and their hopes for its development.

The members of the group exchange services and in doing so collect 'macarons' which are recorded in the central bank

In more concrete terms each person in the group states what services they can provide, such as dog sitting, secretarial service, painting, etc.  They also indicate what services they require, for example learning English, help with the garden .... When some one provides a service it is agreed how many macarons it is worth and on completion of the service the account of the person receiving the service is debited and the other is credited with the agreed number of macarons. Doing this means that one is not linked to one individual but the whole group.

Once the business bit was out of the way we all produced our food that we had brought and shared it in a very tasty picnic. Whilst eating we found out the the people who came were very friendly and came from as far as Charroux, but mostly from Millac and L'Isle Jourdain. Outstanding foods were an arab style pizza, rhubard clafoutis, home made garlic cheese made from the milk from a farm near L'Isle Jourdain and various rice salads.

But why are they called SELists? This is because the process is called "Service Echange Local (SEL)" or in English Local exchange of services. And as all French love to use initials and add 'ist' to the end to indicate the membership of a group, thus we have SEList or in the case of a woman SEListe.

If you wish to participate you can contact MJC de L'Isle Jourdain by email or telephone 0549489400 or by post BP5 Grand'Rue du Pont, 86150 L'Isle Jourdain.

Finally they meet up on the last Friday of every month in different parts of the area.