Born in a French town outside of Quebec City in Canada, like many, Anne-Sophie’s entrance into international  development was unplanned. Originally passionate about  arts and with an ear for languages, Anne-Sophie began  her career as a translator, which has led her all over the  world. Intrigued when she overheard someone at a party  speaking about a start-up project in Cambodia run by an  NGO called OrphFund, Anne-Sophie remembers thinking-  ”I always thought I should live such an experience, as a  way to travel.”, and in a few short months she was on her  way to join them. 

The youngest member of the team, the project sounds  straightforward- to build a school for 200 children in 10  weeks, all the while living in the surrounding community.  However, living in a rural community with no common  language proved more difficult than the team first  imagined- and alongside her work developing the school  project, Anne-Sophie also began to serve as a translator,  and with the help of the locals she was able to pick up  bits of Khmer as she went. Recalling the experience from  a vantage point of five years, Anne- Sophie recognizes  that it triggered in her a fundamental change. Remarking  that the experience was ”too good to not be repeated”,  she recalls most the ”change [the project] brought  to those children,” and the ”good connection to the  local community” which resulted from the group’s  engagement. 

Following a chance encounter with an Israeli who would  become her future husband on a bus in Viet Nam, Anne Sophie found herself in Israel in the fall of 2007, and it was  here that she stumbled upon another cause that would  become part of her life’s path.

Israel in 2008, Anne-Sophie offered her services as a  volunteer. She soon became a key component of the  effort to assist the growing number of refugees in South  Tel Aviv- working as a translator, donations coordinator  and project assistant for a number of different Israeli  NGOs. 

Anne-Sophie admits it was a conflation of circumstances  that brought her to the Glocal program. Attending the  open day in 2010, she heard staff and students speak  about the classes and internship and recalls that while  joining the field element to the academic is what attracts  most students to the program, ”it wasn’t the internship  that really attracted me, but it was that I wanted to be  more professional at what I do”.

During her first academic year, alongside her academic studies and preparations for her upcoming internship  with CARE Benin, Anne-Sophie worked on her newest  social venture- the establishment of Become (www. become-world.org), an independent NGO focusing on  integrative community development.

This summer, before they set out on their internships,  a group of Glocal students accompanied Anne-Sophie to  Become’s base in Kenya, for an intense week of work. We  wish them the best of luck on this exciting joint venture!

Glocal Staff