After volunteering for the St Lucia medical
project for two months in May of 2012, Miriam Willmott decided to return to the
projects as the intern representative for the Happy Africa Foundation (THAF).
A Cambridge native and drama enthusiast,
19-year-old Miriam enjoyed her first volunteer experience, saying she “enjoyed
meeting all the people and getting to do all different types of projects.”
Hungry to experience more, Miriam applied and was granted a position in St
Lucia as the THAF intern. The position includes duties such as raising funds
for the programme’s focal projects, increasing the charity’s visibility in the
area and overseeing THAF projects.
“I thought it would be good to get
experience in this kind of field,” says Miriam. “To be honest I was a bit lost
and I had no idea what I wanted to do and it turned up at the right moment.”
Although interning for a charity is not
something Miriam ever pictured for herself, she does find it a great experience
in contrast to her friends, who are mostly attending university back home in
the UK.
“I am learning more life skills that you
wouldn’t if you were just in university,” claims Miriam, who feels volunteering
and interning is a great alternative to work in the classroom, and is an
education in and of itself.
Eager to make a difference and leave her
mark, Miriam’s experience as both a volunteer and an intern make her a great
mentor for current and future volunteers. To them, she says:
“You’ve got to be very open to new
experiences and you’ve got to try everything.”
If you're interested in learning more about the African Impact internship programme, visit our official website.
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