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July 26, 2011

Caribbean Summer Internships are More than Office Work

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InteRDom interns that participate in Summer and Semester programs often have the opportunity, because of the extended length of time they spend in the country, to have enriching out-of-office experiences that complement their work at the internship sites.  These additional events often provide chances to encounter the topics and the people for whom the interns are working in a different setting.
The InteRDom Caribbean Summer interns of 2011 have participated in a number of these opportunities, providing depth and breadth to the knowledge acquired in the internship.

Two interns placed in the Dominican Council of International Relations (CDRI) at Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), Jattna Garcia and Michael Schreckinger, had the opportunity to participate in a two-day seminar on diplomatic relations at the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Relations.
“I thought it was a great way to kick off my internship as it introduced me to many important, interesting people,” Schreckinger said.  “The nature of my internship keeps me in touch with international affairs and I have definitely learned more than I had expected to in regards to international crises and other current world events.”

Garcia offered another perspective of the conference, as a young person raised in the Dominican Republic and conducting her higher studies in the United States.

“The conference I attended during my first week of internship was very enriching because it dealt with creating a program for the studies of consular and diplomatic careers in the Dominican Republic,” she said.  “One of the reasons I’m studying in the US is because there isn’t such a strong atmosphere of international and diplomatic studies here in the Dominican Republic… I was delighted to hear that international studies here are increasing and becoming more common.”

Meanwhile another InteRDom intern, Jaynice Del Rosario, who is participating in the 22-week Graduate and Gap Year Program, was afforded the opportunity to travel to some towns along the Dominican-Haitian border in her position with the Dominican-Haitian Mixed Bilateral Commission.

“While in Elias Pina, Dajabon, and Ounaminthe, we had several meetings with local government officials among others, where we spoke about some bilateral issues, and explored solutions to them,” she said. “It was exciting to be in that scene, talking to real people about real problems that affect them on the day to day. This experience made my vision in terms of my career path a lot clearer.”

InteRDom is proud of the semester and longer-term internship experiences that it offers to students, as they provide opportunities for enriching experiences like these that give students contacts and profound insights that go beyond their internship descriptions.

The internship program, InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), is the premier internship, research and academic study program in the Dominican Republic. It offers international students the opportunity to research important topics at the forefront of the United Nations agenda, obtain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their fields of study and/or earn academic credits by taking courses and seminars at a local university.

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