One of the things I appreciate the most about my summer placement in Project Rousseau is how direct our communication is with the community we serve. I have been the primary point of contact for 3 clients. We mostly communicate through WhatsApp to schedule them to come into the office or have a phone call. As a legal services intern, my job is to help prepare the SIJS or asylum cases for our clients, who are mostly young people, children, and/or their families. Our conversations tend to be very tough, it is my job to ask about sometimes the most traumatic things that happened in their lives and why they cannot go back to their country. After this, we work with other team members to craft their declarations. My conversations with clients are based on a lot of compassion, and trying to ease their anxieties. Sometimes I have to ask them very obvious questions, and explaining that we need to explain these things to someone like a judge that is not familiar with the lifestyle in their country. I think one of my biggest concerns is about my ability to separate work and client's experiences from my personal life.

The conversations with my team are about mutual support. I am working with a cohort of other interns, many of whom are doing this type of work for the first time, or are assigned clients that do not speak the same language as them. We try to be a team and provide support for each other, specially when conversations with clients are very tough, or even when we have to team up to babysit a child while mom is getting interviewed. Furthermore, PR is a small, tight-knit, office space. Having that support from my peers and my supervisors is something I am really grateful for, since I can process and debrief over conversations healthily. This picture is of me and part of my cohort at Bryant Park eating lunch!