Interning with WACSI – A Career Shaping Opportunity
Kayla Green, Intern, Africa Program at the Center for International Policy
Kayla Green shared an experience of her internship period at West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) where she said, “I took part in a one-month internship with WACSI because I wanted to explore my interests in African studies while completing my undergraduate degree. I joined WACSI through a 7-week study abroad program to Accra, Ghana through my university, Arizona State University. This study abroad trip also included a 4-week internship placement with an organisation that matched my interests as a student”.
She also said, Working with WACSI in the Knowledge Management Unit has helped to develop her passion for advocacy of civil societies across Africa for citizens that are experiencing inhumane, authoritarian restrictions on their rights and autonomy.
Without WACSI, she would not have had the knowledge or awareness that she cultivated under their mentor-ship about current status of West African countries, which provided the perfect steppingstone to expanding my comprehension on the other four regions of the continent. She would have never explored the possible career paths that exists in the scope of African relations that she is now pursuing, as well as the professional experience needed to open doors for her on career path as a transition out of school and into the workforce.
“Interning at WACSI has enabled me to gain concrete skills and experience in writing reports for public consumption, and I also developed organisational skills when managing multiple research tasks” she said.
She also said, in her current role, she used the research skills that she gained from WACSI to track and find information on countries in Africa that are hard to get updated news on. Enhancing her organisational skills has now enables her to manage and execute all the tasks that are assigned for her, given that, her scope of research has broadened to the whole continent and not just the region of West Africa.
She concluded that, her experience working internationally while being from America is something that she will always carry along. “This is a unique asset to my professional experience that will help me define a clear career path after I finished my undergraduate degree in Political Science” she added.
To benefit from this opportunity, contact info@wacsi.org
