East African Center Internship Opportunity
We are currently looking for interns to help with operations and fund-raising in New York and Seattle, as well as qualified and dedicated individuals to assist in Kenya.
The East African Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children (EAC) is a non-profit organization that helps communities achieve empowerment by increasing literacy for women and children, improving health status, and eradicating poverty. We at the East African Center describe our work as empowering women and children, providing assistance to communities and resources for people to make a difference in their own lives, and ensuring access to resources and tools for change. Our multi-faceted development approach is community driven, low-tech and sustainable in the long run. It is targeted specifically to the local community's needs and guided every step of the way by the community that we serve.
To meet these goals, we run a school, clinic and community health worker program in Takaungu, Kenya. Takaungu is on the coast of the country, north of Mombasa and south of Kilifi. The village is small and most homes there do not have electricity. There is a public school and a local dispensary or clinic. One of our goals for the upcoming year is to find ways to expand the capabilities of the local school and clinic and further integrate our services with theirs.
The Internship
This internship is an opportunity to meet the needs of a well-established, but small, international organization. You will work for 10 weeks at our office, school and clinic in Takaungu, Kenya. Past interns have created and implemented systems for monitoring and evaluation, conducted health surveys in the surr
ounding communities, contributed to our after-school tuition program by assisting with teaching while developing a curriculum for the classes, and administered basic physical exams to students at our school. Through the application and interview process, we will assess your interests and skill sets and match them to a specific project. Currently, we are working on projects concerning our Community Health Workers (CHWs) and exploring the possibility of expanding their services to neighboring communities. This may be the type of project you would work on.
We can assure you that you will have a meaningful internship, where your work will contribute to the success of the organization in bringing education and health services to an underserved community in Kenya. You will learn a great deal about development, education, health, how organizations like ours are run, project creation and implementation and yourself! While in the village, you will live with a family in the village, take lessons in Swahali and learn about the local culture. As an intern, you will work on your project with the support of our Intern Coordinator and our Kenya Program Director.
If you are in the New York or Seattle area and would like to work as an intern there, we have a number of projects you can work on; grant writing, strategic planning, press, creating partnerships with organizations or companies, fundraising, etc. We can tailor your internships to meet your interests, time, and needs. Contact intern [at] eastafricancenter [dot] org to begin the process!
The Desirable Candidate
Please note that these are the qualities of successful interns we have had in the past. These qualifications are not set in stone. Most importantly, we are looking for someone who will be a good match for our organization and who will be able to successfully work in Takaungu.
· Currently pursing a Master’s degree in International Affairs, Public Health, International Education or Public Policy.
· Has experience traveling and/or working in a developing country.
· Flexible and open-minded.
· Has a desire to live with and among local families (both Muslim and non-Muslim) in a small village.
· An independent and hard worker.
· Has a passion for empowering a community by providing information, services and education.
We understand that you will have a number of questions as we have left this intentionally vague. We encourage those who are interested at this level to apply for internship, beginning the dialogue between us about the organization and the work you may do for us. After receiving your application, if we feel you may be a good match for the internship, we will contact you to set up a series of phone and in person conversations. Through this process, we will learn more about each other and find if you are a good fit for this internship.
To apply for this internship, please email us a cover letter and resume, a 1 page personal essay about why you are interested in pursuing this internship, and 2 letters of recommendation (preferably from a professor and a supervisor at place of employment).
Please take some time to look through our website and our school blog. Please feel free to email intern [at] eastafricancenter [dot] org or call 425-681-2459 with any questions! We look forward to hearing from you!
Emma Neirman
Executive Director
Past interns:
Kathy Spergl - NY
Carrie Petler - MA
Ben Carson - WA
Breona Gutschimdt - WA
Mina Keyes - NJ
Priyanka Rao - NY
Bryan Isom - NY
Elizabeth Beresford - NY
Sarah Cunningham - NY
