Hi, my name is Lynette and I am currently interning at GVN Foundation as part of my Post Graduate Diploma in Development Studies, which I am doing through Victoria University Wellington. One of my papers is to do an internship with an NGO (Non Government Organisation). This not only gives me experience in the industry I want work in but also helps out an NGO with no cost to them, so it’s definitely a win win situation for each party.I met Eliza and Caitie when they came to Victoria to do a presentation on GVN Foundation and GVN. It was a great presentation, especially as I did not know about the Foundation and they also introduced me to Eat So They Can campaign. They were very friendly and open and it was clear that they loved their jobs and were passionate about what the Foundation and GVN are doing. It is amazing what information and knowledge you can gain just by turning up somewhere to hear a talk; sometimes it can even change your life, or in my case where I would do my internship. I was a very cheeky student and used one of Eliza’s suggestions ‘Not to take no for an answer’, when I asked her if they needed an intern to help them with their workload. So after sending in my CV and Eliza checking on her side that having an intern would be of benefit and help ease their workload, it was all go and a date was agreed upon for me to start.
After nearly a year of being a student, adjusting to a normal working day hasn’t been too hard and I have been gradually introduced to ‘the working week’ as I started on a Wednesday. As the majority of the hosts of Eat So They Can have had their events in October, the donations are now flooding in which is brilliant. As a result my priority has been to processing these cheques and internet payments. This is important not only for the Foundation but also for the host of each event. A great part of processing the donations is the final step when the amounts raised are reflected on the host’s page. This means that the host can see how much has been raised through their event. It has been great to process these donations as it illustrates how generous and caring people are and that this is being translated into funds that will go to important projects to assist those in need.
As part of my placement I will also be doing some work for GVN and I was lucky enough to share the experience of the current volunteers in the New Zealand Nature Programme based in Wellington. Volunteers can join the programme from 2 weeks to 3 months. The day I spent with them was a gorgeous Wellington day, hardly any wind (nearly unknown in this city!), beautiful blue skies and was lovely and warm. I was picked up at GVN offices in Lower Hutt by Ray (team leader) and her hardy band of 9 international volunteers and off we went to Breaker Bay to do weeding and then some coastal clean up work. The volunteers that I met on this project were from America, Switzerland and England and were a mix of ages and genders. They had had a very full week including trail construction and park maintenance within wildlife reserves and helping on a project to assist in controlling introduced predators for the protection of native wildlife. Very physical, varied and satisfying work I am sure. Their enthusiasm to get stuck in and take part in whatever activity they were asked to carry out was infectious and obvious to see.
We were greeted at our first site by local Wellington Councillor Ray Ahipene-Mercer who gave us information on the local area and its history. Ray is very involved in healing and conserving this area and it was wonderful to be given an insight into its history by a local. As I am from Dunedin and haven’t had much of a chance to explore around Wellington, the opportunity to get out and about last Friday with the volunteers was fantastic. This was then reinforced by the commitment of locals shown in this project to protect the beautiful surrounds of Wellington.
After the weeding, we had our break to eat our lunch while we sat on the rocks in the bay, enjoying the sun and sea and then it was off to do some coastal clean up. The clean up is not only to rid the beach and foreshore of rubbish so humans can enjoy the environment, but also for the animals we share this space with. I picked up a variety of items including plastic pens, bottle tops, empty biscuit containers and sadly quite a lot of broken glass. I was saddened that there was rubbish to pick up especially the glass as it is a danger to the health of both humans and wildlife. I was heartened by the fact that there are people willing to undertake the task of ridding the beach of rubbish. The experience has inspired me to take a leaf out of the volunteers’ book and I will be going out once a month to clean up a beach I walk on or a park I visit. We can all help our local community by taking some time out of our schedule to do something large or small to care for our environment. We all want to be able to enjoy the spaces around us, be it in a city or countryside and it does feel good to look after and respect the areas where we live and visit. Who knows, you could even increase your local community spirit by banding together and doing a small clean up once in a while.
We in New Zealand are known for our clean green image and we can keep true to this image. If everyone spared a small amount of time and effort to care for our environment, the task becomes a small and management one and not a monumental task that it may first appear to be. It was great to be given the opportunity to see how the local programme functioned if only for a day. There is nothing like experiencing something first hand to be able to understand it better and for me to understand how the local programme works.
So in a nutshell, my first week has been a great learning experience both inside the office and out. I have met some really great people who care for others and the environment and I am privileged to be part of such a great team if only for a little while. 
0 comments:
Post a Comment