It’s hard to believe the summer is half over, and with it, the internship.
No really.. where did the time go? I feel like May was yesterday. My internship is half over. My summer course is more than half over. I only have two months left (more like a month and a half) to wrap up my projects before school starts? If only summer could last forever. *sigh*
Right now, I’m working on a few deliverables for Western Heads East to help with onboarding future interns. These include a master document of all relevant information regarding the health benefits, social enterprise accomplishments, and the history of Fiti probiotic yogurt. I’m hoping that this document serves as both a crash course to the internship and a central location where the most up-to-date, accurate information can be found. My goal is that future interns will be able to use this information for education, social media and marketing purposes, and for their own reports/endeavours.
I’m also doing something similar for the future interns of Western Heads East x Youth Opportunities Unlimited. Future interns should (hopefully) have an easier time planning events, getting in touch with the right people, and seeing their ideas come to life. If you read my last blog post about resilience, these projects were born from that experience! I’m doing what I can to turn that lesson into tangible, meaningful action for others. What else can you do, right?
So, if you are thinking about applying to be a Western Heads East Intern next year – and even more so, if you plan to apply for a position with Youth Opportunities Unlimited – I’ll be waiting on my thanks from you!
I have been hearing so many amazing stories from the other interns about their experiences abroad. There are interns teaching classes, conducting primary research, helping start small businesses… it’s truly incredible. While I have been compiling all the information I can find to write my master document of information, I truly began to appreciate the breadth of impact that Western Heads East and the Fiti probiotic yogurt program have had.
Probiotic yogurt is about much more than gut health – although that is a large part of the obvious benefits – but the program is also about economic and social empowerment, education, and community connectedness. Part of my research into this document included reading (and re-reading) this article by Western University about the program. I was stunned by stories of women who have benefitted from the economic empowerment of the Fiti probiotic yogurt enterprise enough to send their children to university! The enterprise has created a self-sustaining wheel of abundance for (especially) women and girls in East African countries.
And I found myself today beaming with gratitude to be contributing to its expansion, even if it’s a very, very small amount.
Anyways, by the time I am posting this article, the weekend will have technically started – and it’s Canada Day weekend! So, although I have my reservations about celebrating this holiday as do many others given Canada’s Indigenous history, I will sign off for now and take the long weekend to rest and reflect. If you’re reading this in Canada, whenever you get to it, I hope that you were able to do the same.
Until next time – talk to you soon.
Allison Pert - Western Heads East 