麻豆传媒

Emmy Noklebye 鈥� Teaching at the Ndulu English Project in Nias

In the second year of her study, in the summer of 2017, Emmy Noklebye volunteered at the Ndulu English Project, based in the south of Nias Island, in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The project鈥檚 mission is to provide quality English language instruction and enrichment activities to the village children.

鈥淭he project is purely voluntarily led by a local entrepreneur and his family, with help from foreign volunteers. Classes run from 14.00-16.00, Monday to Friday, after their regular school, and are free. The interest is very high, and the two open-air classrooms at the beach are crowded with an average of 100 students a day. Partly for that reason, in addition to considering a varied level of English, the children are divided into different groups.

鈥淒uring my three weeks at the project, I was teaching intermediate and advanced groups of children. In the former, we were going through very basic topics with a lot of repetition. Standard themes could be the body, colours or family. The focus was to give the children confidence to speak, as well as helping them to remember words and form simple sentences themselves. We applied some songs too where appropriate, which was very engaging.

鈥淭he main challenge teaching this group was there were so many they couldn鈥檛 fit on the benches and under the roof, which became a difficulty when it was raining, affecting their concentration. For this reason, we divided the youngest students into three groups instead of two, which also gave room for adapting the lessons accordingly.

鈥淚 really enjoyed teaching the advanced, smaller class with older students, and thought it was engaging to plan the lessons and observe individual improvements. Typical exercises would be to write a poem about dreams or writing about pros and cons of their village, in addition to help and correct grammar and spelling."

鈥淚 found it challenging to take into consideration that our differences in childhoods and opportunities for the future, were not necessarily comparable to each other, so subjects like weather and seasons, favourite TV shows or travel, was not always suitable to use as learning materials."

鈥淚t was greatly enriching to take part in this project, as we as volunteers were so free to structure the lessons and discover suitable teaching methods. It was very rewarding to get to know the children and recognise their language development."

"This project was a perfect opportunity to dedicate oneself to learning Bahasa Indonesia, as this adaption to the culture made it far easier to communicate and learn from people鈥檚 life experiences, particularly the effects of the tsunami and earthquake that hit the island in 2004/2005.

鈥淎ll the children in the school were from the local village, so I got to know almost every family along the road, which made me feel very welcome and gain a better understanding of the everyday life of an island family in North Indonesia. 

"In addition to running classes, we also participated in beach clean ups with the government and the navy, and tried to raise awareness around the local and global environmental effects of polluting the ocean, which we are all so dependent on."

Daina Ramanauskaite 鈥� Supporting the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the State of Israel

As a part of her studies in International Relations, Daina Ramanauskaite completed a seven week internship between July and September 2017, at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the State of Israel. Daina was responsible for assistance in providing consular services and delivering the daily tasks for the Charg茅 d鈥橝ffaires Ramunas Davidonis, Ambassador Edminas Bagdonas.

鈥淓ach day of my internship started by reviewing a selection of regional newspapers, since the news had a substantial impact on the work that I had to do. At the end of the week I had to write a regional news report, which was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania. 

鈥淒uring my internship, the consular was away on leave so I had a great opportunity to familiarise myself with the job role and carry out the daily tasks of the consular in their absence. The consular assistant played a key role during my internship 鈥� she gave me detailed training and always found time for my questions and was willing to help. 

鈥淭he daily tasks for the Charg茅 d鈥橝ffaires and Ambassador included writing speeches, official letters and translating texts. Furthermore, I attended the Europe Union Ambassadors meeting in which discussions focused on current affairs in the Middle East (at the time of the Temple Mount crisis). I also took a part in preparations for the programme of the official visit of the Lithuanian鈥檚 Foreign Minister to Israel."

鈥淚 assisted the consular with legalisation of documents and in processing applications for issuance/replacement of passports for the Republic of Lithuania. I also assisted with the documentation of reinstatement of Lithuanian citizenship, for the persons who held citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania before 15 June 1940 and were exiled from the occupied Republic of Lithuania before 11 March 1990. 

"Besides that, every day I would be contacted via email or phone asking various questions related to reinstatement of citizenship, issuing passports and visa application inquiries.

鈥淏efore the internship my knowledge of the actual work carried out at the embassy was minimal. Now that my internship is over, I feel I have really learned a lot:

• I became more familiar with the embassy day-to-day life and I deepened my knowledge about Israel and its region. 
• I was out of my comfort zone, so I had to learn quickly and adapt to new challenges in a professional manner. I feel like the internship contributed to my personal development too. 
• The internship broadened my career opportunities and will have a valuable impact on my CV. 
• The internship opened opportunities to meet new people and networking at work. 
• It made me realise what further steps I need to accomplish to do well in my career in the future.鈥�
  

Aaliyah Lightburn 鈥� Working with the Embassy of Belize

Aaliyah Lightburn had the experience of a two week internship in Cuba in 2016, working in the Embassy of Belize.

鈥淢y internship in Cuba, although short, was full of opportunities for both professional and personal growth. I had the opportunity to work in the Embassy of Belize with a mostly Cuban staff from 9.00-17.00 and sometimes until 23.30. Weekday evenings and weekends was my chance to learn about Cuba and experience the country for myself. 

鈥淚n my first few days of working at the embassy, Ambassador Lou-Anne Burns, Belizean ambassador to Cuba, explained to me several times the importance of everyone鈥檚 job working in the embassy 鈥� from the gardener to the ambassador. No one鈥檚 job was above another鈥檚 and everyone had a valuable part to play in keeping the Embassy functioning. Now reflecting on that, I find that is essential for those working in diplomatic service, especially at foreign postings. Without a staff that felt appreciated, the Embassy of Belize would not be able to operate efficiently. I found out that even I as an intern had a very important part to play, even though I was there for only a short time. I was given a variation of work throughout my time that was simple but extremely important.

鈥淭hankfully from the work I did, I now know what can be expected of me if ever I was to join Foreign Service in the future. My assignments ranged from administration to more technical work like operating Photoshop. First, I was tasked with enhancing and tagging images of important newspaper articles taken at the Cuban National Archive that were to be put in the Belizean National Archive. The tagging would make the process of digitally searching for images simpler than before, thus improving the quality of the National Archive. I was also asked to help organise the Embassy's financial documents in preparation for a continued audit by the request of the Auditor General of Belize. While these were simple tasks, I had to be extremely mindful of what I was doing because one small mistake or misfile could greatly alter public information.

鈥淢y work in the Embassy wasn鈥檛 without hardship though 鈥� gaining some insight into running a diplomatic posting in a country suffering from an embargo. The work I had could have been done in a timely manner had there been equipment, software and internet readily available to me. I learnt, however, that these things aren't easily attained in Cuba, especially by a small country with limited resources. 

"Very often during the day, internet at the embassy would stop working, thus rendering it impossible to work or research information online. Alongside the unstable internet there was also a data cap, so only certain things could be looked for fear of exhausting all the data available to us for the month, which would then be very expensive to reinstall. This often led to me abandoning my work for the day to think of work I could do that didn鈥檛 require the internet. 

"When I did have the chance to use software and equipment available to me, they were rather old and difficult to use. In addition to the software issues, one problem I encountered that I had never considered before, was being able to use software and equipment in Spanish. While I have no problems speaking conversational Spanish, I did have some difficulty adjusting to technical software terms in Spanish. I eventually overcame this hurdle and managed to finish my work.

鈥淏esides the work given to me by the Embassy, I had to assist former ambassador to Cuba, Ambassador Assad Shoman, with information that he needed to be researched. Ambassador Shoman has been a key figure in realising Belize's history and helping with the ongoing dispute Belize has with one of her neighbour's. Having the chance to research information on Belize (then British Honduras) for him was an incredible opportunity. While researching for him, I was able to go more in depth with information about our history that I only managed to skim the surface of in school when I was younger. Ambassador Shoman also took the time to speak to me about his work and the importance of it for our country."

鈥淲hen I wasn鈥檛 working in the office, I was able to see the relationship between Belize and Cuba 鈥� its history, present and future. During an Embassy function, I met one of the most important figures in the Caribbean who brought the Caribbean countries together and, unknown by most people, was a key figure in the Cuban revolution and a right-hand to Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. To meet someone who has been on the forefront of one of the most important revolutions in the world and to see him then fostering a relationship not only between Cuba and Belize, but also between the entire Caribbean is an experience I will never forget. To this day he still rallies behind his region and does everything he can to make sure the Caribbean countries are progressing together.

鈥淚 was able to learn so much about the Cuban people and their country that I wouldn鈥檛 have the chance to learn otherwise. The Cuban people are quite isolated from the international community, due to their limited internet access and hard time travelling off the island. 

鈥淚 found the Cubans extremely friendly and always up for chat 鈥� in Spanish, English and many other languages. I took these opportunities to practice as much of my Spanish I possible could. Even though they knew my Spanish was not fluent, everyone was extremely patient with me and even went ahead to enunciate every word and speak extra slowly when it got complicated. I, in return, helped them practice their English and sometimes French. I am extremely grateful to the Cuban people to help me practice my Spanish in a comfortable environment that encouraged me to grow my language abilities.

鈥淚 learnt about the resilience of the Cuban people through their infamous per铆odo especial in the 1990鈥檚 where their economy had collapsed and the Cuban people and government needed to find ways to survive. I heard of the hardships they had to endure during then, some slow improvements that followed and the hardships that they face to this day. I spoke to many people about this, but one conversation that stuck out to me was from a Spanish as a Foreign Language teacher, who told me that after the recent disintegration of PetroCaribe, which helped not only the entire Caribbean when it came to fuel but especially Cuba, she felt as though Cuba was going to entire another per铆odio especial. 

鈥淭hrough speaking to people I was able to really hear what it was like to be living in present-day Cuba. The teacher, as well as my Cuban colleagues, also spoke to me about second jobs that they needed to attend because earning from one job was simply not enough. Cubans simply did not have enough. Cubans are a resilient people, however, and that does not stop them from finding a way to live their best life."

鈥淭he trip to Cuba has been the most educating trip I鈥檝e ever had. It was not only educating from an International Relations standpoint 鈥� Cuba鈥檚 revolution and the diplomatic relationship Belize has with Cuba, but also from a personal one. The skills I learnt at the Embassy and the knowledge I gained from people were acquired separately and under different circumstances, but they will all be beneficial to me in the future. I will carry these skills with me into future jobs, as well as future interactions with people.鈥�

Sophie Smith 鈥� Working on midterm campaigns in the USA

Thanks to the generous internship funding that the Politics and International Relations Department provides, Sophie was able to travel to the US and work on midterm campaigns for the Democrat Party in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

"In New Hampshire, I worked on a variety of campaigns from state representative to congressional primary races. New Hampshire is a prominent and important swing state. Following the 2016 elections it was described as 鈥榚ven鈥� Democrat and Republican, when I arrived I was told that every door I knocked on could change the result. 

"For the Democrat primaries in New Hampshire we had a chance to canvass, operate phone banks and attend events for candidate Chris Pappas. The canvassing in New Hampshire was very different to the UK. There were sometimes miles between houses so it was vital we had a car. We were undertaking targeted canvassing so most were registered Democrats or undecided. Many registered Democrats were less interested in the outcome of the primary but assured us that they would turn out to vote in order to keep Trump supported Republicans from power.

"There was a huge anti-Trump sentiment amongst most people I talked to. There was the odd house however, where someone would say they are a republican and Trump supporter and we would have to politely remind them that they are in fact a registered Democrat! 

"I attended a forum where all the candidates for New Hampshire鈥檚 First Congressional District were quizzed on their policy and background. A group of us were called in at midday to put hundreds of Chris Pappas signs across the lawns and driveway of the community college where the forum was being held. It was boiling hot but quite a sight. We then stood at the entrance to the college holding huge signs as people arrived. The forum itself was very aggressive. Some candidates stuck to talking about policy and experience, whilst some got very personal with attacks. I learnt that so called 鈥榗arpetbagging鈥�, where politicians move to certain states for political gain, is not favoured in New Hampshire.

"I visited Harvard University鈥檚 Kennedy School of Government and met with a professor and some of his students. I was able to ask questions about American politics and the professor and his students talked about their backgrounds and predictions for the future. Later, a group of us met with the Massachusetts chapter of the political action group Moms Demand Action. It was amazing to hear how the movement has grown and how much impact they have had. It was heart-breaking to hear of their fears for their own children鈥檚 safety."

"I also spent some time in Massachusetts with Kate Donohue. She is a superdelegate and the hardest working woman I have ever met. Kate had us canvassing for Jay Gonzalez who was running for Governor. It shocks a lot of people that the 'deep blue' state of Massachusetts has a Republican Governor. Canvassing in Massachusetts was much easier. The houses were closer together and I don鈥檛 think I spoke to a single Republican. One of the things I liked most about canvassing there was the diverse range of communities we were connecting with. I met a very wide range of people who all had one thing in common: they dislike Donald Trump.

"I also undertook some phone bank work in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Working as part of the phone bank felt really disheartening when no one picked up or they said they didn鈥檛 wish to be contacted. It was very hard to convey to people over the phone what a candidate had to offer when they are in a rush. However, on the day of the primaries, we were all asking the simple question of 鈥淗ave you voted or do you have a plan to vote?鈥�. I really enjoyed convincing people to use their vote.

"I鈥檓 glad to say I have a 100% success rate of the candidates I have been working for winning campaigns. In Massachusetts, I attended a unity rally where all the candidates came to support those who had won and made speeches to encourage everyone to volunteer and work as one unified group. In attendance was Jay Gonzalez, Ayanna Presley, a surprise win and very inspirational as a young black woman and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Everyone was holding signs that read 鈥榩ersist鈥� and the rhetoric was all about removing power from Trump and those who support him. 

"I learnt so much on this trip. I learnt that America is more divided than ever and winning an election takes hard work 24/7, sacrificing your job and putting your family in the spotlight. The USA doesn鈥檛 have 6-week election cycles, as soon as one election is over another starts. After just four weeks I was exhausted but amazed by all the volunteers, staffers and candidates I met."

"I am taking two modules that focus on American policy and politics this year and I鈥檓 sure I can apply so much of what I have learnt. Thank you to the department for allowing me to have this opportunity."

Sarah Afrane 鈥� Congressional campaign experience in the USA

Sarah spent her summer working for a congressional campaign in Orange County with Politrip.

"During the summer between my first and second year of university, I chose to spend a month undertaking work in the political field and began searching for opportunities, through which I came across Politrip. This offered me the chance to spend a month of my summer undertaking an unpaid political internship in America working on a congressional campaign. Having studied American politics for a year in sixth form, I already had a vested interest in the politics of America and with a memorable presidential election having recently taken place, I was even keener to immerse myself in America鈥檚 political scene during the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections. 

"Before the international program commenced we attended a training day in London which gave us the opportunity to meet the other young people who had also signed up and whom we would be working with. The training day also helped us understand the type of work we would be undertaking and the long hours involved, which gave us a better idea of what to expect."

"August came and I boarded my flight from London Gatwick to LAX; my feelings were a mixture of trepidation at the unknown and excitement to have the opportunity to be in USA and be a part of the politics I had been learning about in text books."

"We hit the ground running and the morning after arrival we were up and out at 9.00am Los Angeles time. Heading