Making the most of every day...

I am currently starting my sixth week as an academic e- volunteer for the organization of Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI), working with their close partner organization called Prerana. This means I am at the halfway point of my mandate, which is insane to believe. Despite the current reality of doing my mandate at a distance, this experience has already been very fulfilling and enriching to my growth and learning. The people that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with have all been extremely supportive and kind, which has made all of the difference!

During my third year of university (this past school year), I had the opportunity to take more specific courses that I hold an interest towards. For example, I took courses that focused on gender, race and exclusion inequalities that exist in our society, which I became determined to actively advocate for. When I listened to the CECI presentation in the University of Ottawa Faculty of Social Sciences internship information call, I realized that many of their passions and values aligned with mine. I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to make an impact on issues that I am strongly impassioned towards. It has been a great honour to work with CECI, who been working since 1958 to reduce inequalities in Africa, Asia and the Americas and with their partnering organization Prerana, who have been working to create a just and socially inclusive Nepal since 1998. Prerana focuses mainly on advocacy for women and girl’s empowerment in Nepal, and the success stories that I have had the pleasure of working on so far, have been nothing short of incredible. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to work with organizations that have done and continue to do so many amazing things for gender equality, environmental sustainability and inclusion.

The official title of my role is a Communications Officer. I have been working to facilitate clear communication with CECI and their partnering organization Prerana. I have developed so many important skills for remote working/ learning during my internship so far, and I know these skills will be useful for future endeavours. One of the most important skills that I have been developing during this process is becoming flexible and able to adjust in adverse situations, because especially right now with everything going on in the world it is very important to be able to adjust and find new solutions.

Even though this internship experience is taking place through a virtual format, I still feel as though it is very possible to make positive changes and work on projects with people across the world while at a distance. All to say, there are still many challenges that arise while learning and working online, whether it be meeting with the team at irregular hours based on time differences, not being able to fully immerse with the culture where the assignment is taking place, and unclear communication and expectations at times due to email being the main form of interaction. I will say that at the beginning of my mandate I was quite worried about conducting an internship remotely, but I have learned so many new skills during this experience that I wouldn't have if it took place in person. Also, developing strong social relationships with colleagues has been a bit more challenging than anticipated based on the large time zone differences between Canada and Nepal, but frequent communication through email along with bi- weekly meetings with the whole team have helped promote successful collaboration with my colleagues. I continue to remind myself to make the most of every day during this experience because there are still so many rewards involved. So far I am very pleased with the opportunity to do this virtual internship with CECI and I cannot wait to see what the rest of this experience has in store!