Reports

For over fifty years now, les petits frères des Pauvres, Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, Los Hermanos del Anciano, Amics de la Gent Gran and Freunde alter Menschen have been going out to the poorest of the elderly, to those who have lost - partially or totally, temporarily or definitively - their physical, mental or economic independence.

We help these persons retain or regain their place in society by proposing and encouraging solutions adapted to their problems, through individualized action that attempts to be both innovative and provocative. For 50 years we have been in the vanguard of those confronting the problems of old age. But ours has not been simply sterile analysis. Les petits frères des Pauvres are doing something, and by so doing are pointing the way.
The International Federation of the petits frères des Pauvres, through its members, is one of the rare organizations dealing with the problems of very old and dependent persons.

We are engaged in practical activities and have practical experience, the value of which is appreciated both by the general public and by specialists in these areas.
A unique feature of our action is that it is accomplished essentially through the use of volunteers.

We have a specific style that characterizes our approach toward dealing with the elderly: individualized relationships, respect for the person, "Flowers before Bread".
We have acquired a unique experience in certain specific areas (e. g. vacations for dependent elderly persons, activities in institutions, temporary housing programs, collective housing). Little by little our example is being discovered, and followed.

International Relief Work

Although the primary purpose of the petits frères, in every countryin which it exists, is to aid the elderly, the organization has a long history of international humanitarian and relief work as well:
Berlin in 1949, aid to Hungarian refugees in 1986? ... the petits frères des Pauvres were there. Following the earthquake that ravaged Mexico City in 1985, a special solidarity fund was created in the memory of a volunteer board member and her young son, killed in the tremor.

This fund has been used to assist victims in re-establishing themselves. Since the winter of 1981, the International Federation has organized and provided regular shipments of food, clothing and medicine from France to parishes in Poland where the aid is distributed to those in need. In response to an appeal, Volvo France in 1987 donated a large truck (loaded weight: 19 tons) to make it possible to continue this and similar actions. Working out of the petits frères foundation in Casablanca, a member of that organization has mounted a relief operation in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, consisting in construction of wells to bring water to drought-stricken villages.

For several years les petits frères of France has been in close contact with a foundation for elderly refugees on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, providing material and moral aid. Groups of Lebanese elderly and handicapped children have been brought to France for a much-appreciated respite from the on-going horrors of that country's civil wars.