Past Interns
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Brent Shively - Social Entrepreneurship Major, Belmont University
"You can only achieve the reality you can imagine." This is a quote I heard from Joy Olivier, Director of Ikamva Youth, during my experience as an intern for SASDI. It has completely redefined my view of the purpose of development in South Africa and globally. The impact of this internship on my own life has been a major shift in perspective and mindset. It is one thing to be aware of poverty and the needs many people experience daily. It is another to not only go to see and experience it firsthand but to also engage with the people who have only had the opportunity to live in poverty.
You can only achieve the reality you can imagine. - Joy Olivier, Director of Ikamva Youth
One of the best aspects of the SASDI internship for me was the chance to talk with and learn from the people in the Mfuleni township where SASDI is actively involved. Development is only possible to achieve after understanding and engagement has taken place. This lesson was a vital one for the project I was involved with, the Starting ChanceTM Project. The purpose of the Starting Chance Project was to go into Mfuleni, identify the most prevalent and major needs of the community, locate best practice organisations that were running programs to meet those needs, and then to begin implementation and fundraising for the programs. This required a number of different skills to accomplish, and fortunately the staff and trustees of SASDI were able to provide valuable information in this regard.
A crucial part of the internship was the availability and willingness to help from SASDI staff. It would not have been possible to achieve the results of the project without the knowledge sources that were available. The level of dedication on all levels makes the organisation a great working environment to be a part of.
There are many different experiences a person can have as an intern with a business or NGO. Expectations play a huge role, and this internship met and exceeded all pre-conceived expectations I had of what an internship would be. There aren’t many opportunities to be able to enter an organisation as an intern, at this level, in the development sector and to have such a major task for which to be responsible.
Jeffrey Prost-Greene - Sports Management and Marketing Major, University of Massachusetts Amherst
To say that SASDI changed my life would be an understatement. Not only did it change my life, but also it gave me the opportunity to help change the lives of those who are less fortunate. With so many diverse issues and so much need in South Africa, SASDI is an NGO that attempts to address all of these problems in a holistic, yet realistic and practical manner. SASDI provides its interns with a great deal of responsibility; challenging them to give their all.
With a major focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD), my team and I were given the task of developing programs as an outreach for the greater community that would be run from the ECD centre that SASDI built in the township of Mfuleni. It was a great opportunity to connect with many fascinating people from the community and to understand and appreciate the challenges they face on a daily basis. In addition, I was able to develop relationships with organisations doing exciting and important things in South Africa, and to partner with people who have worked in social/community development for many years. The most fascinating part of my experience was that no matter what other participants we talked to, it was clear that all of us were aware that what we were involved with was something so much bigger than any of us. We all tried to work collaboratively in order to understand and help people facing real struggles.
Overall, each day was its own learning experience throughout the entire internship. SASDI has caused me look at life with a new perspective.
"Before participating in this internship, the problems in the world did not call me to action; thinking about them simply made me feel overwhelmed and defeated. Now, however, when I look at challenging issues, I see them as an opportunity as well as a challenge that I am eager to embrace."
All along the way, members of SASDI were constantly there for support and help. Therefore, while the problems were overwhelming, I never felt overwhelmed because people were there to help guide me. With a major focus on community and Early Childhood development, SASDI exposes interns to what real life really looks and feels like for real people. The emphasis, however, is not on the problem but rather on the solution. I believe that our efforts not only had a positive short term impact on the community, but that our work left a legacy for those who follow and remain. I know my mark will still be there for years to come. I also know that the mark my experiences left on me will be with me forever. Every one of us probably thinks or knows that we have the ability to make the world a better place for those around us. SASDI gave us the opportunity to do it!
Hans Jacob Christensen
“Privilege is said to be invisible to those who have it. That doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye to the solution.”
Referencing a Dr. Michael Kimmel lecture on gender differences, a former professor of mine at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln once provided this quotation to our class. For those who want to be a part of witnessing, studying, and solving problems in the impoverished communities around Cape Town, a SASDI internship is an incredible opportunity to focus on changing lives of the underprivileged. SASDI provides a unique approach to Early Childhood Development and other areas of need in the Southern Africa region. Rather than focus on the many benefits and gains that SASDI is making in communities, however, I want to focus on the benefits an internship with SASDI can have on the intern.
At SASDI, I felt like I had part ownership in the organization and the direction in which it was going. Every day we were given ample opportunities to express our opinions and control our own projects for SASDI, with the trustees and their contacts providing guidance only when necessary. This type of leadership and personal growth opportunity is not available everywhere, and had a huge impact on how I approach my own work and personal goals today. They immerse interns in a proven process for managing a project and then set them free to be creative and responsible for the success of that project.
My team was given the task of re-strategizing the SASDI e-Marketing campaign, and the expectations were high for best-practice results. An eye-opening moment for me during the process was our initial project plan presentation, which was meant to detail the specifics of how we would accomplish this new campaign. Our first slide had the incorrect words for the acronym “SASDI”, and the rest of the presentation went downhill from there. This was the first time I understood the type of work and preparation that would be necessary to impress a real-world audience, rather than a classroom full of lecture attendees.
In the end, we were all given the chance to show how we had improved, presenting to the City of Cape Town. By then I realized how much our team had improved and how much more confident I felt personally in my abilities. And we managed to use the correct name for the organization in our final presentation. I will never forget that SASDI stands for “Southern Africa Sustainable Development Initiative,” rather than “South African Sustainable Development Initiative.”