Internship Blog #3

internship Final Blog post 

             This past semester, I have had the amazing opportunity to study abroad at the University of Oklahoma’s flagship program in Arezzo, Italy. One of the main reasons why I decided to study abroad again during my last semester of college was because OU in Arezzo connected students with internships in the city. I’m very grateful that I was given an internship with the accredited nongovernmental organization Oxfam at their regional branch in Italy. Working for Oxfam Italia was the perfect internship for me, because I was able to gain hands on experience in a field that I plan to work in, learn new skills, and build lasting relationships.

             The mission of Oxfam is to  eradicate global poverty and create a world where people are valued and treated equally, enjoy their rights as full citizens, and can influence decisions affecting their lives. They achieve this goal through six-fold strategy which entails claiming human rights, empowering women, disaster relief, natural resource protection, food supply, and a push for greater access to basic services like health and education. Since there are 20 different branches of Oxfam, and considering that each region has its own unique needs, the primary focus may vary from region to region. For example, Oxfam Italia focuses on the education of young people to help them become better citizens. Hence, many of my duties entailed planning events for students and helping facilitate workshops with the Youth Ambassador program.

There were two events of this nature in particular that really helped me develop new skills. The first event was the Walk the Global Walk Kick-off meeting. At Oxfam Italia, they are in the process of planning a massive, multinational event called Walk the Global Walk that they will host in May of 2019. This event serves as the culmination of all of the work Oxfam Italia and its partners will be doing throughout the 2018-2019 school year. This work includes training teachers how to teach concepts from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The three SDGs that they are focusing on deal with human rights, urban safety, and environmental protection in the classroom. Taking it a step further, Oxfam is working with student leaders in schools across Europe for them to become ‘peer leaders’ so that they can in turn teach their fellow students these principles, which I believe is the most effective method to educate students. At the end of this upcoming school year, there will be the event we began planning called “Walk the Global Walk.’ At this event, students from across Europe will come to Florence, Italy and participate in a day-long event that includes marching for human rights, listening to inspiring speakers and celebrating all of the hard work they have accomplished over the past school year. To put it in OU terms, it will kind of be like Soonerthon. After a year of fundraising, they will have a day to celebrate and have one last fundraising push.

In preparation for the Walk the Global Walk Kick-off meeting, I was able to join my supervisor, Claudia, as she facetimed Oxfam Quebec’s director of programming, because the Walk the Global Walk initiative is based off of an event that he had created for Oxfam Quebec. It was really interested to participate in an actual meeting with a man who had been in the international NGO field for over 40 years. Listening to him and my supervisor collaborate and share ideas demonstrated what it’s like to nurture nonprofit networks. Though they were technically under the same umbrella organization of Oxfam international, as mentioned before each branch has its own initiatives, and thus own goals and fundraising plans. The WtGW Kick-off meeting took place on February 26th in Florence, Italy. Oxfam Italia partners from across the private, public, and nonprofit sector and from across 11 different European countries gathered in Florence for this meeting. From French department of education officials and educators from Scotland,  to members of the Florence city planning committee and even a Serbian city mayor were all in attendance! Needless to say, it was right up my ally and I was ecstatic to be there! Over the course of the day, I had to chance to work with these European representatives first in leading them in a development activity so they could get to know one another, and then I got to join them as they broke off into subcommittees where they talked about the UN sustainable development goals and discussed how they could tailor the initiative to the respective country’s students. It was particularly encouraging to me, because I was one of the few people who was fluent in English, so I was often bridging the cultural gaps between the different delegations. Seeing how members from all sectors are coming together in support of an event that Oxfam Italia is spearheading is a perfect example of making markets work, in my opinion.

 The other event that I thoroughly enjoyed and learned from was the Gender Equality Forum Oxfam Italia facilitated on International Women’s day. Across the world, March 8th has been celebrated as International Women’s day for well over 100 years. In Italy, it is tradition to celebrate “la Festa della Donna” by giving women Mimosas - the bright yellow flowers, not the drinks - though pouring them those mimosas is appreciated as well. Beyond this gesture, Oxfam Italia found the popular holiday to be a proper reason to initiate a dialogue on gender equality and violence against women in Italy. As a result, they decided to host a this forum in Florence for high schoolers throughout Tuscany.

Although the Oxfam Italia staff commissioned the forum, most of the preparation and day-of activities were developed and facilitated by Oxfam’s student ambassadors. As part of my internship, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of their meetings prior to the forum. I sat their amazed listening to these young students, both male and female, share their visions for the forum while My internship advisor, Claudia, merely kept the conversation on track. Each one of them came to the table with brilliant ideas, excitement, and a willingness to work hard. It was so encouraging to watch them bounce their ideas off one another with respect and see them volunteer to lead various parts of the forum. This was especially cool when contrasting this audience with the primarily adult, professional audience I worked with during the WtGW kick-off meeting.

When March 8th arrived, the eagerness was even more tangible in the Florentine School. student ambassadors were entrusted to do all of the day’s activities from checking in teachers and fellow students, to delivering the introduction speech. The day was filled with various engaging speakers, games that taught students statistics about inequality, and skyping in other schools across Europe that were also hosting forums. One of my favorite parts of the day were the breakout sessions we held before lunch. During this time, students were divided into groups to discuss different topics. The group that I was a part of was tasked with recognizing causes and effects of gender disparities and discovering potential solutions. We created ‘equality trees’ in which the roots symbolized the things we thought contributed to gender inequality: religion, stereotypes, media bias; the tree trunk were the effects that these roots had: violence against women and the gender pay gap; while the tree tops were the solutions we came up with: educating students about inequality and increasing female representation in leadership roles.

Among the opportunities I have had with my internship at Oxfam Italia, this is one of my favorite things I got to be a part of. I was nothing short of inspired by the Italian teenagers who diligently prepared a forum on gender inequality for fellow students across the Tuscan region. Moreover, they executed it with flying colors by engaging their audience with informative games, small group discussions, and incorporating skype calls that helped foster a collective, international goal. As I have already mentioned, youth empowerment is fundamental to Oxfam Italia. Watching these students eagerly participate and facilitate throughout the day effectively demonstrated another key component from forces for good which is inspiring evangelists. I can say without a doubt, that these young students have a fire in them ready to change the word.

During the forum, we were all asked to write down a word that described what we learned from the day. When asked what word I selected, I told them “encouraged,” because watching so many students take a stand against gender inequality and share their ideas on how to combat violence against women at such a young age left me hopeful for the future. This event reminded me just how beneficial it is when we provide seats at the table for young people. When students are entrusted to lead, they become the perfect conduit to engage and educate other young people. In doing so, they are able to create a better understanding and foster lasting solutions for future generations.

As a reflect on the past 4 months at this incredible organization, I am thankful for the diverse opportunities I have had to learn and grow. It seems as though it was just yesterday that I nervously walked through the door of Oxfam and began my first day. Though there were some organizational qualms such as timeliness and efficiency, much of this can be attributed to cultural differences. As the semester unfolded, I became more accustomed to these things. In the wake of the Oxfam International Scandal that unraveled in early February, I was encouraged to come to work and see my coworkers disappointed, but determined to make a difference in the world. It was these people who were so passionate about youth empowerment, gender equality, and accessible education that made me proud to be an intern at Oxfam Italia.