Internships in Malawi

Had the most wonderful internship at Projekt Ubuntu Connekt! Worked with an amazing team, consisting of 2 amazing community women leaders, at the community hall. The time I spend with the children was special and I learned so much from them! I felt so at home in the community and was surrounded with great joy everyday!

Overall I had a great experience on this internship! I was able to fully immerse myself in the culture, work entirely in Spanish, and see remote parts of the Amazon. At times the difference in work culture was hard to adapt to, and it was hard to work in a second language, but this only made the experience more valuable in the end. Definitely an experience you can’t get anywhere else.

The experience was extremely valuable to understand the healthcare system in Zambia. However, there was much less public health work than expected--only working with patients in the mornings with not enough focus on most severe cases and no public health education. Recommend if interested in healthcare and community building vs public health.

I really loved my time with Roots Interns and Lilongwe Wildlife Trust. I met so many amazing people and learned a lot throughout the experience. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected going in, but it was still incredibly valuable and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time here at sos animal. This organization is run by people who truly care about each animal on property. I met the most amazing people from all over the world while being in a breathtaking place.

My time in Greece was great; I loved my supervisors and colleagues who were all so kind and welcoming. There is so much to do and see in the country, I did some kind of trip pretty much every weekend. The cost of living is pretty inexpensive compared to other European countries, and every one speaks English if Greek is a struggle.

Kenya was never on top of my list for tourism. Initially overlooked, but later missed, my time in Kenya was rewarding and necessary. The beautiful people, welcoming environments, unbelievable nature, and support that came with the internship made this program important. Now I’m just waiting to go back.

During my veterinary internship in Malawi, I had the chance to be fully immersed in the daily care of a wide range of animals from administering medication and feeding, to assisting with clinical check-ups on monkeys under anesthesia. We also took part in necropsies to better understand causes of death, and even joined the vet team in the field for zebra relocation operations, aimed at increasing genetic diversity between reserves. It was an intense and eye-opening experience that gave me real insight into wildlife veterinary work and conservation challenges. Beyond the technical skills, I learned a lot about local practices and wildlife management strategies. The team was incredibly welcoming and made us feel supported from day one. I’d absolutely recommend this placement, the learning environment is exceptional, the tasks are meaningful, and the overall atmosphere is both warm and inspiring. RealStep was also a huge help throughout the preparation phase; they were always available and made the whole process smooth and reassuring

As interns, we had the role of "Vet Nurse". We vaccinated, dewormed, injected, and disinfected wounds on various animals (dogs, cats, horses, goats, sheep, etc.), and we were able to assist the veterinarians during game capture. It is important to bring an open mind to new cultures as it was very different from where I am from, Europe. By bringing an open mind and I was able to open myself up to another culture and way of life. I recommend this project to beginning vet students as you are getting hands-on experience, but the most important thing to remember is that you're extremely important in helping people and animals.

My experience in Malawi was incredible. From the ease of getting to my accommodation on the first day because it was all sorted for me to making new friends at my accommodation and feeling like an asset at the school, every single moment was amazing. I felt useful and respected daily, and it was beautiful to see the impact I was making! In my role, I provided classroom support, interventions with struggling students, painted walls, created resources, ran the social media accounts, and assisted with running school errands. I learned that in order to effectively teach English as a foreign language, you have to be willing to think outside the box and make learning so fun that students don’t even realize they're learning. This is made so much easier when you have a good relationship with them! I enjoyed how connected I felt to the objectives of the organization as a whole and how I could clearly see the impact I was making. However, I did find that some days were very busy, while other days were quieter. This experience will help me start my TEFL qualification and support my journey of teaching English in other countries. My advice: Be open to trying new things! There are so many great opportunities at Butterfly, and you don’t just have to stay working with Stepping Stones. Also, don’t travel with loads of different clothes – four outfits is plenty! Everyone wears the same things over and over again.

This is my first internship in this organization. My overall evaluation is that this internship experience has taught me a lot, and I believe it will be helpful to me in the future. The main task and responsibility is to complete the tasks assigned by the supervisor. Key learnings in areas of interest: I learned skills that can be transferred to future positions, and I also learned skills about databases and Android systems on a professional and personal level. The most enjoyable thing is that I can learn a lot of experience. Not really, because every mission is a new experience for me. My advice is to do your job well, discuss more with your team members, and if you don’t understand something, you can ask your supervisor, they are very friendly. Your career plan is to enter a company, and this internship is helping me to develop my career plan. I am satisfied with the support provided by Roots Interns, you are doing a great job as an internship placement agency.

What I mainly did in my internship were -- Developing a Plan of intervention, supporting staff in activities, presenting subjects of social to the staff, planning activities for kids and staff, administrative tasks. Some key takeaways were handle difficult relations with supervisors, how to intervene with the residents along a well elaborated plan. Adapt to different cultural working conditions with different styles of communication, organization etc. How to put the well-being of the children or residents above all. The significance of recreative or cultural activities to participate for the kids and the fullfillment of their rights.

We had an amazing and beautiful 3 months at Cirenas. The staff became like family! They were all so kind and supportive. The location is stunning and so much wildlife. We stayed in the bungalows for the last 2 months and it felt like we were in a 5* hotel! The turtle program was amazing. We loved the responsibilities and learning more about how to look after the turtles. I already want to go back!

I had such a wonderful time in Nkhata Bay, Malawi. The town, the internship, the people I met were all highlights of my trip. The work environment - feeling the energy of the kids and being with my work colleagues. I would love to go back someday! I mostly worked in Social Media campaigns, (capturing and posting of content), administrative tasks, filming and editing of an image video, certain aspects of social work.

This summer I participated in a 2-month internship with the organization Gender Rights in Tech (former Kwanele). The experience I had done for one month online and one month in person and overall I had a positive impression. The organization itself is wonderful, everyone is very nice and helpful, all the tasks were explained to me well and I always had someone I could ask the questions to. I definitely recommend this experience as an in-person internship, during my time online I needed more possibility to engage well in the work environment. I was accommodated in Lenox Guest House, which was decent and clean. Everyone from the staff was very nice and welcoming, which made the place feel like home. The only minus was that there was not a person from Roots at the accommodation to welcome you and explain things at the beginning, as well as connect you with other interns. This made the beginning of my stay there a bit confusing.

Over my 3 months in Cambodia with REACH, I have had the honour of living within the Siem Reap community, and more importantly, the privilege to work with an organisation dedicated to uplifting it. The work that REACH does extends to all aspects of the students’ lives, and the passion the children put toward learning embodies that. I came to REACH with a specific job to do, to help build a program for students to learn about computers and computer safety, but when I arrived on the first day, it was clear that my job was much more than that. I was granted the opportunity to connect with the local community, within and outside of REACH, and learn from their experiences and culture. During my time here, I have been able to foster relationships with the community, the team at REACH, and the students; I even had the opportunity to join some classes, go on bike rides, and participate in organisation-wide excursions. Although my time with REACH has come to an end, my love for this organisation and the work that I was able to do here will fuel my future endeavours for years to come.

I can highly recommend doing an internship abroad as you will not only develop yourself professionally but also personally. Working with Sunshine Cinema for three months was a great experience - especially the work environment and my team colleagues were outstanding!

Roots connected me with the WLC which is an amazing legal internship that gave me the right balance of workload and freedom to do fun things whilst in Cape Town.

This was the best experience of my life so far. I did some really meaningful work which has continued after my internship, and was privileged to get to know the local people and really immerse myself in the community. Initially I did not feel I had enough tasks, until I went out and found a totally new project which I started working on.

Volunteering at Butterfly Space allowed me to not only work on their current projects, but also venture off on my own to make new connections within the community. I was able to meet so many different community leaders, teachers, mentors, and coaches within Nkhata Bay, and surrounding villages. I feel like I was able to not only bring new knowledge and ideas to the people of Nkhata Bay, but also learn so much from them and develop in my own way. It was truly a beautiful experience that I will always be grateful for, and has encouraged a future of volunteering and traveling.