Post written by Naima Bentanoute, a United Planet team member

In 2006, I came to Boston for the first time, after finishing my Masters degree in Arabic Language at the University of Aix en Provence. While working as an au pair for a year for a family of four girls, I deeply fell in love …with Boston.

When I returned to France in 2007, I was terribly “homesick”: I wanted to go back to Boston!

I started work at United Planet’s Boston office almost two months ago. Joining the UP team has been a great opportunity for two reasons: first, it gave me the opportunity to come back to Boston, and second, to pursue my interest in international non-profit work as United Planet’s Middle East, Africa and Europe Project Coordinator.

I was born in France, but my parents are from Morocco, so growing up I was influenced by both cultures. I feel a strong connection with both countries: I spent every summer in Morocco and every school year in France. Now, as part of United Planet, I get to share my culture and learn about others in my daily work, as I converse with co-workers from all over the world here in the office and prepare my volunteers for their own experiences abroad! I am genuinely enjoying my time at United Planet. Working for such an interesting organization has been fulfilling both personally and professionally. I am very happy to be here.

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Explore posts in the same categories: Africa, local culture, Middle East, Team Stories, travel, United Planet, volunteer abroad, volunteer work
Tags: Africa, Arabic Language, au pair, Boston, culture, Europe, experiences abroad, Middle East, Morocco, non-profit

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 6:55 pm and is filed under Africa, local culture, Middle East, Team Stories, travel, United Planet, volunteer abroad, volunteer work. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

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