International Blog

As a student nearing the end of my Undergraduate Degree, it is challenging to see where different roads of employment and the future will lead me. As for many students in Social Science programs, the field is vast with expansive options of engagement. The discourse around programs like mine often involves students seeking government work and opportunities. Especially for students trying to find a sense of stable footing during and after their education, government work is very desirable for this. Like an unwritten step to being successful, almost all my peers during co-op semesters or summers were employed in student government roles. During my second and third years of university, while I listened to my peer’s experiences in their new jobs and how well they were doing, I felt that I had missed out on success. That they had a head start and I was left to the sidelines. It wasn’t until I was accepted for the International Internship program at the University of Ottawa, that my mindset changed. 

Within international development, it is often the NGO, civil society, grass-root and union organizations that are crucial and integral to building resilience in under-developed nations. Organizations like the Lesotho Association of Teachers, whose soul purpose is the uphold and protect the rights to free and quality education for all, are the ones on the ground protecting teachers and students. It is organizations like these that work and fight against the damaging symptoms of capitalism and corruption. It is organizations like these that are run by local people, who know and advocate properly for what their communities need and hold the key to their development and happiness. Since the start of my internship ship, every day I see more and more of how important this organization is in protecting the social and human rights of the teachers and students in Lesotho.

Not only has this internship exposed the plethora of paths to the future in front of me, but it has also given me tangible international work experience. I believe it is true, that working within the NGO field gives you a deeper level of engagement with world issues. It can be easy to forget your purpose and passion when you are stuck in an office and have no contact with the people you are trying to help. NGO work breathes life into practice and represents the heart of what development is. I hope future students and people looking to get involved in the field of international development consider the value of NGO work and do not subscribe to other's paths of success. But instead, to know that when you stay true to your goals, everything will work itself out.

I am already halfway through the internship. And I have lots to say about this unique experience. My internship was with the Lesotho Association of Teachers. My primary responsibility was to do resource mobilization and establish a curriculum model.   Usually, I prefer to find possible grants that my organization can apply for during the first part of the week. Then, I did some research on the curriculum model.

I felt lucky that I was not working alone with the NGO. I had a colleague who came from the same university as me. We always shared our ideas. It feels so good when you have someone to work with and with whom you can get feedback. I enjoyed the feeling of teamwork during the project, which required us to complete an EU proposal within a limited time. The proposal was about European Commission on Human Rights and Democracy. Our whole team lacked any similar experience with writing an EU proposal. Therefore, we chose to work together to figure out where we should start. Also, I was stressed and extremely busy with my graduation application. It took some days to re-balance my personal life and the work I had. During this time, my colleague gave me lots of support. This experience made me realize the importance of teamwork. In addition, this internship improves my multi-tasking skill when having stressful tasks to complete. Through this experience, I can better cope with multiple stressors from different resources. Also, I found my favourite way to relieve stress: working out. I believe that in the future, I can handle more tasks at the same time.

The most important thing I learned from this internship experience is the difference between school and work. At school, I used specific criteria and evaluation standards for every assignment and project. All I needed to do was follow the guidelines and meet the requirements. However, there are no specific when you are in a job. I had to decide what my project should look like, what elements should be included in the project, and how detailed every aspect should be. All of these components needed to be determined by myself. Every decision I made would directly affect my work and my organization. My responsibility was more important than before. I may need more time to adapt to this. It was a big challenge for me to overcome during this internship. Also, it prepared me better to deal with a similar situation in the future. In addition, I also enhanced my self-motivating skills. No one would push me to move forward during work. I had to set different goals for myself and keep working on them. Overall, this internship experience allowed me to understand how an NGO operates and it's daily work.

Candice, Bachelor of Arts with major in psychology and minor in management

Canadian NGO: Alternatives

Local NGO: Lesotho Teacher Association

The internship is a very special experience for me. I had never imagined that I would have the opportunity to work with people from the other half of the earth. Before the internship began, I had no idea about the country I would work with.  After doing some research and completing several meetings with my colleagues. I learned that People from Lesotho are welcoming and hospitable. The culture was quite different from my home country, China and Canada, so it took a while to adapt to Lesotho’s culture. Gradually, I began to know what the internship was really about. It’s more complex and more complicated than I thought before. I felt confused at the beginning of this internship.

I didn’t know what I should do and how to complete the tasks I got. The sudden change from student to staff is challenging for me. My identity here was not a student anymore but a team member, a colleague. No more teacher or professor who would assign a specific task to you, and all I need to do is follow the guidelines. During the internship, I had to learn by myself. Finding a solution to a problem without any guidelines was challenging for me. There were no specific standards or rules on how I should figure this problem out. All I needed to present to my colleagues was the final project or the outcome I got. There was always more than one way to a solution. I didn’t need to try each way out specifically. All I needed to do was find the most efficient way and that guaranteed the quality. During the internship, I attended many meetings. At first, these meetings were pretty stressful for me because I felt so anxious to speak up in front of people. However, as time goes on, I felt more comfortable joining meetings and sharing ideas with my colleagues. These pre-internship meetings helped a lot. It prepared me with tolls for the internship. In addition, it taught me many solutions to release stress. During these past weeks, I felt more and more comfortable with my new identity as an intern. Also, I became more familiar with Lesotho’s culture and became clear about my tasks and goals. I hope that I can work even better during the remaining weeks of the internship and have a happy ending.

Rideau, International Development and Globalization, Alternatives, Lesotho Association of Teachers, Quality Education Research Officer

I am a remote intern with Alternatives, and they placed me with an amazing host NGO, the Lesotho Association of Teachers. This is a teacher’s union that supports for the mostly female teachers in Lesotho, and advocates for education for all children. Lesotho currently has Free Primary Education for all children, but there are still barriers for some children to accessing education, and post-primary education is even less accessible.

As an intern, I will be helping the teacher’s association with implementing their strategic plan for the rest of the year. This will look like applying for funding, creating proposals for projects, and giving presentations.

My first month with the Lesotho Association of Teachers was spent learning from them and preparing a presentation to give to a group of 40 female teachers at a gender equality and female leadership conference funded by Education International. My presentation was about gender equality and feminism. I started by defining some key terms, gave them some statistics about the treatment of women worldwide, and then showed a TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie entitled “We Should All Be Feminists.” Then, I spoke about my own experiences with gender inequality in Canada and spoke about the benefits of female leadership.

My presentation was followed by a discussion period where many teachers informed me that they now identify as feminists, which made me very happy and proud. I was glad to receive lots of positive feedback.

I was expecting the time difference combined with remote work to be a bigger issue, but I was able to connect with the conference over Zoom with no issue, and to easily connect with my supervisor to discuss work. I am glad that technology has made it possible for me to participate in an international internship even if I can’t go to Lesotho physically.

Safiya, International Relations and Modern Languages, Alternatives Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network Research Officer

In retrospect, my time as a program support officer has left me with great pleasure and success as my first internship experience. Through the non-profit organization Alternatives, I had the pleasure of working with the Advocacy and Communications division of an NGO based in East Africa called SIHA (Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa).

The majority of the work I conducted on behalf of the organization has been research-based, particularly in the realm of women’s issues and current affairs analysis. At first, this role seemed intimidating because I’ve only gained research experience through my educational experience; applying it to a professional work setting made me slightly anxious at first. However, the self-sufficient nature of my remote work has actually left a lot of room for expanding my research and refining my written communication!

I have found success in the essence of my work in research and reviewing reports and project proposals. Moreover, communicating through a social media intermediary has helped me in knowing which projects I needed to manage or specifically focus my energy on. The only challenge I found was due to the remote setting of the internship. Such challenges included some miscommunication and the effects of the time difference. At the beginning of my internship, I never had experience in a remote job, so I had to turn my bedroom not only into a classroom but also a work station. I made sure to devote some of my time every week to the responsibilities of the internship. Moreover, having a task I was required to complete every week served as a foundational basis for other tasks SIHA sent my way.

In my communication with both Alternatives and SIHA, I found both NGOs incredibly helpful and prepared to guide me through the internship process. I would advise anyone going into this kind of internship to build a good relationship with both coordinators because it made everything flow that much easier. Also, do not devote too much time to one single project. It is much simpler and more effective to work in intervals throughout the week, especially when you are managing the workload of an internship as well as post-secondary studies.

Aurora, Conflict Studies and Human Rights, Alternatives, Lesotho Association of Teacher (LAT), Quality Education Research

Now that the end of the internship is approaching, I can confidently say that through my work and interactions with different people and groups I have learned much about the culture of my host NGO, developed new skills, and built global relationships. While the internship was daunting in the beginning, I am now comfortable in my role within the organization and am enjoying it to the point where I may continue occasional work. My contact at the host organization has been very helpful and gracious, and has been happy to share with me many details about Lesotho- ranging from political conditions to the impact of covid-19.

My many meetings and conversations with Letsatsi (LAT chairperson) have provided me with opportunities to ask many questions. This has helped me to gain a fuller understanding of my role within the LAT as well as to understand the motivations behind the organization. This has then helped me to understand the challenges and struggles that the people of Lesotho face while trying to develop their country. It allowed me to make significant comparisons between my own life experiences and those living in the developing world. The purpose of my role within the LAT is to work to offer quality education for the youth of Lesotho, so that they have a chance to escape the constant cycle of poverty that predominantly plagues the rural areas.

As an emergency supply teacher for a school based in the Greater Toronto Area, I have gained an educator's perspective on the school curriculum as well as the opportunities/benefits given to Ontario teachers. Most times I am in the school, I am working in the needs moderate/needs severe class where there is a 1:1 ratio of students to educators. As I develop relationships with these children, I continue to think about those students in Lesotho who are in a classroom with a hundred others, with a few teachers scattered throughout the school room. It is difficult to reconcile my experiences with the fact that there is absolutely no support for students with exceptionalities in Lesotho- all youth should have access to quality education and be given the chance to build social connections and gain a basic understanding of different facets of life.

I believe that my work as a supply teacher has motivated me to create different projects that speak to the inequity between the education system in Lesotho and Canada. It has allowed me to gain some field experience, as I have been able to apply my knowledge and understanding to different projects and proposals with the LAT. Up until this point, my work has consisted of funding proposals, creating projects, and reaching out to potential support partners. As I mentioned in my previous blog posting, my biggest struggle continues to be finding individuals and organizations willing to provide the LAT with any kind of support. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is less funding available and people are generally much more concerned and focused on their own wellbeing. While it is completely understandable that people and organizations are focusing more so on themselves at this time, it has made my task much more difficult. I have found a similar pattern when looking for funding opportunities and grant applications- there are more restrictions on opportunities, the criteria is more limited, and most organizations are moving from a global scope to a more nationalistic approach. In other words, grants that would previously have been available to NGO’s in Lesotho are no longer an option.

Nonetheless, I continue to work towards developing connections and projects with the LAT. As we continue to work towards ensuring a better future for those in Lesotho, I believe we will see more progress. As the main obstacles the LAT faced with are funding and cultural conditions, any kind of development is significant in making an impact within Lesotho. In regards to cultural conditions, things like gender equality cannot happen overnight and are rather the result of long-term dedication. Protecting minority groups within the education system of Lesotho is a top priority. Therefore, even when my internship term with the University of Ottawa has ended, I plan on continuing to work towards better conditions for the youth and educators in Lesotho, with the hope that they will have a prosperous future.

Aurora, Conflict Studies and Human Rights, Alternative, Lesotho, Lesotho Association of Teachers

From the time I was given the opportunity to partake in an international internship through the University of Ottawa, I began researching and prepping in order to be adequately prepared for my position as an intern with the Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) located in the Kingdom of Lesotho. While the research and preparations aided in the fundamental work portion of my internship, I admit that I was fully unprepared for the cultural and emotional aspect. While my assignment was fairly simple: I had to read documents, write proposals, and reach out to different people and organizations, the magnitude of the challenge seemed increasingly daunting the more that I learned of the needs that exist within education in Lesotho and in essence, the actual purpose of the internship - to help and support children and teachers in their educational goals. 

Being raised in a predominantly white and privileged small town in rural Ontario, I was admittedly unaware of the mass injustices occurring around the world. I had enough knowledge to want to pursue a major in Conflict studies and Human Rights, but not enough to be able to grasp a wholesome understanding of the many daily battles fought by oppressed groups internationally and domestically. So, despite my two and a half years studying human rights violations and developing countries within the classroom, it was very disconcerting to see first-hand the struggles that many are faced with. In Lesotho, there is a lack of technology, resources, training, and money within the country, and more specifically within the education system. In many areas there are over one hundred kids in one classroom of varying ages and grade levels, which presents teachers with huge challenges when trying to connect with their students – to say the least, it is not an ideal educational environment. Due to the large numbers and limited support, there is essentially no aid for students with exceptionalities and they oftentimes decide to drop out. My biggest struggle has been that I deeply empathize with the admin of the LAT and wanting to support them and their teachers and students, but it’s so challenging to achieve the ideal result of immediate financial and educational support.

Coming into the internship, I was fairly idealistic about the productivity of my duties and my contribution. However, once working to complete tasks and attempting to reach out to different groups, I realized the difficulties NGO’s are faced with. In the case of the LAT, funding is a large concern. It has been heartbreaking to read and hear about the LAT’s various projects and initiatives that are focused on uplifting and supporting teachers and students of different races and genders, but being unable to actively implement them. However, now into the 6^th week of the internship, progress is beginning to be made. Within the past couple weeks I have begun drafting proposals for promising grants, and have connected the LAT with educational resources within Canada. This past week LAT’s Secretary General presented for the staff of a school in the Greater Toronto Area, with the purpose of facilitating a two-way educational relationship between teachers. The school is also working towards donating textbooks, teaching guides, and other educational resources to the LAT.

Therefore, the biggest takeaway for me so far is that it is important to be able to adapt and adhere to conditions that vary from original expectations. In accepting that progress would take time and that it would be made even more difficult by the barriers of communication due to Covid-19, I was able to alter my original plan and quickly come up with other options more suited for the current needs and goals of the organization. It has been an eye-opening experience that I am very grateful for, as I have gained practical work experience and received first-hand knowledge of developing countries, cultures, and different political systems. I have been privileged to learn from those at LAT, and am looking forward to expanding my knowledge and understandings throughout the rest of the internship.