Internships in Madagascar

From the busy capital city to the rainforest to the beach, there is no shortage of internships in Madagascar. When choosing a location for your Malagasy internship, it’s important to keep your expectations in mind. Would you rather work in a city and help out with more economic and business related projects or does an environmentally-minded placement appeal to you? Regardless of your interests, every internship in Madagascar will offer pros and cons, so just make sure to adequately research each location before applying.

Nosy Be. On the magical island of Nosy Be, interns can have a productive work day followed by a relaxing evening on some of Madagascar’s best beaches. Nosy Be is one of those rare paradises that is still enough off the beaten path that it doesn’t feature “noisy” attractions, such as speedboats and jet skis, and yet it still allows for some modern comforts. Although Nosy Be is one of the more expensive places to live in this island nation, it is sunny year-round and prices are still relatively affordable. Some of the other more interesting aspects of Nosy Be are its sugarcane fields, rum distilleries, and railways, which give off a distinct Caribbean feel. Nosy Be has a huge variety of internship opportunities too, whether you are looking to get into medicine, teaching, or community development and NGO work.

Tôlanaro, Tolagnaro, or formerly Fort Dauphin, has been an important hub in Madagascar since as early as the 1500s. Located on the southeastern coast of Madagascar, Fort Dauphin boasts a sunny and somewhat dry climate, but the winds are likely to be strong in the fall. Most individuals who intern in Tôlanaro end up working in environmental conservation, as there has been a huge increase in mining in the area, creating concern over the damage that mining causes to the surrounding habitat.

Moramanga. Located between the capital at Antananarivo and the eastern coast, Moramanga literally translates to “cheap mangoes”. The city holds an important place in Malagasy history, as the birthplace of the uprising against French rule in the 1940s. It is also the capital of one of Madagascar’s 18 ethnic peoples, the Bezanozano. Being a city, or a “commune urbaine”, Moramanga provides a few modern comforts while at the same time having a definitively remote feel to it. Finally, in addition to having access to delicious, cheap mangoes, interns placed in Moramanga will most likely assist with local environmental conservation projects.

The official languages spoken in Madagascar are Malagasy and French. People will be incredibly impressed if you can speak Malagasy, but learning it is almost never a requirement to intern in Madagascar. Most workplace communication is conducted in French or English. Outside the workplace it might behoove you to learn a bit of basic Malagasy, but people in general will be happy to try and communicate in English.