International Blog

This internship has brought me a lot of different experiences, since it is not only a remote internship but also an international internship. Personally speaking, the advantages of remote working is way larger than the drawbacks. When teamwork is needed, we will set up video conferences so that all members can have a sense of participation and arrange each other's tasks quickly and reasonably. At the same time, when deadlines are already set, people can arrange their work time according to their own schedule. If I don't hear back by email within a short time, I'll send a follow-up email the next day to make sure the person hasn't forgotten or missed the message. As for social interaction, I think proper arrangements of meeting chat have some positive effects and can effectively improve the relationship between me and my colleagues. The remote internship also brought me a lot of convenience in life. Like helping me avoid missing work because of travel issues. I also work more flexible hours and don't have to worry about the weather.

As a remote international intern, culture clashes are hard to avoid. Fortunately, we have a lot of respect for each other and our cultures and ways of doing things. Because of language and cultural differences, it is hard for me to maximize the value of my abilities. Moreover, some of the work I am good at cannot be carried out due to the language barrier. I solved this problem by finding more tasks that didn't require verbal communication and helping them with advocacy campaigns in my own country. For example, instead of talking to landmine survivors, I made pictures for them to spread the message. If the situation becomes too difficult for me, I turn to someone more experienced. That's what I've been doing lately. I turned to the daughter of an NGO worker, who gave me a lot of advice on my experience and helped me contact her family at AEPD to provide me with more valuable information. I also tried to contact the previous international intern of AEPD to communicate with her and get more inspiration.

In general, this experience has brought me a lot of useful knowledge and skills and made me learn how to adapt to new situations quickly. Thanks again to my Canadian NGO and Vietnamese NGO for helping me have a pleasant and meaningful internship experience.

Now that I’m nearing the end of my internship, I’m pleased to report that it’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience. While doing this internship in the summer months has allowed me to avoid some summer classes, this was not the only positive.

First, it’s been enlightening to see just how applicable the information I’ve been learning in my program at uOttawa is to hands-on international development practitioners. My program entails a lot of research, writing, and analytical reasoning. This internship has allowed me to further develop these skills and related knowledge streams. My program delves deeply into concepts like sustainable development, the importance of grassroots movements, and how disaggregated data can tell a more comprehensive story than the aggregate data that is commonly collected today. While working at the NACCFL I found that they championed a lot of these ideas, and I was well prepared to support their initiatives which aligned with these goals.

That said, working for the NACCFL has challenged me in more ways than one. In my pre-internship training it was emphasized that I would be needing to adapt to new situations, as each organization’s needs are unpredictable and frequently changing. This was not an exaggeration. While I applied to work for the NACCFL as a Documentation Officer, this quickly turned into more of a Communications Officer position I was happy to step on board in this role to support my host organization’s goals, and I received enough support to handle the changing dynamic.

As a result, the internship has broadened my horizons to tasks that I would not have been given the chance to conduct otherwise. I was surprised by the amount of trust I was granted to create content for NACCFLs website, PowerPoint, and brochures/pamphlets. It was very rewarding to know that my work was making a tangible difference. Rather than doing work to fill time or receive grades, which much of student-life can entail, this placement gave me a heightened sense of personal responsibility over my work knowing it would be made available to the public.

Ultimately, this internship has surpassed my expectations with respect to the training offered, work tasks I was given, and learning opportunities in the field. I’m so pleased to have taken part in this experience this summer!

I really appreciate the opportunity to work with Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (AEPD). AEPD provides help to Vietnamese landmines survivors. I especially cherish the chance to remote work as an international intern. It gave me the experience of collaborating with people on the other half of the earth.

I choose to work in AEPD because I had the experience of helping disabled children in my country of origin. I believe destiny doesn’t treat everyone in the world the same, so people who are able to provide help to these minorities should lend a helping hand. After I went through the job profile, I felt like it well matched my ability, so I submitted the application and I was accepted.

I attended a pre-training session before actually starting my internship. The information and lesson provided to us were very helpful. We were taught how to cope with the stress and deal with the relationship with the host country’s NGO. I was so nervous when I finally meet my Vietnam NGO for the first time. My worry just went away after that first meeting. They were so kind and welcoming about my joining their organization. We talked about tasks but we mainly got to know each other.

I felt a little lost when I first started working. There are a lot of ideas that came to mind but they were difficult to implement. At first, I wanted to organize an online informal meeting with the survivors to relieve some of their stress. Unfortunately, most of them did not speak English, so the plan had to be shelved. There were a lot of things like that that left me feeling a little frustrated and wondering if I could really help AEPD. I gradually began to adjust my mind, telling myself that some things can not be forced, as long as I have the ability to change things that are worth self-recognition. Then I started making pictures to spread the word about the organization and help them get more people to help them. At the same time start looking for fundraisers to provide financial help to the organization.

I started to get more familiar with my work and positive about any difficulty I faced. Hope I will keep my attitude and get better for the rest part of the internship.

Katie, Masters in Development and Globalization, Mines Action Canada, Vietnam, Association for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (AEPD)

In the three months of my internship, I have been able to work on a number of interesting projects and may have even found a new path for myself! My undergraduate degree had a small focus on humanitarian assistance which, while interesting, I always associated with high levels of stress and meeting immediate needs on the ground. While this is certainly a component of humanitarian assistance, there are steps that come after the immediate emergency, including the provision of services for survivors as well as return and reintegration into the community. Particularly in conflict, the violence can continue long after the fighting ends. At Mines Action Canada, I have been able to learn about the devastating impacts of explosive remnants of war and the great needs of affected communities.

I have struggled in the past to find a place for myself and my interest in disability in the Global South within the development community – while the rights of persons with disabilities are a pressing issue it is often overlooked and under-examined. Within humanitarian assistance and specifically in post-conflict settings, disability takes up far more space in the conversation. While my interests in disability go beyond physical impairments, the potential to work on programs assisting persons with physical disabilities is more realistic than other forms of disability. I am excited to have found more opportunity for myself within this experience and my newly broadened horizons have me excited for what my future holds!

Katie, Masters in Development and Globalization, Mines Action Canada, Vietnam, Association for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (AEPD)

In my final semester of my master’s degree in International Development and Globalization at the University of Ottawa, I decided to take part in an internship as opposed to completing another course. As someone who has completed an entire master’s degree online due to the pandemic, I was feeling very drained and exhausted from the online learning experience – I missed the engagement with professors and my peers! An internship also provides me with valuable experience within my field and the opportunity to see how theory can be put into practice.

On a whim I checked out the internship opportunities for the Winter 2022 semester and saw a posting for a Vietnamese disability empowerment NGO. I have focused the majority of my academic career on disability inclusion within international development, I could not pass up this opportunity. Despite 80% of persons with disabilities living in the Global South, international development as a field often does not engage with this group widely understood to be one of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations. Working with the team at the Association for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, I have been able to see how local NGO operations make significant impacts on the lives of people in their community. From this, I am starting to see a future where disability awareness and inclusion is better integrated into development programming – something that I struggled to see in the classroom and academic articles. I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to work in the very specific field that I am so invested in and am looking forward to building off of this experience in my future career

Vy,International Economics and Development, WUSC, Vietnam, Bac Thang Long College (BTL), Communications Officer

In general, the whole experience was well enriching, knowledgeable, and unforgettable. I would highly recommend students interested in international issues and development to apply for this internship opportunity. My responsibility was to strengthen the operational capacity of BTL, an economic college in Hanoi, Vietnam, with gender equality, inclusivity, and sustainability in mind. My main task consisted in proposing a marketing communication plan that could directly attract young trainees and indirectly promote BTL’s blended learning options.

To be honest, I was quite anxious at the beginning because I wasn’t really sure how or where to start. Thanks to the training resources offered by WUSC and the understanding of the partner organization, to the best of my abilities I assessed BTL’s needs and used the research method, wording, and models acquired in my DVM courses as well as resource management knowledge in Econ courses to complete my proposal.

During the process, the BTL representative also shared some valuable knowledge regarding the communication and marketing fields (which are not my fields of study) to better present my ideas. Another responsibility that I took on was analyzing BTL’s webpages, recommending tips to improve the appearance and the performance of their e-platforms, as well as filming, recording, and editing some instructional videos for BTL students. These additional knowledge and tech skills will highly benefit my candidacy and enlarge my options in the future job hunt.

Overall, I am very satisfied and grateful for this meaningful e-internship experience. For those who consider this opportunity, there will be some stress, confusion, and inconveniences due to the different time zones and cultures. But hey, it is how we learn new skills, discover our hindered strengths, practice our resilience and grow into well-rounded individuals and employees. Don’t forget that the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Canadian NGOs are constantly there to advise and support you along the way!

Vy Tran, Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Economics and Development, Communications Officer at WUSC

Entering my third week of the internship, I have already learned so much about the missions, complexity, as well as challenges in Canada’s development field. I am enjoying the internship thus far and would like to recommend this international opportunity to students specialized or interested in the fields of development and public policy.

I am currently e-interning for World University Service of Canada (WUSC), a well-known Ottawa-based development organization that is responsible for providing economic, education, and empowerment opportunities to youth in less developed nations with a specific focus on young women and young refugees. Some past and current flagship projects of WUSC include Uniterra (in cooperation with CECI), IGNI+E (Innovative Global Networks for Inclusion + Equality), WAGES (The West Africa Governance and Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas), and WE LEAD (Women’s Economic Linkages and Employment Development). Operating in over 15 countries across Asia, Africa, and Americas, WUSC’s aims at helping improve social and economic well-being for the poor and marginalized youth in the developing world by raising awareness of gender equality, by sharing expertise, and by delivering more innovative and environmentally sustainable initiatives.

My assigned task is researching and developing a communication strategy that leads to a more effective student recruitment campaign for the BTL technical college, one of WUSC’s partners in Vietnam. Based in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, BTL offers a wide array of program options, from academic continuation to vocational training, to young Vietnamese aged 15-35. I am thankful for this opportunity since I am allowed to apply the research skills and knowledge acquired in my program of studies, to learn more about some barriers between academic tools and real life, and to have thought-provoking conversations with local representatives.

It is still too early to know whether I will successfully complete all the assigned tasks or not. However, thanks to various resources and support offered by WUSC and the Faculty of Social Sciences at uOttawa, I know for certain that this internship will be one of the most informative, practical, and memorable terms in my university journey.