“I decided to take on the opportunity of the international internship for the summer.”
Jerry, International Development and Globalization
Country: Myanmar
Canadian and local NGO: Forum of Federations
It came at a perfect time for me since this would be my last semester as a university student. Even though the international internships were supposed to happen in person, the remote option was also very helpful because it helped me ease into my new position of intern and the new environment. The organization that I chose to work with is Forum of Federations. It is a Canadian Non-Profit Organization (NGO) whose main goal is the advancement of federalism and decentralized governance in the world. The organization works by sharing their expertise and knowledge on the topic to important stakeholders like other civil society organizations and political leaders. I, however, am working more specifically with the team from Myanmar, also known as Burma, on the project of federalism and gender. The situation in Myanmar is very critical right now, which forced the team to relocate in Bangkok. The relocation, combined with remote work, is an entirely new way of working because of the need to create new connections and familiarize myself with a new team and colleagues while not being able to connect in person.
So far, the work that I do is centered on reading documents and making myself acquainted and knowledgeable enough on Myanmar’s recent coup. I’m also working on summarizing and translating different trainings on federalism and gender equality in Myanmar. This work is very interesting for me because I’m using a lot of the skill and knowledge that I learned so far in my four years of university as a student in International Development. And at the same time, I’m gaining real life experience by being acquainted to working in an NGO environment where I won’t always be working with a team I’m familiar with. I was very excited going into this internship and so far, my expectations have been met and I’m still excited to see where this experience will take me in the future.