Between the end of October 2024 and now, I have had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at AMSED.
This year, I have been living in Alsace and working as an English assistant at a high school in the small town of RibeauvillĂ©. Through my classes, I am able to share my language knowledge and my culture while facilitating exchanges with students. At the same time, I knew that I wanted to volunteer outside of the classroom with a non-profit organization. Given my interests and past professional and volunteer experiences, I was most interested in working on subjects related to international relations and the experience of migrants.Â
Thanks to a fellow graduate of my university in the U.S. who did an internship with AMSED in 2021, I already had this organization in mind.Â
Each Wednesday, I have gone to work at AMSED’s office located in Strasbourg on Rue de Boston. During these past six months, I have had the opportunity to lead and contribute to a variety of interesting projects. I created pedagogical materials for teaching English to different audiences, in particular for disadvantaged youth. I contributed to the translation of projects such as E-FleIT, an online platform created in partnership with other NGOs to facilitate free language learning, especially for women and immigrants. Moreover, through the “professional insertion” axis of the organization, I had the chance to serve as an interpreter between French and English for clients navigating the French system, in particular the job search process.Â
Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to lead workshops on essential and pertinent themes such as language learning, sexism in the professional world, and waste reduction. During the period of the renowned “Marché du Noel” in Strasbourg, I helped run our Christmas Market stand in the “Village du Partage” where we sold bredeles, hot wine and products handmaid by partner organizations in order to help share our work with the general public in Strasbourg and gain important funding for the organization.
I also had the immense privilege of representing AMSED through a conference called “Shaping the Future: Youth Participation and Local Transformation,” organized by ALDA (European Association for Local Democracy) as a part of the “Youth Vision 2030” project. During the event, which took place at the European Youth Centre, I participated in a round table discussion alongside representatives from diverse European organizations and spoke about the obstacles to youth engagement as well as strategies to overcome this and ways to elevate all young voices, not just those with resources.
While this experience has allowed me to contribute to the inspiring work of AMSED, on a personal level, it has been a truly enriching experience. It has allowed me to engage in the community while collaborating and getting to know other employees, interns and volunteers. I have had the chance to exchange with people from all over the world, including countries such as Turkey, Tunisia, Afghanistan and France. Each conversation, whether with a workshop participant or a member of the association, provided an opportunity to learn, to share and to grow.
For anyone considering volunteering or seeking to make a meaningful contribution to the community, I strongly encourage them to consider working with AMSED or a similar organization. Working with such an organization allows you to engage with people from diverse backgrounds while empowering new generations and promoting inclusion, all of which are essential to fight for a more equitable future for all. Further, these interactions remind us of our common humanity, our similarities and all that we have to learn from one another.
I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and for the warm welcome that I have received from everyone at AMSED. I have no doubt that the lessons that I have taken away from these past six months will accompany me into the next step of my studies and career in international relations, just as much as they will into my everyday life and interactions.
Charlotte GONG