“The lack of sexual health education is a public health issue,” Rachel Brown, virtual intern alumni, passionately expressed. Rachel developed an interest in community service and global health during her high school years. After graduating last year, she decided to pursue a gap year during COVID-19. She chose a 6-month online internship with an organization in Ghana. She supported the organization that aims to create better opportunities for underprivileged children through education and sports in Ghana.
How Did The 6-month Online Internship Look Like?
First 3 months:
“I researched and created educational material in the areas of sexual and reproductive health for children aged 11 to 16 years old. The objective was to counter the widespread diagnoses of sexual and reproductive ill-health manifested through unwanted and underage pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted diseases and infection,” Rachel elaborated.
A snippet of Rachel’s work as an online intern on a global health project in Ghana!
Last 3 months:
“I researched and created educational material in the area of nutrition. This effort was intended to counter the widespread diagnoses of malnutrition among the many different age groups within the population.”
Read more: Kelvin’s Virtual Internship – Giving Back Through Cancer Education
Setting Up and Achieving Goals for a 6-month Online Internship
At United Planet, we want to set all of our volunteers and interns up for success. Elissa, our International Programs Manager, help guide Rachel through making a work plan to set weekly and monthly goals before starting her remote internship.
Pictured: Rachel created health educational material for the students in Ghana!
One big goal for Rachel going into this virtual, remote internship was to “gain a better understanding of global and public health.” Furthermore, Rachel wanted to make an impact by bringing solutions to the issues which were more important than gaining knowledge for herself. Another important goal for Rachel was to be able to empower the communities she was volunteering with.
“I researched prevalent health issues and created educational materials like presentations, worksheets, brochures, and posters to be disseminated in schools. Through this experience, I was able to improve my research skills by completing my weekly tasks given by Jordan, program coordinator in Ghana.”
Seeing The Fruits of Her Labor
My internship was a very rewarding one. I faced more successes than challenges.
“My successes came in the form of seeing students and teachers interact with the material that I created. I was elated when Jordan informed me that the organization received funding. It’s now possible to disseminate the educational material across more schools. Also, they can now host workshops for teachers to become more acquainted with the material I created,” Rachel enthused.
The challenges that Rachel faced–different time zones and cultural differences–were nothing too overwhelming and she was able to work through them with Jordan, so to achieve her goals.
Rachel’s Key Takeaways from an Online Internship
“I wholeheartedly believe that this experience will undoubtedly enrich my future pursuits in life – both the academic and the non-academic as from it I have learned two very important lessons:
- Despite the distance, I am still able to lend a helping hand to different communities in need.
- Cultures of a nation–at most times–influence how the issue arises and it can’t be a one-size-fits-all solution. So, we must consider and understand in its cultural context to dismantle the issue.”
Read more: Is Virtual Internship Worth It?
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
