Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Farewells and thank yous!
On Monday night, we gathered at the Strand Towers hotel with staff and internship supervisors (65 of us!) to celebrate our wonderful experiences in Cape Town, and to say thank you - thank you for allowing us to walk beside you for a time, and to observe and learn from your passion and commitment to building a more just and democratic society in South Africa! We ate together, were entertained by talented jazz musicians and a wonderful professional dancer (Rev. Rose's daughter, Lindiwe), danced together, and shared hugs and notes of thanks. A wonderful ending to our internships and the beginning of an opportunity to carry the stories of Cape Town back to Truman.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
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.
Student Internship Reflection - the Cape Argus - Molly Skyles
Today was my last day at the Argus. All in all, it has been a really great internship. I struggled a bit at first because I’m not usually a news reporter, but I’ve gotten the hang of things.
Through my various assignments, I’ve learned about the rinderpest cattle plague, Africa Day celebrations, HIV treatments, soup kitchens in Cape Town, the elderly population in the city and corrective rape hate crimes.
But about journalism as a whole, I’ve learned to be flexible. I won’t always get to write the fun features pieces I enjoy or get to leave every day by 3. Like with any career, journalists have to be dedicated to their profession in able to hone their craft. Over these last 5 weeks, I’ve become a more confident writer. Hell, I even had a story on the front page, and I’m quite proud.
If I were interning at a paper in the states, I would probably be stuck doing research or writing news briefs. The Argus, though, gave me an actual chance. They assigned me real stories and gave me a platform to prove myself.
We leave Africa on Wednesday, and while I hope I get to come back at point, I don’t know what the future will hold. Regardless though, this internship has taught me a lot about professional journalism — some good and some bad things. The most important thing though, the Argus has reinforced my love of writing and proven just how important it is to be able to tell the news.
After I finished my last story today and saved it in the queue for Di, the night editor, I got hugs from other interns and even a few photographers. I also have a letter of recommendation on its way from my news editor. The Argus will always stick with me. Interns come and go at the Argus, but hopefully they will think of me, “the elderly correspondent,” when someone turns 108 or the next time a shy girl from America comes in asking for a chance. I’m eternally grateful for all the people I’ve met and all the opportunities I’ve been given.
Here’s hoping my second internship of the summer at the La Plata Home Press newspaper can compare…
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