My name is Estelle and I am a 21 year old French student in International Business from La Rochelle Business School. I have travelled in Europe and China but coming to Australia was a new challenge for me. I worked for Palms from July to December and this experience was a real opportunity for me to acquire new knowledge in marketing and events management and for social development. Moreover I was in an environment that is full of people who are the most involved and the most valuable I’ve met until now. Here everybody is equal, recognised for their participation and I feel like a part of a small family. I contributed as an event intern to help organise the annual Solidarity Luncheon 2013. Sarah, the events coordinator, explained everything to me that I should know before her maternity leave. Then Sean, the new fundraiser of Palms became my new tutor. Together we worked on different projects such as the Solidarity Awards or how to fundraise money for the new volunteers going abroad. Tatiana and Camila, two volunteers also participated a lot in this event. Last but not least, Ruth, a talented director and conference manager gave us a hand as a volunteer, bringing her experience and knowledge to this project. Working with all these people’s tutelage was a real pleasure and a rich professional experience. The result was amazing! We had a lovely lunch at Lachlan’s and Duncan MacLaren and Donna Mulhearn, made inspiring speeches about populations in need.
Being an intern at Palms was a great adventure for me. Discovering a new way of thinking and new landscapes. What a rich experience!
The business field, I used to know, is full of people who lost their values, as they say “business is business”. Being an intern in a non-governmental organisation has helped me to come back to my roots and reset my values. I now more fully appreciate the needs of communities in Pacific Asia like Timor-Leste or Kiribati and how Palms keeps contributing to the progressive development of these countries through their long-term volunteers. Life in Australia has been completely different to my life in France. Finally, this internship half way around the world was a successful experience for me and reminded me of the power of solidarity.