Lay councillors face the stress of the homeless in Brussels

During the internship, we tried to get under the skin of a lay counselor by acting out his role with the homeless and with some of the staff. We wanted to gain experience in counseling the homeless. On this occasion, we interviewed fifteen homeless people and fifteen area agents. The aim of the questions we asked them was to find out about the possibility of providing moral support to the homeless. During this fieldwork, we asked participants who met our criterion of whether they were familiar with the lay counselor and his services, to tell us what they thought the lay counselor's contribution to services for the homeless would be. What's more, by answering questions we had about situations that seemed difficult to us, we realized how useful lay moral assistance can be for the homeless.

Autorentext
Jean Ndayambaje completed a 2-month internship with the Samu social in Brussels, where he worked with homeless people. A short but precious period during which he was able to measure the quality of his talents in helping those most in need. A conscious and honest helping hand that earned him their trust.