‘As a third-year student of Griffith University no amount of in-class research could prepare me for my Community Internship in India. I mean this in a good way!’ The whole experience of India for me was like sticking a toothpick in a bowl of soup. But boy was the soup delicious! Digital Media student Abbey shares her experience.
Community Internship
Griffith University
India
December 2017
Favourite part: Some of the main things I took away from the experience were patience, understanding and empathy
Author: Abbey Helinga
Where we went
Trip Itinerary
Brisbane, Australia
Delhi, India
Dehradun, India
Travel Log
As a third-year student of Griffith University no amount of in-class research could prepare me for my Community Internship in India. I mean this in a good way! I am currently studying a Bachelor of Business and Digital Media, which I love.
To me, it was difficult to see how India and my studies would mesh together. However, it was evident from the very start of this course that my knowledge and skills would be challenged in a professional and personal way. I was lucky enough to go with an awesome group of students who were all studying completely different things from art and architecture to business and medicine. The wide scope of students enriched the journey as everyone discussed their individual understanding our environment.
On a more personal note, visiting India, a third world country, enabled me to see a world beyond what I knew. The culture is amazing, the food is unreal and the communities we were a part of were somewhat angelic. While in the first week, we visited some professional groups who educated us on India’s past, current and forecasted economic and health issues. I found this enlightening as it’s one thing to holiday to a country, but it’s another to understand what’s happening within it. What we learnt fuelled us for the next part of our internship, the placement. For the remaining two weeks, I worked within Purkal Street Shakti Samiti (PSSS) an NGO driven by women’s empowerment. This society aims to help the village women realise and manifest their full potential, thus helping them blossom. By teaching the women within the rural village of Purkal handicraft skills they encourage them to emerge as a leader in her community and an agent of social change. The woman produce amazing pieces which have been all made by hand with love and pride, including quilts, cushions, bags, accessories and clothing.
The journey continues
Although, I will admit, I was nervous to start the placement, the women and management of PSSS made me feel right at home. Wanting to be as much help as I could, I asked them what they wanted from me on day one and used the rest of the time to try to achieve these goals. I set myself up working on their website and creating a database of potential clients they could contact in the future. Admittedly I did have hard days at the organisation, but that is to be expected as I was working in a foreign country with a different workflow than I was used to. This was probably one of the main things I took away from the experience, and that was patience, understanding and empathy.
The whole experience of India for me was like sticking a toothpick in a bowl of soup. But boy was the soup delicious! India is a massive country with such a dense population that my short three weeks over there wasn’t hardly enough time, but it has inspired me to visit again and further explore the country to understand its cultures. The program was structured so that we had a taste of everything and our spare time was fully utilised to take a break from our internship. We experienced many different Indian markets, tried authentic foods, visited the Taj Mahal and even had a weekend escape to Mussoorie (the foothills of the Himalayas).
As you can imagine I came back from this experience with wide eyes. And now, even two months after, I am constantly inspired by all the senses, ideas and knowledge India rallied inside of me.
“I was lucky enough to go with an awesome group of students who were all studying completely different things from art and architecture to business and medicine. The wide scope of students enriched the journey as everyone discussed their individual understanding our environment.”
- Abbey Helinga, Bachelor of Media and Design,
Griffith University