Why I love my internship

I'm only a few weeks away from the end of my internship and I want to share a bit of what Les Petits Frères des Pauvres does here in France--and why it is the perfect internship (at least I think so):

Les Petits Frères is an organization that finds lonely, isolated elderly people and connects them with volunteers who visit them, plan outings, and take them on vacations. Les Petits Frères divides Marseille into 4 or 5 sectors and each of these sectors is led by a few full-time employees who direct a team of volunteers and look after the elderly people in that area of the city. For the most part, the volunteers are retired and give A LOT of time to this organization. It's almost a part-time, non-paying job for some of them. Some volunteers are assigned specific elderly people to visit once a week or so; some volunteers plan meals to gather together a big group of elderly people once a month; some make phone calls to check up on people; and some plan summer vacations (to Normandy, to Seyne sur Mer, etc.)  Each volunteer has a specific role and they all work as a team to make sure that the people in that sector are looked after. 

My role here is to do what the volunteers do but to do it full-time. It's a great opportunity because it means I get to know pretty much all of the elderly people in the sector I work in (Village-Nord). I get to go to meals with them, visit them in their homes, do fun writing or drawing workshops, and trips to retirement homes. 

It has been a really eye-opening experience for me to work with this organization. I never really thought that so many elderly people could be so lonely and isolated. Both my grandparents are very active, independent, and healthy. So are most of the elderly people I know. But I hadn't really thought about those that nobody knows--that nobody goes to visit. So what this organization does is really, really wonderful to me now. I would never want my grandparents to feel abandoned or alone. So I really love the chance I get to help someone feel more loved. 

Beyond all that, it's the perfect opportunity to practice my French and jump into the Marseille culture because: 1) I have to talk all the time when I go on visits, 2) the volunteers and elderly people love to teach me new words and expressions, 3) we eat great "Provencal" food at the meals, 4) elderly people have way more traditional Marseille accents, and 5) I travel all over the city, everyday, losing my way, asking people for directions, getting to know the city and the public transportation system. 

Really, I can't imagine an internship I would have enjoyed more. I love the people I work with and I have a hunch this might be one of those things that directs me down the path I'm meant to take. 

Dany and I at lunch today. Dany is turning 80, knits poodles for all her friends, and is the life of the party when we get a big group of elderly people together.

Love, 

Stéfanie