Mariam, International Development and Globalization, Alternatives, Al-Alaag, Sudan, Research Officer.
For the past two months, I have been interning with Al-Alaag Sudan whom I was partnered with through Alternatives Canada. In this remote internship, I have had the opportunity to meet different actors and to collaborate with them on their ongoing projects.
Currently Al-Alaag and Alternatives are working hand-in-hand on a project that aims to examine and understand the hardships encountered by women journalists in Sudan. Additionally, the organizations are creating tools and resources for these women journalists that aim to empower them and enhance their knowledge and skills. I am very grateful to be a part of this transformational project that embraces international cooperation for the purpose of liberating women. Despite the language barrier and great distance between Alternatives and Al-Alaag, the relationship among the actors from both countries is inviting and friendly, which contributes to its success as a diverse work environment.
My role as a Research Officer has been focused on collaborating with a couple of partners from Al-Alaag in producing a literature review that trains students in Sudan on data analysis. This helped me expand my knowledge on the harmful social, economic and systematic structures as I learned from the personal experiences of these women. I also got the opportunity to meet and train some of the students virtually, which encouraged me to practice and improve my public speaking skills.
Overall, I recommend this program to students who are looking for opportunities to expand their knowledge and experience in their field of studies. The tasks I was assigned from both Al-Alaag and Alternatives aided my personal development in various ways. In an educational sense, it has boosted my familiarity with software data analysis, and professionally and it has helped me connect with experts from my field of studies.