Student Internship Reflection - Cape Town Refugee Center - Abigail Twenter

Welp… I have procrastinated about this blog post for as long as humanly possible. Or, as I like to think, I have lived up my time here in Cape Town. I have never written a blog post, so I don’t really know how to start but I suppose I will talk a little about what I have been doing for five weeks. Molly, ye ol news reporter claims blogs should be about one specific aspect of your experience so I suppose I will choose my internship. I work at the Cape Town Refugee Centre with six other interns, three new arrivals. In my opinion, my internship is without a doubt the best internship in Cape Town. As soon as I walked in they asked in which department I wanted to work and soon I was taking on my own clients in the Psych and Social Department. I cannot believe that they gave me so much responsibility yet I am so ecstatic that I was able to experience exactly what I was hoping. While I wouldn’t say it is the most organized organization, I was able to help sort out the referral lists and children with special needs files. But perhaps my most important endeavor was working with refugees. I was able to work closely with refugees and the numerous problems they face today and lift a few from what they thought was rock bottom.  I have heard many heart wrenching stories about refugees being torn from their homeland, what it is like to be living as a refugee in South Africa and simply coping with problems that everyone faces. There was also the major issue of sorting these stories from the lies told to rip our facility off which was also heartbreaking.  I cannot believe that I have been in Africa working for a wonderful NGO like the CTRC. It has been my dream and has fueled my fire to get out and see the world and the wonderful organizations that are helping people such as the refugees of South Africa.