Impressions – My 5-month experience as an intern at KODAF
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Dear readers,
My name is Marion Zerbib, I am a graduate student in Business from France and on that day I have achieved my 5-month internship at KODAF. It has been a very new and rewarding experience for me.
Among the internships I have done during my studies, it was the most audacious that I have done so far because of the challenge that it has represented.
Indeed, I firstly discovered a sector that I didn’t know: Social Welfare.
As it is mentioned in the blank space at the end of each article uploaded, I am a graduate student in Business. Thus, all my previous internships were not related to the Social Welfare sector. I did a summer job in a retiring house so it kind of introduced me to the Social sector but it wasn’t related to Disability.
I integrated one of the heart of the Disability actions in South Korea: Korea Differently Abled Federation. From solutions meetings about the issues that persons with disabilities are facing every day and concrete programs dedicated to the youth with disabilities, KODAF tries to cover all aspects of the disability and to match the needs of Persons with Disability.
The KB Hope Camp mentoring program is a great example of the support KODAF has developed for over 15 years for students. Every year take place this program and the KODAF team tries to innovate by creating new activities in order to help students with disabilities finding their career path. What I think is great about this program is that, students without disabilities have a key role in the mentoring process and that it is important for students with disabilities to be seen like someone who can fulfill their dream like everyone else and be supported by students like them. This event is a tool for social integration by offering it to all academic level, KODAF is ensuring the good future of these students in terms of professional and personal integration.
Secondly, I have learnt a lot about Korean culture and company culture, even though KODAF is a federation, the hierarchy and relations between people are different. I have traveled in Korea for the first time last semester as an exchange student at Yeungnam University in Daegu, but the context was definitely more international. At KODAF, I was the first intern and non-Korean that the organization was welcoming. I was literally immersed in a new environment. My main mission was to write English reports about KODAF events, giving my personal point of view. I really enjoyed doing this work even though it didn’t represent a full time job.
As a result, from now I won’t published any more report but I hope that you enjoyed reading my work and that another person will be in charge of feeding the KODAF English website to keep the international audience informed about KODAF activities.
I have now developed an interest for the Social Welfare and Disability sector and it will probably inspire me in the future to contribute either in France or in South Korea think about solutions to help persons with disabilities to be more integrated in the society and defend their rights.
Finally I especially want to thank KODAF members for having welcomed me so warmly in their organization. They are fantastic people and I spent joyful moments with them. 감사합니다!
Miss Marion Zerbib (Recent Intern at KODAF) |