Hasta Luego Roatán

My internship experience in Roatán was a rollercoaster ride zooming in slow motion. I definitely embraced its celebratory peaks, and screamed at its falls. But overall, I am happy with the experience, as I can confidently say it was a major learning experience for me. I have been going through a chronic medical issue for months now, and it was uncertain that I could actually … Continue reading Hasta Luego Roatán

Roatán Adventures

Pre-Roatán The first two weeks of my internship were in Washington D.C, where an IEDP cohort-mate and I were introduced to the English program we were going to be working with and prepared for the field work. I not only learned more about Interactive Audio Instruction (IAI), but also observed how this specific nonprofit organization functions. I was able to sit in on other meetings … Continue reading Roatán Adventures

Tchau, Brasil!

My internship at the UNESCO Office in Brazil has ended! It’s a cliche, but that doesn’t make it any less true: time has absolutely flown by. Not just this summer internship either. This time last year, I was returning home from Peace Corps to start my master’s at Penn. Now I’m one semester away from finishing. (And to those of my cohort who have finished, congratulations!) During … Continue reading Tchau, Brasil!

Meetings

Some of my favorite work activities in Brasília so far have been official meetings, especially interagency meetings. UNESCO in Brazil being just one part of a larger organization, and UNESCO itself being just one of many agencies in the UN system, our office in Brasília communicates and collaborates a lot with other offices and agencies in Brasília, in the region and in the world. This … Continue reading Meetings

Roatán Reflections

“Attendants please prepare for landing.” I slowly turned my head to the right to see the sun glisten the ocean through the plexiglass – blinding me. We were hovering the immense body of water, and still I didn’t see the landing strip. I had to trust the plane wasn’t going to be gulped by the water but instead touch land with it’s — THUD. Welcome … Continue reading Roatán Reflections

Wagwan educators?

I can’t believe my 5ish-months internship at UNESCO section for Teacher Development/International Teacher Taskforce for Education 2030 has come to an end. My last assignment was to provide support to the Secretariat of the Teacher Taskforce during the 11th Policy Dialogue Forum which took place just last week in Jamaica. Getting to see our work come to fruition during the Forum was one of the … Continue reading Wagwan educators?

A bittersweet symphony

On the 9th of August  I attended an International Youth Day event organized by 4 organizations working on youth empowerment in Kenya, and funded by the EU. The theme of the event was “Nafasi Kwa Vijana” or “Safe spaces for youth”. The whole perfectly encapsulated my experience working in Mombasa for the last 13 weeks. It was hot, chaotic, partly inefficient but through it all … Continue reading A bittersweet symphony