When we started the Ruach Foundation we regularly worked with volunteers in the community home or in our activities centre. They included international as well as Nicaraguan interns from universities in Managua or Juigalpa.
Due to the political unrest in 2018 and 2019 which followed the political activism of many students, universities were temporarily closed, and the interest of students in doing internships with Ruach quickly waned. This also applied to international student volunteers: for example, a German organisation in charge of arranging internships decided to close its Nicaragua programme and office. Not much happened as regards interns for quite a while, but in October, after COVID-19 restrictions were eased a little, Emmely asked whether she could do some volunteer work with us for a while. She was about to complete her secondary school and wanted to gain experience in working with our ‘target group’. So she regularly joined us in October and November for two hours on many mornings supporting our work of stimulating our resident core members. At first she was very motivated, later less so, but she kept coming. At the beginning of December we organized a farewell celebration for her. She goes on to study Medicine in Managua. Now the next intern is coming! This will be Carlos who studies psychology here and who, before he can graduate, has to do an internship of 320 hours which he will do with us. He will start on the 22nd of December for 5 8-hour days per week.
Maybe we will be lucky enough to welcome a young Dutch student with whom we have been in touch for about a year. She would like to work in the community home for 1-2 months. Her decision will depend on whether the situation regarding the corona virus (especially in the Netherlands) will allow her to travel.
Ruach is very open to interns because working with us in community home or activities centre will be an unforgettable experience for most of them and will certainly expand their horizons. And we of course hope to train young advocates for work in a more inclusive world.
Let us know if you, or someone in your circle, would be interested in an internship with us in the (near or not so near) future!
