



Roots Interns
Why choose Roots Interns?
Roots Interns offers academic internships with grassroots projects worldwide to anyone looking for a program that balances meaningful work and valuable learning. With the help of our highly skilled and experienced team, you will be matched with the organization that best fits your internship goals and personal passions. Interning with these innovative organizations allows you to gain invaluable...
Roots Interns offers academic internships with grassroots projects worldwide to anyone looking for a program that balances meaningful work and valuable learning. With the help of our highly skilled and experienced team, you will be matched with the organization that best fits your internship goals and personal passions. Interning with these innovative organizations allows you to gain invaluable work experience, helping to expand your skills in a real-world setting. At the same time, you get to contribute to the important work happening at a grassroots level; a beautiful offshoot of mutual growth. By working directly with decision-makers and getting to implement projects to see the outcome of your work, you'll leave your internship having practical knowledge you can't get in a typical co...
Roots Interns Reviews
Hear what past participants have to say about the programs
Overall Rating
Total Reviews
Ruby in Cape Town (I am not sure what I am supposed to put)
by: Ruby de BruijnProgram: Fundraising Internship in Cape Town, South AfricaMy overall experience in Cape Town was amazing. The city is truly a magical place. I have met some amazing people and was able to do a lot of fun stuff. My internship suited me and was definitely one of the things that made this experience so great. I worked with the New Heritage Foundation in NGO management, focusing on fundraising, social media, creating a business plan, and networking. One thing that I am really taking from this internship is how important it is to have a network with valuable connections. The right person can make a huge difference. On a personal level, I learned that I can get very caught up in wanting more and sometimes forget to realize the beautiful things I already have. I am also proud of being asked to become a board member. I mostly enjoyed the brainstorm sessions with the team. However, there were sometimes long days in the office. As for my career plans, I don’t have any yet. This internship was a way for me to get a taste of the NGO working life and see if it was something for me. I think networking will be important in the future. I also learned that not everyone thinks like I do. My advice: Make sure to communicate properly and don’t hesitate to ask questions when something is unclear. When traveling alone, do some research on people who will be there so you have a community of people to connect with and do things together.
Education intern, Malawi
by: ShayaniJ Program: Education Internship in MalawiMy 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.
I think it's a good working experience.
by: iceteaProgram: Award-Winning Grassroots Internship ProgramsThis 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.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Interviews
Read interviews from alumni or staff

Marleen Lammers
Interviewed in 2020
Although she started her career as a journalist in The Netherlands, Marleen Lammer was drawn to Zambia about 15 years ago. Throughout southern Africa,...

Marleen Lammers
Interviewed in 2020
What inspired you to travel abroad?
We founded Roots Interns because we saw an opportunity to match skilled interns with grassroots organisations; a mission that provides both unique internships for students around the world, and hugely valuable support to small nonprofits doing important work. Roots Interns grew organically within Greenpop, an environmental organisation based in Cape Town that I was part of for many years. International interns were a vital part of Greenpop from the start, and undoubtedly helped make the projects what they are today. Seeing how much Greenpop benefited from having interns on board, and how valuable the learning experience was for the interns drove us to launch Roots Interns; so that we could host a larger amount of interns and support more important causes.

Talitha van der Waerden
Interviewed in 2020
Talitha has worked as a tour leader in the Middle East, as a communications consultant, and a project manager developing recruitment and change manage...

Talitha van der Waerden
Interviewed in 2020
What inspired you to travel abroad?
I was inspired by the opportunity of being able to help other people have a similarly good experience as the one I had when coming to South Africa for a skills-based volunteering experience. And it's great to be able to help our non profit partners grow and develop by sending them valuable interns.

Laura Penninga
Participated in 2019
Laura is 18-years-old and from the Netherlands. She’s in her third year of the Bachelor of International Communication in Groningen, and is spending t...

Laura Penninga
Participated in 2019
I've always wanted to go abroad. I grew up in a small town in the Netherlands, with not much to see and not much to do (except for staring at the horizon, which is quite far away as the Netherlands is extremely flat).
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Awards
Check out awards and recognitions Roots Interns has received





