Around The World With Us
Interning at Around the World With Us, a nonprofit, has been a new
experience and though i have no been around the world at all, i have
learned a lot about countries i was not previously familiar with.
Throughout my internship i have mailed and addressed letters to
potential donors, done "write-ups" on various countries that my
employer has been working with, and organized clothing drives for the
children in Kenya. This May at the 3rd Annual Kahsai Formal, i will be
orgainzing a drive for Kenya and half of the proceeds from the dance
will be donated to them as well.
Just this year the nonprofit i have been working with donated enough money to have a primary school in Cambodia built. The school was finished this March and dedicated to my employers son, who had passed years before.
Just this year the nonprofit i have been working with donated enough money to have a primary school in Cambodia built. The school was finished this March and dedicated to my employers son, who had passed years before.
My internship.
To fulfill my internship requirement, i interned for the not for profit organization, Around the World With Us. I had been interested in working for a non-profit ever since I had participated in FLI last year. I wanted to be involved in something that helped other people, not just in my community but all over the world. Throughout my internship i spent many hours learning and writing about other countries for the website. The countries that i wrote about were all places that the organization had been to throughout the year. The work i was doing was informing the viewers of the countries and how people in those countries live their day-to-day lives. Aside from writing up information about other countries i spent many hours addressing, and mailing letters to potential donors.
In my spare time, while my mentor was abroad, i used my time to fundraise for the children in Kenya, so they could attend school. I took full advantage of my position as Dance Committee President by hosting a fundraiser dance. Half of the proceeds from the 3rd Annual ACLC formal have gone to buying school supplies for the children. This was over $300 worth of school supplies. The reason for this fundraiser is because in Kenya, children can't go to school unless they have shoes, and the proper supplies they need to learn. I am focusing first on the school supplies, because they are less specific and easier to obtain.
A favorite memory of mine during this internship was probably in December during one of the times i was mailing out letters, my mentor invited me into his office to show me a video they shot in Kenya, to my disgust it was a video of these men killing a goat, it was an awful video which made my stomach turn but it was a funny memory at the least. Another would probably be when i was counting all the money i earned for the children in Kenya because I made more than expected and as soon as I send that money in, that memory will be truly amazing.
When I first signed up for this internship I didn't really know what I was getting into, part of me hoped that they would take me with them to the other countries to volunteer but I knew that was very unlikely to happen. I didn't think they'd put me in charge of organizing a drive either. The only part of the internship that I had actually expected was to mail and address letters for hours, which really wasn't as bad as it may sound. The write-ups on the other hand were terribly boring, looking up random things on the internet and then piecing them together using only my charm and the information my brain had just processed about that country, terribly, terribly boring. Though time consuming, my internship was successful to me and I learned a lot about what is actually involved in starting a non-profit. Lots of paperwork and lawyers just to help out in a third world country. I learned that every organization asking for money in the U.S. Has to be pretty legit, or its not gonna happen. My mentor showed me stacks and stacks of papers he had to sign and get signed by various people just to get this to happen. There is way more to non-profits than meets the eye!
In my spare time, while my mentor was abroad, i used my time to fundraise for the children in Kenya, so they could attend school. I took full advantage of my position as Dance Committee President by hosting a fundraiser dance. Half of the proceeds from the 3rd Annual ACLC formal have gone to buying school supplies for the children. This was over $300 worth of school supplies. The reason for this fundraiser is because in Kenya, children can't go to school unless they have shoes, and the proper supplies they need to learn. I am focusing first on the school supplies, because they are less specific and easier to obtain.
A favorite memory of mine during this internship was probably in December during one of the times i was mailing out letters, my mentor invited me into his office to show me a video they shot in Kenya, to my disgust it was a video of these men killing a goat, it was an awful video which made my stomach turn but it was a funny memory at the least. Another would probably be when i was counting all the money i earned for the children in Kenya because I made more than expected and as soon as I send that money in, that memory will be truly amazing.
When I first signed up for this internship I didn't really know what I was getting into, part of me hoped that they would take me with them to the other countries to volunteer but I knew that was very unlikely to happen. I didn't think they'd put me in charge of organizing a drive either. The only part of the internship that I had actually expected was to mail and address letters for hours, which really wasn't as bad as it may sound. The write-ups on the other hand were terribly boring, looking up random things on the internet and then piecing them together using only my charm and the information my brain had just processed about that country, terribly, terribly boring. Though time consuming, my internship was successful to me and I learned a lot about what is actually involved in starting a non-profit. Lots of paperwork and lawyers just to help out in a third world country. I learned that every organization asking for money in the U.S. Has to be pretty legit, or its not gonna happen. My mentor showed me stacks and stacks of papers he had to sign and get signed by various people just to get this to happen. There is way more to non-profits than meets the eye!
Goals of the non-profit:
1) Raise awareness of global issues, help people to gain a
greater understanding of other cultures, and encourage people
(especially youth) to see that they have the power to make a real
difference in the lives of others.
2) Fund carefully selected humanitarian projects that will help alleviate poverty and other global issues, such as access to clean water, health care and education.
To accomplish goal #1, we have partnered with World Savvy, an organization that distributes content on world affairs issues to thousands of teachers and students, and with the Groton Dunstable Regional School District. Other partnerships are in the works.
Regarding goal #2, you can read more on our projects page but to name just a few, we will raise funds for:
(borrowed from the website)
2) Fund carefully selected humanitarian projects that will help alleviate poverty and other global issues, such as access to clean water, health care and education.
To accomplish goal #1, we have partnered with World Savvy, an organization that distributes content on world affairs issues to thousands of teachers and students, and with the Groton Dunstable Regional School District. Other partnerships are in the works.
Regarding goal #2, you can read more on our projects page but to name just a few, we will raise funds for:
- A new school in Cambodia
- Three reading rooms in Laos
- A peer to peer health and sex education program in India
- Three wood farms in Tanzania
- A well for a village caring for HIV+ orphans in Kenya
- A community kitchen and day care in Peru
(borrowed from the website)
A link to the website: http://www.rtwwithus.org/
An interesting video taken in Kenya: http://www.youtube.com/user/RoundTheWorldWithUs#p/u/10/WvL1v7D98NE
An interesting video taken in Kenya: http://www.youtube.com/user/RoundTheWorldWithUs#p/u/10/WvL1v7D98NE
