Hi !

My name is Laurene, I am french, grew up in the suburbs of Paris and was lucky enough to travel often in many countries at a young age. I discovered very early that things were different elsewhere, which I guess led me to social activism as I think people should have the same opportunities in life and be able to become their best selves no matter their background :) That's how I became a member of an NGO called "Humanity In Action" helping future generations of social innovators to take action for more equality at the local, national or global level.

A few campaigns we've been involved with are : changing the police-youth relations by fighting racial profiling, looking for concrete solutions to foster the integration of Roma in France, raising awareness on the discrimination that Muslims face in France, etc. You can find videos of those projects here : http://www.humanityinaction.org/about/417-action-project-videos

In terms of personality, I am pretty independent, I can have endless conversations on politics and social justice but I also very much like being quiet and would prefer to hear about you and your experience. I have a good sense of humor, enjoy all types of food and love to visit religious places. I would say that one of my best quality is probably social adaptation.

Looking forward to meeting you !
Laurene

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I travel I love to discover what you love about your country or your city, talk about what you think the most pressing issues are, how things could be changed or impacted, or maybe just share your passion for music or food.

Interests

Social activism : How can we have an impact locally and make our community / society a better place for all ?

Human rights / running / diving / reading / travelling / Yoga

• concerts
• environment
• human rights
• dining
• yoga
• running
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• music
• opera
• scuba diving
• ecology
• emergency services

Music, Movies, and Books

My sister was a DJ for 17 years, I've been raised with electronic music with various influences from Berlin to Detroit or Chicago. I have also studied saxophone for 8 years and love jazz music.
But honestly, I listen to a variety of music, which I know is an annoying answer.. but what can I say ? ;)

As for movies, I love directors like David Lynch or David Cronenberg, love documentaries about travels - I recently watched the one on Laura Dekker, a 14 years old dutch girl who sailed solo around the world for 2 years, a great source of inspiration.

Oh and books.. I love books. Favorite writers are : Hugo Hamilton, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Patrick Goujon, Emmanuel Adely, Rejean Ducharme, Jean-Philippe Toussaint... I love to discover new authors, so any suggestions are welcome.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was 13 I was part of a choir and we sang "Carmen" an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, at le Zenith (one of the biggest concert place in Paris) !

Teach, Learn, Share

I have been working in the educational field for more than 4 years before leaving France in december 2014. I have organized summer universities on minority rights activism for american, greek and french students. One of the goal of those summer programs was to teach students how to develop projects that will foster equality, fight against any form of discrimination and promote diversity. I would be happy to give small workshops in french or english :) To learn more about the organization I was working for : www.humanityinaction.org/france

In terms of learning, anything you' d like to share with me is great ! Especially if it's not linked to my areas of expertise. If I had to give an example, I would love to learn about ecology, other ways of living without wasting, how to protect our environment, etc.

What I Can Share with Hosts

See the section above :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Algeria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States