Meghan Kennedy, International Studies Major – 2011

For 6 months in 2013, Meghan Kennedy participated in a CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency; now folded into a new organization called Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, DFATD) internship (specifically, the International Youth Internship Program), sponsored by the Canadian government, in an impoverished, indigenous village called Tlamacazapa in central Mexico. Her title was “Program Officer: Education of Children and Women.” She supported the continued development of the education program of an international non-profit organization called Atzin. In this position, she worked with young “village educators” to teach children who cannot afford to attend school or who are failing grade level in school, and to adult women in order to increase their basic literacy. On a weekly basis Meghan helped the educators plan and conduct their classes, and provided advice, guidance, ideas, and materials. She was also responsible for evaluating students' progress. Meghan says her experience “has been an unforgettable one, providing me with invaluable, on-the-ground community development experience. It has allowed me to learn about and witness the daily struggles faced by people living in poverty along with the challenges faced by the organizations striving to overcome this plight. Most importantly I have witnessed education's power to build independence and agency.”

Here is advice from Meghan on how to find such internships:
I found this internship through CIDA's website because I knew that they posted new ones every year. However, with recent cuts to CIDA, this is the last year for the International Youth Internship Program. The government does have a webpage providing advice/channels for finding a job in international development: http://www.international.gc.ca You can also search through the DFATD/CIDA links or search out the organizations themselves. For example I know that Free the Children offers an internship. There's also WUSC, United Nations Association of Canada, and Oxfam Quebec.

Their information can be found on their websites so it's often a matter of searching far and wide.