Today marks the 10th day of my internship at the Global Good Foundation and the first time I am posting a blog article here. What Katharina had cautioned us earlier the semester – to blog our thoughts about our internship experience before we forget – is materialising. I shall jolt and muster what distinct memories I have of the past 10 days and put them in words.
Being new to this country (September marks my third month here), I remember feeling quite apprehensive and uncertain about finding a suitable placement here. Perth represents something new, unknown – a blank slate, waiting to be written on, yet the author is almost unwilling to wield the pen. I started this module by frantically hunting down all PR consultancies here (because interning at a consultancy was my initial plan), firing my resumes out left, right, centre every day for nearly two weeks but receiving no good news. That left me sorely disheartened and doubtful of my abilities and my education.
It was Zahirah (Hi Zah I know you are going to read this) who pointed me in the direction of non-profit, and more specifically, The Global Good Foundation (GGF). Being bummed out from numerous rejections and bordering panic for not finding a placement (it was the third week of school), I asked her to help me check with Tenille, the Chairman of GGF, if there was a vacancy for another intern. Tenille was keen to take me on; I sent her my resume and gave her a call; the rest, as they always say, was history.
And what a ride it has been since!
Because GGF is a non-profit and therefore, like many non-profit organisations out there, it has to keep a close tab on its budget. While this may seem like a constraint to many, it simply pushes the team to think out of the box and be as creative as we can to get GGF out to the media. As the day of GGF’s gala dinner event looms, the pressure to get more sponsors, sell tables, write more media releases increases. Amidst all these stresses, Tenille and Tiffany, our communications manager, continue to encourage us. One could see how passionate and driven these two women are for GGF’s cause. It is even more inspiring to know that their hard work and dedication is not motivated by money and cash cheques.
I acknowledge that financial resources are basic and essential, but I am really moved to know that there are people out there who believe that life is much larger than their needs. There are people out there who require assistance and attention which we are more than able to provide.
Working with these amazing people, including fellow interns, Zah, Bec and Ciara, has been such a fantastic experience. I can foresee that the last day will be a sad, heartfelt one.
But until then –
WORK!
1 comment:
Dear Joyce,
Happy to know that you are having a great time at your placement. It is really nice to know that someone out there is doing volunteer work to help the in need groups in Perth that are affected by domestic violence.
Since the matter of domestic violence here in Australia is widely getting more concerns as people are raising their voice out to the community. Maybe when you get back to your homecountry, you can also raise the awareness in asian countries to make the 'unspoken' to be 'spoken'. What you and your organisation do is brave and amazing!
keep the good work up!
Good luck!!
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