International Blog

Sergio, Masters in International Development and Globalization, Mines Action Canada, Colombia, Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas (CCCM), Program Support Officer

My interests concerning academic life have always been closer to the practical side than the research path. As a historian studying the Colombian conflict, its causes, dynamics and consequences, getting an opportunity to approach this issue from a practical perspective has been a life-changing experience. That is why, as soon as I knew that the Faculty of Social Sciences offered the possibility to join an international internship as part of my master's studies, I didn't have to think twice.

As part of the options, working with Mines Action Canada and Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas suited best my MRP goals since my assigned tasks merge both the practical knowledge of war-torn communities with the theoretical frame of Immobilities. Hence, allowing an insightful exploration of a scarcely studied concept among academics in Colombia.

I couldn't think about a better way to understand the kind of things you never learn in a classroom, such as addressing an Ambassador, looking for funding means to guarantee the operation of the NGO in the long term, analysing geographical data before landmine clearing missions. Yes, it has been challenging because of the workload of both my thesis project and a full-time volunteering position but the abilities I have acquired while working with the team are an asset for any future employer in my field.

Of course, Covid-19 has limited the impact one could have in a foreign country and rural communities in Colombia, but it is an advantage when reporting fund allocations to foreign governments due to data centralisation, one of my favourite tasks. So, if feeling like a crucial part in the process of making people's lives improve seems like your kind of thing, I would encourage you to join an International Internship!

Natalia, International Development and Globalization, Mines Action Canada Columbia Campaña Colombiana Contra Mina(CCCM), Project Support Officer

My internship with Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas (CCCM - or the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines) has been the first position I have held directly in the field of development. Given that the nongovernmental sector plays an extensive role in this field, this internship has been a great learning experience for me. I have learned about the challenges Colombia encounters regarding violence and landmines in the rural sectors of the country as well as how CCCM tackles landmines and their impacts. Through my internship, I have gained knowledge not only from a professional perspective, but also a personal perspective.

As a Colombian who moved to the United States at the age of 11, I have found this to be a great opportunity to expand my comprehension of my country, in specific its rural areas, and how violence affects them, as well as learn about Colombia’s past and present situations. Since starting my internship, I have felt more capable of speaking with others about Colombia, its current predicaments, and its development. In turn, my internship has helped me understand my country more deeply, an opportunity of which I am highly appreciative.

Furthermore, in my position, I have learned about CCCM’s role at helping to address the struggles stemming from landmines. It has been an enormous opportunity as I have gained experience with the various tasks that the project team undertakes. More specifically, I have understood how NGOs such as this one cooperate with stakeholders such as other organizations, local communities, and even within their own organization. I feel confident that I am nearing the end of this internship with an expanded skillset, perspective, and awareness.

Natalia, International Development and Globalization, Mines Action Canada Columbia Campaña Colombiana Contra Mina, Project Support Officer

As a student in international development, I have repeatedly learned about the broad extent of development projects with substantial objectives and with differing levels of attainment. We cover the theory of development and the undeniable reach of this field, analyzing its history and potential. In my program, I have also had the opportunity to learn about the small steps and processes that make up projects and undertakings. Nevertheless, it is certainly an eye-opening experience to see this aspect in practice.

Through my internship, I have learned about the very basis of development from the perspective of a nongovernmental organization. I have had the opportunity of drafting letters, helping me build on my professional interpersonal communication in a way I had not done previously. Similarly, I have helped conduct research as a very foundation for procedures, as well as revise texts directed at stakeholders. In turn, I am applying and gaining skills that will be essential in the future. Beyond these skills, however, I am learning how it is the minute details that drive action in development; it is through the small-scale tasks that progress is made. As an intern, I have seen how these all come together to achieve an objective, and how even minor assignments can play a major role in the accomplishment of major successes. All projects are built through attention and completion of minor components, the letters written, the research performed, and more.

I am thus gaining experience in the groundwork, which I had not thoroughly considered in the past. I realized that I have tended to base my understanding of the field in general, focusing on the big picture of where my career will take me, but not stopping to think about the details that would make it possible. This internship has helped me conceptualize the realities of projects and what makes up the extensive amount of work that goes into them. Moreover, it is reaffirming my interest in project management and planning and is providing me with experience to enhance my competencies.

Pamela Bernal, Honours Conflict Studies and Human Rights, Program Support Officer – Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCBL)

Embarking on the three-month journey that was my virtual internship, I knew well that challenges that had awaited me. While my cohort and I were duly prepared, there were some parts of this experience that each of us had to face head-on and adapt to in response to the changing needs of our organizations and our positions, the latter made even more unique as they were based online. Thankfully, the support, of supervisors and colleagues at the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCBL) and advisors at the Faculty of Social Sciences, eased my transition into the world of virtual internships and its expectations of me as a Program Support Officer for the CCBL’s Community Liaison Team and the Projects and Monitoring Team.

I began this experience with various objectives, but I believe the most important of these was to uphold the advice I gave myself after consulting various sources on what to expect through this experience: to be as patient, flexible, and open to learning anything as possible. Working at a distance for organizations that are affected by the realities of the COVID-19 public health crisis, issues of public order, and evolving security situations, one must be understanding that assignments and responsibilities change with the realities on-the-ground. Working for the Community Liaison Team, I listened to the weekly reports of my colleagues and was stricken and humbled by the intense experiences they encountered on a daily basis, experiences such as mounting insecurities threatening the stability of local communities and assassinations of local leaders and peers within or involved with the mine action sector in Colombia. Furthermore, in working with this team, I learned about the principles and components of integrated community assistance in this sector as well as some of the complexities of implementing humanitarian programs in unpredictable environments and situations, such as the ones the COVID-19 pandemic has presented. These circumstances have placed a significant strain on both assistance and demining projects for distinct but overlapping reasons.

Nevertheless, in working with the Projects and Monitoring Team, I was able to witness in real time how projects and programs were being modified and improved in response to unfolding realties. Using new and/or revised internal policies, operations protocols, and communication methods, the last of which especially interested me, the Projects and Monitoring team worked to ensure that projects implemented adaptation and mitigation strategies to account for new difficulties in the face of rising regional tensions and COVID contingencies. It was very interesting to see how much effort and coordination goes into the projects whose reports I helped review, for example, elements of general principles and objectives, considerations on ethical requirements, project/data management, knowledge production, risk management, guidelines for monitoring and follow-up practices, and feedback mechanisms for continual improvement, accountability, lessons learned, and improved practices.

Finally, despite being based outside of my host country, I learned so much about the mine action sector from the Colombian context and the pillars of mine action, specifically, mine risk education, mine clearance, and victim assistance. Moreover, taking this virtual internship opportunity allowed me to learn much more about myself, my preferences, and my work habits while contributing to an important mission. This virtual placement did not come without its challenges, but going the extra mile, reading reports from other departments, reaching out to other teams and offering additional support, and taking advantage of optional training and meetings that arose personally allowed me to gain the most that I could from this experience. I am grateful that I was given this opportunity as an international placement was always out of reach due to the costs and difficulties associated with temporarily relocating. Thus, I urge prospective applicants to research more about the virtual internship experience, research about the organizations to which you may want to apply, and truly consider this opportunity, be it in virtual or travel format, for it just may surprise you what you can learn and what you can do to facilitate positive change regardless of your surroundings and circumstances. 

Pamela, Conflict Studies and Human Rights, Mines Action Canada, Columbian Campaign to ban the Landmines, Project Support Officer

Of the many things I have learned so far in my virtual placement, it is the importance of making the most out of a bad situation to overcome the obstacles that adversity presents. Resilience and adaptability have never been more important than now. This applies to not only institutions and organizations, but also to ourselves as individuals, so that we may acclimate to the challenges we currently find ourselves waist-deep in and, further, to prepare for the ones that are yet to come.

As I reach the halfway mark of my virtual internship, I have already learned much about the daily challenges of NGOs, each of which is heavily affected by current realities and past legacies of the nations in which they are based. Particularly, I am amazed at how the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCBL) is confronting the unique challenges associated with a public health crisis while navigating distinctly tense contexts. Through my flexible position as general support for all matters involving project management and communications, I obtain exposure on how projects that have been painstakingly planned, budgeted, and approved are changing in real-time due to the complexities associated with, firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic and, secondly, the mounting hostilities between the Colombian government and its opposition. The contingencies arising from these, results in a very complex state of affairs that affect the CCBL’s reach. However, as part-time assistant for the Projects and Monitoring team and part-time assistant for the Victim Assistance/ Development and Community Liaison team, I am able to observe (and participate) the ways that my organization is working through these difficult times and unpredictable circumstances. For example, by creating, modifying, and implementing tools and strategies for mitigating the effects that these circumstances have on the outcomes of humanitarian projects.

Though I am based at home, nearly 5000 kilometers away from my colleagues at the CCBL, it is nonetheless exciting to see how the organization adapts despite the new challenges it faces. When it cannot implement existing strategies, the organization modifies said strategies, adapts the application of existing strategies according to the new disruptive contexts, or it creates new strategies altogether, the last of which interests me the most about my placement. Nevertheless, all of the foregoing actions are very complex and important as each method is crucial to ensuring that none of the beneficiaries of CCBL’s work, particularly the survivors of explosive artefacts and individuals who are predisposed to the effects of explosive artefacts, get left behind. Even when difficulties prevail, organizations like the CCBL still sound the alarm for those whose voices are silenced during tough times, leading me to my final point.

Humanity is currently at a point where, because of the effects of this pandemic, it can more easily identify and assess critical flaws in the social, health, and other systems that people heavily depend on during both times of crisis and times of normalcy. There is always room for continual improvement of monitoring/reporting strategies, feedback mechanisms, accountability practices, data and information management, and knowledge translation in the kinds of social networks fed, to varying degrees, by civil society: human rights networks, community assistance networks, humanitarian resource networks, communications networks, government victim assistance networks, and so forth. This time is an opportunity for unmatched and unprecedented growth. This is a chance for our industries and sectors (and ourselves) to innovate and grow in ways that we may not have seen otherwise, at least not at this pace. Notwithstanding the tensions and hardships felt across the planet, this period of history could be a testament to how individuals, communities, organizations, and societies are resilient but also responsive.

The experiences we live now are merely products of events that are out of our hands, but what we take from these experiences is entirely up to us. Personally, I hope to make the most out of the next 1.5 months by continuing to volunteer my energy efficiently and enthusiastically to assist my colleagues towards the CCBL’s mission and to contribute in the small ways I can to the betterment of civilian stakeholders affected by armed conflict in accordance with my mandate.