Mente Argentina: Latin American NGO Management Position

Hi, I am Whitney and I did the 10 week internship program and I worked with a non profit organization. They helps kids and elderly on the streets and I really enjoyed it because I got to be part of the both sides, such as fundraising and on the personal side working with the kids and elderly. I think Mente did a great job organizing the program that was very specific to me and incorporating stuff about my background that I didn’t even asked for, which was perfect. Living here I chose to live with a host family and I was placed in one of the nicest areas in Buenos Aires in Recoleta, a gorgeous area. I was close to other Mente people so I was able to grow strong bonds of friendships. As the activities goes, Mente offers great activities and I think you should take advantage of all of them. First of all because they are free and they let you see the culture. The activities range from dinners to concerts to polo games on the country side. There’s many things that you can do. The country itself offers many things you can do like Iguazu Falls, Ushuaia. My advice is that come here with an open mind because this city is like no other, it offers so many things and this culture is so amazing. You have to let yourself be immersed!

Hi, Im Jana and Im from Germany, and I did an Internship program with Mente Argentina. I was working with one for children population like street children and it was pretty nice. I did a lot of things with the boys, especially the ones from the streets. I had the opportunity of having a psychologist accompany me, and I also study psychology so it was really good for my professional level. I was with him when he was speaking to the boys and basically like doing the interviews on how they came in, find out the situation of where and who they were, it was like basically like preparing them for getting in a better situation. My accommodation was really really great, I never expected anything that nice here, I was living in Palermo in a shared house, and it was really nice. Everybody got their own bathroom and the kitchen was really nice. Palermo is also a really good area, a lot of markets and shops, all the subway stations were close and very safe, you could walk around at night alone with no problem. Buenos Aires is a great city, I love this city, it is so interesting, every barrio is completely different, people are very nice, I never experience culture shock. If I seated on a taxi, they would talk to me nicely and on the streets people just would talk to you, so many different people with so many different stories. Ven a Argentina!

Hi, my name is Lauren and I am from Southern California and I came to Mente to do an Internship. I love the place; I really enjoyed my time here. I worked for an organization and it ended up being a very awesome experience. I worked with children mostly every day and I got to be immersed in the culture. I also took Spanish that were incredibly helpful. I’ll say my two months here were more useful than my 4 years in High School in California. I lived in a student residence, with a bunch of other students and that was really fun, and in a great location. It was in the heart of the nightlife of Palermo, great places to go around. Mente set up a lot ways to meet other people if you want to branch out from your living situation and meet others, Mente did a bunch of day trips. In Buenos Aires there’s always something for every taste at every hour of the day. I recommend Mente Argentina as they really have your back. I ran into a few mishaps and Mente always helped me at being in every step of the way.

I did an internship program. It was a lovely opportunity to me and Mente made it very easy to accommodate me in the city. They were a great support system for this isolated traveler. My experience with the internship was only positive, they provided a good learning experience for me in terms of the Human Rights network here in Argentina. I got good experience working through grand research and working to network with other NGOs to provide better systems for Human Rights here in Argentina and Abroad. My Spanish improved noticeable clearly, but you know, with all the programs that Mente had it made it so much easier. I went to an outside excursion to Tigre, just outside the city it was beautiful, and I would love to be back very soon. My favorite city about Buenos Aires was the structure of the city itself, the buildings, the parks, it’s such a cosmopolitan city, there’s so much to see. I pretty much spent my free time just wandering around the city, it’s wonderful.

My name is Erin and I am from Kentucky Western University, USA. I participated in a six week long internship program and I worked for an NGO. My favorite part was that I always wanted to work for an NGO, and I was super thrilled to have the experience while I was still in college. I was able to get firsthand experience by working at the villas helping kids at school, making sure they kept focused, making sure they got individualized attention. I also got to have the office experience part, working with the fundraising and donating aspects, campaigns, so I really got to see both sides of how an NGO operates. Another favorite part was how much Spanish I was able to speak, as I got to speak it every single day and I left Buenos Aires feeling super confident about my language skills. I am very excited to know where this experience is going to take me for what I do and go next. Everything was perfect, I had an amazing time.