Tuesday, March 27, 2012

And the third intern is...


Hello all!
My name is Corie White and I will be interning with People Helping People Global this summer for 3 months. I’ll be arriving just after my graduation from the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!) this May, and leaving in mid-August to begin my legal education at the University Of Oklahoma College Of Law, where I will pursue a joint degree of  Juris Doctor and Masters of International and Area Studies.

My undergraduate degree is in International and Area Studies with a minor in Spanish. My focuses have been Latin America, international development, and trafficking, specifically human and organs trafficking. As a junior, I spent 6 months living, studying, and teaching English in Vina del Mar, Chile. While there, I traveled extensively throughout Chile and Peru, with my highlight being hiking the Inca Trail. I have also traveled throughout much of Central America and the Caribbean.

I have a craving for travel and adventure that can rarely be satisfied, so I am thrilled to be heading to Nicaragua this summer- particularly since I will be buckling down for law school in the fall. I am a huge fan of Mohammed Yunus and the micro-loan model and am excited to see it in action first hand.

I am looking forward to the summer of a lifetime!

Best,
Corie 

Monday, March 26, 2012

New Summer Intern


Greetings from Austin, Texas!

My name is Becca Moore. I will be interning with PHPG this summer (from mid-may to early August) in Granada. Less than 2 months until I'm in Nicaragua!

I am in my second year of graduate school at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. I will be graduating with a masters in Global Policy Studies with a concentration in International Development in December. I'm really excited to get out of the classroom and put my education to the test.

As an undergraduate, I studied environmental engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. My junior year, I studied abroad in Monterrey, Mexico. While I was there, I traveled extensively throughout Mexico- I actually traveled more in Mexico than I have in the U.S. (I hope my Spanish returns quickly!)

After graduating, I was itching to travel again, so I went to Thailand to teach English. I absolutely loved Thailand. I taught English at a high school in Lampang (a city in the north). I taught about 24 classes a week and had over 800 students! It was a bit overwhelming, but an amazing experience. While I was in Asia, I was able to visit China, Laos, Cambodia, and Nepal.

In Nepal, I volunteered for a month at an NGO called Environment and Public Health Organization, working on designing decentralized wastewater treatment plants on the Bagmati River in Kathmandu. It was there that I knew that I wanted to work in the International Development field. Volunteering in Nepal led me to grad school in Austin and eventually this internship with PHPG. I'm really excited to be working with PHPG this summer!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A New Intern Joins the Team


Hello PHPG enthusiasts!

As one of People Helping People Global’s newest interns, I will be living in Nicaragua from mid-May through August 2012. And I couldn’t be more excited! The more I learn about PHPG, the more I feel as though my values align with those of the organization, and the more passionate I become about helping this amazing cause.

As an undergraduate student at Skidmore College, I am dedicated to the study of Anthropology and Latin American Studies, both in the classroom and in my extracurricular activities. While building an academic foundation in fields that will aid me in my pursuit of international community development, I have found external outlets to apply all that I have learned from my professors, and to gain field experience. In an effort to improve the lives of my neighbors, I am currently administering needs-assessment surveys to the residents of local mobile home communities so that the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council can improve and broaden their services. I am also volunteering at a medium security correctional facility as a workshop leader to open up dialogue among inmates on issues such as employment, stress management, conflict resolution, and family reintegration. These opportunities have awarded me the chance to work with unrepresented and undervalued populations living right next door, and soon (although not soon enough), I’ll learn how to do the same in Nicaragua.

While my micro-lending internship with PHPG in Nicaragua will be a new and exciting experience, I am no stranger to the non-profit sector. From my collaboration with many different NGOs while living in Mexico, Peru, Ghana, and the United States, I have learned a good bit about how different organizations function. And People Helping People Global already strikes me as one of the most organized, well-intentioned, and efficient NGOs that I have encountered thus far. Their dedication to promoting sustainability, empowerment, and cultural pride is refreshing and inspiring. I can’t wait to meet everyone and to be a part of this incredible mission.

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, and I look forward to helping others to make a difference in their lives through People Helping People Global.

Take care,
Phoebe