MADRE- Programs Department

Organization: MADRE

City: New York, NY

“Paid”- $10/day

I had a terrible experience working for MADRE.  The organization is an established women’s human rights non-profit that works around the world.  As an intern for the programs department, all I really did was do online research or translate from English to Spanish and vice versa.  The thing I really hated about the experience was that no one spoke to me.  My boss, Natalia Caruso, had no interest in me other than the work I produced and never even asked me what my major was at school.  No one else in the office even bothered to introduce themselves.  I was never invited to meetings or even to eat lunch with others.  They simply shoved me in a dingy office by myself and gave me things to do.  My boss was not very good at communicating what she wanted, and then acted annoyed when I asked clarifying questions.  Perhaps my experience would have been different if I had worked in a different department, but stay away from Programs, people!!

U.S. House of Representatives- District Office of Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney

Organization: U.S. House of Representatives- District Office of Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney

City: New York, NY

Unpaid

This internship opened my eyes to the world of politics and made me realize that people work too hard and make too little in this field.  I learned a lot throughout my time at the office, particularly about writing congressional correspondence and dealing with constituents.  The various people that worked at the office were mostly friendly, though they were stressed out the majority of the time.  My proudest accomplishment during this internship was writing several pieces to be put in the Congressional Record.  That was pretty cool.  However, they had trouble keeping me busy, and the days often passed very slooooowly.  I think part of that was being at Rep. Maloney’s Disrict Office, where she usually isn’t.  The thing I really didn’t like about the internship though was that Rep. Maloney never once spoke to me.  I was never introduced to her, though I worked there for a whole semester and saw her at the office several times.  I felt underappreciated and that she was kind of rude.  Otherwise, it was a good glimpse into what being a legislative staffer is like.

IkamvaYouth, Connect-123

Organization: IkamvaYouth non-profit, through Connect-123 (www.connect-123.com)

City: Cape Town, South Africa
Unpaid

Pros-
The good thing about Connect-123 is that they do a lot of the work for you. After applying and paying them a sum of money, they find the internship for you in the city and industry of your choice. You have options- if you don’t like the sound of one that they find for you, they keep working until you’re happy. Once you arrive, they come get you from the airport, show you to your apartment and your roommates/flatmates, and have introductory meetings with you about how to live and exist safely in Cape Town. Cape Town is also an amazing place to spend a couple months- it’s a fun place for young people and if you are remotely interested in the outdoors, you will love South Africa! Connect also planned a variety of events (every other weekend) for the interns, so it was nice to get to see other people who didn’t work with you and who weren’t necessarily your flatmates. All of the other interns were great and we got along really well- my roommate and I have stayed really close and bonded from our South Africa experience. If you want an independent summer and you know you’re proactive, Connect is a great match.

Cons-
My specific internship didn’t work out so well- IkamvaYouth was pretty disorganized and didn’t even know it. Even though they had 4 willing American interns, they didn’t utilize us at all and we made a lot of copies for a month. I didn’t pay Connect-123 for a summer of making copies and I thought that Connect should have done a better job of ensuring that everyone’s internships were running smoothly. Though they warned of the necessity to be proactive, once they gave us our internships, we didn’t hear from them again. Sometimes they were annoyed when we complaints about our internships, issues with our apartments, etc, and weren’t always the most helpful (but this may have been a generational/cultural thing). It was also frustrating that sometimes Connect would spring things on you- like the necessity to rent a car- and not tell you in advance how expensive it was going to be. They also assumed that everyone doing their program was a rich American, and would expect you to be able to attend their events, even though they were sometimes extremely expensive. Though my internship was pretty hellish, personally, I know a lot of people/other Connect interns who loved theirs- the internships at the Children’s Hospital, at HIV/AIDS non-profits, at the Cape Times newspaper- they all had glowing recommendations, so maybe I just got unlucky this time.