Foundation for Sustainable Development

'My creativity, my determination, my adaptability, my pride, my previous conceptions about Indian culture, and especially my patience have all been challenged during my stay in Udaipur. Yes, the Indian work culture is at times frustratingly slow, but in order to make any difference I learned to adapt, embrace, enjoy, and respect this different way of life. Random power outages, six chai (tea) breaks a day, office gossiping, and the hierarchical work system can be wearisome at times. However, the atmosphere at the Institute has been by far the most enjoyable office environment. At work there is always an endless supply of jokes, laughter, invitations to homes and celebrations, curiosity, respect, challenges to video game competitions, and offers for rides home. It has truly been my honor and privilege to work at the Institute for Local Self-Governance and experience the good, the bad, and the quirky facets of India's work culture...'

My internship with FSD helped to give me the necessary skills, experience and most importantly, the confidence to pursue my current path in life. The internship gave me great freedom and opportunity to involve myself with development at a grass roots level. I have experienced the joy of successfully implementing my own project that has played a part in, both quantitatively and qualitatively, elevating a local community. It has offered me a deep insight into the world of development and it is an experience that has equipped me formidably for future work in the field Paul Munro - Geography, Government and International Relations, and History, Sydney University

I set out for Uganda hoping to learn about failures of the international aid systems and how these problems are being addressed by grassroots community development organizations, and in hopes of learning a bit about the history of colonialism in East Africa. Before I left home I thought of it as my semester abroad program, but by the time I returned home I had realized that it was much more than that. It was not an academic experience that can be condensed into analytical words for credit. It was not a study abroad program. My time in Uganda taught me more about myself, my place in the world, my privilege, my values, and my future dreams than any other experience of my life has. I learned about death, poverty, the complexities of histories of power and resistance, the difficulties of working for change in a community that isn't your own, tendencies for aid organizations to repeat imperial patterns, and differences in understandings of women's oppression and power among other things. As clichéd as is sounds, my experience in Uganda changed my life in very personal and tangible ways.

I developed many important professional skills [with FSD]; for example, I learned how to analyze a complex problem in an unfamiliar context, and then adapt familiar models and design interventions or solutions at an appropriate level. Living and working in Argentina also taught me to be more patient, creative and resourceful and to keep things moving forward with limited resources. This learning process has been an essential and integral part of my experience without which I wouldn't have been able to move forward and accomplish meaningful work. Holly Pearson M.A. - Community Planning Professional

After working 13 years in various finance-related roles in the for-profit sector in the U.S., I experienced truly gratifying finance-related work in Bolivia through my FSD Internship, specifically working in the economic development of mountainous, farming communities of rural Cochabamba through micro-finance programs operated by PDAI (Programa de Desarrollo Agropecuario Integrado). Now, on my recent return home, I plan to pursue further a finance-related career path in the not-for-profit sustainable development sector, and, through my FSD Internship and experience I have the building blocks and confidence to continue charting this transition and my future in extreme poverty eradication. Most importantly, regardless of my future career path, I carry with me forever an awareness of, sensitivity to, and transformation by the richness and reality of the life, the culture, and the relationships I enjoyed there. Christopher Laurent - BSBA International Finance, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Current occupation: NGO Consultant