Each year, over 100,000 people seek asylum in France, according to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons. The French have a long history of helping asylum seekers. In Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small mountain village, the inhabitants hid Jewish children during the Holocaust, and they now host refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and anglophone and francophone Africa. Today, organizations like Utopia 56 help asylum seekers in Paris and other cities by providing information, food, shelter and other support. Mercer students will work with local organizations and the community to serve refugees and learn about different worldviews.
For one week in Paris, students will work with Utopia 56 to help migrants, especially minors, who are seeking refugee status and who do not yet have protection from the state. Students will work in a donation center, speak with staff and volunteers, and accompany families to their temporary housing.
Students will spend the next two weeks working with refugees in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. While the French government and the local community meets many of the refugees’ needs, such as food, housing, public school and legal assistance, Mercer students will further help these individuals in their healing process. Students will engage in meaningful work while learning valuable stories from the refugees and the local community, which has a particularly inspiring tradition of welcoming others. Students will lead a two-week day camp — to include art therapy, music, dance, sports and writing — with children ages 6-18 from the welcome center for asylum seekers, a children’s group home and the community.
Student applicants who have experience working with children or teens; are ready to listen to others; and are willing to share their talents in art, music, dance, sports, writing and more are preferred. The ability to speak French, or another language, is desired.
