Intern Luise at steps for children
My name is Luise Schrei and I did a three-month internship at steps for children. I passed my Abitur in the summer and then spent several months travelling with a tent and rucksack – mainly hitchhiking – through Europe. In the process, I was able to explore above all the southern and eastern parts of Europe. On my journey I encountered a great deal of poverty and experienced first-hand, but above all learned, that there are warm-hearted, helpful and joyful people everywhere, even and especially in very poor areas. What left a particularly deep impression on me was meeting two street children who were standing in the middle of a four-lane road on a narrow concrete strip at a traffic light and begging passing cars for food and money. The girl and the boy were about 6 years old and their clothes, faces and hair were grey from the road dust. When I walked past them, they stopped what they were doing and just looked at me in surprise. I stopped, waved to them, rummaged through my rucksack for my provisions and the girl ran across the road towards me. When I gave her a handful of sweets and two apples, she began to beam and immediately put a lollipop in her mouth. The girl ran a little way after us, then ran back to the narrow concrete traffic island and she and the boy watched us for a long time.
How I came to steps
With these touching experiences in my heart and the knowledge that there are places where poverty is even greater, I came back. So I looked for a way to give children in similar circumstances a chance and do more to help in the long term. That is how I came to steps for children, who have set this very goal for themselves. The people who support steps devote every hour to giving one more child a chance.
At steps I learned how much work and dedication it takes to raise donations and also to retain donors. But I also learned how much a donation can achieve, because the commitment of the people on the ground, the Namibian project managers, teachers, educational professionals or cooks, for the children in their care, is enormous, even though they often have very little compared with us.
I was at the steps office in Hamburg-Barmbek three days a week each, and through team meetings, many detailed explanations and my own tasks I gained a full insight into foundation work. I helped with various activities such as writing impact reports or an application, but I also experienced how much work goes into a newsletter and social media design.
In the area of international cooperation, for example, I gained experience by creating tools for project management for Namibian staff. In the process, the many connections became clear to me step by step, which was great thanks to the many patient background explanations for my respective tasks.
What I particularly liked was that, thanks to the small team and the regular team meeting, I could take part in or get to know every area and could also contribute my own ideas and implement them after consultation. I was warmly welcomed into the small team from the very beginning and learned a great deal specific to the field as well as for life.
Dear Luise, we would like to thank you very warmly for your work with us. You have not only supported us, but also fundamentally shaped several areas – with your inspiration, your energetic, active nature and your openness to topics relating to steps! We wish you a great time with new goals and challenges and hope to see you again soon in our volunteer team.
