Development Internships in Zambia

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 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.

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!

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.

While the overall experience was incredible and a once in a lifetime experience, working alone in Livingstone was extremely isolating and challenging. Would recommend to those that have experienced a lot of solo travel. This type of experience is definitely what you make of it, and can be an absolutely amazing opportunity. The support before I left for Zambia was fantastic. This internship has helped prepare me for some of my course material in the next year, as well as helped me work on my professional skills. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Livingstone by myself. My trips to a crocodile park, Victoria Falls, and an art gallery were some of my favourites. A lot of the tasks, while useful to the organisation, were quite basic and there wasn't much learning about how an NGO is run. At times I felt like I was paying to be an assistant or office worker for a month. The only positive thing about doing said tasks were that they were helpful to the organisation.

I loved every minute at the Kisumu children's remand home which was a partner organisation of Better Me. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect volunteering placement. In my interview with Tom he said that Better me partnered with a children’s remand home and as I’ve worked with youth offenders in the UK this is the reason why I chose Better Me out of all the other organisations I was researching. It was a perfect fit. I’ve been extremely lucky with the experience I’ve had and the children I’ve worked with. I was given a free reign in what tasks I wanted to carry out at the remand home. I’ve worked in children’s services as a social worker for six and a half years, frontline working. So I brought a few tools/ worksheets with me. I also loved following the case I was given. It felt like real social work and I was making a difference. I became quite close with the child and now that there is a positive outcome I’m ecstatic. I loved doing the dreams boards with the kids. It gives them inspiration and the possibility of thinking about their future in a positive light. They loved choosing their photo’s but not only that, many loved to glue and cut out because crafts are always slightly therapeutic. In the second sessions it was a lot easier to strike up conversation or ask them more about their troubles as they were more comfortable with me and there was not the pressure of thinking they were in a counselling session. However, most of they lied in their first session- it takes a while for them to be open and trust you. I also loved watching the younger interns blossom over time. I don’t mean to sound patronising but to see them discovering their own abilities and finding out about their strengths and weaknesses has really been amazing to watch. I also really enjoyed ‘boy’s night’ on a Friday night. The nights out clubbing. Being an older intern had it's challenges but I was accepted by the younger interns. Communal living was also constant but I got my space when I went to the remand home.

I chose to do 50% out on project and 50% of office work, which I think was the best decision to immerse myself in the Zambian culture while also gaining some essential work experience in the management of a nonprofit.

During my internship, I was able to discover Kisumu and Eastern Africa with ease and helpful assistance from the nonprofit. Outside of work, there were countless opportunities to explore, meet locals, and socialize with other partners. While I enjoyed the projects that I completed, I would like to think that the nonprofit learned many valuable lessons during my stay. Throughout the many (inevitable) obstacles, we learned how to grow as an organization, which I appreciated. Overall, I had a wonderful time full of life-long lessons and priceless memories. I would most definitely suggest traveling to Kisumu, Kenya, and ask locals for suggestions, they are incredibly knowledgable and willing to help!

Interning at BetterMe was one of the best, most life-changing experiences I've ever had. To have the opportunity to not only live in Kenya but to be immersed fully into the culture and lifestyle was something I will always be grateful for! I will be able to use the skills that I gained in this internship to further my work with children, adolescents & families, especially in developing nations.

I definitely feel like I already became a wiser person during my stay here, because of the people I am surrounded by. I learned about the African culture, but also about life in general. I experienced so much love already from the kids I work with, which I am grateful for. In my accommodation, the Yoga Shala, we stay with many different nationalities in one house, which I like a lot. It's super interesting. I really liked to get some practical work experience here for my field of study, business communication. I am lucky enough to get private sessions with my internship coordinator. She gives me assignments, but also listens to what I want to accomplish. Apart from the working experience, South Africa is such a beautiful country to discover! There is so much to do. You'll never get bored here.

I was in Cape Town for five months interning at a study centre focussing on migration in Africa. I wanted to gain more professional experience in the field of research and non-profit. I have learned a lot at my work, but also learned more about myself! Cape Town is a wonderful, buzzing city, and a great place to live. I had the most wonderful time both on the job and off the job, there was no time to be bored! I highly recommend Roots, as they were very professional and helpful towards me. Interning abroad is a great experience that gives you many new life skills!