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My Internship story: Youth and Women Initiatives in Sustainability Cacao and Seaweed Program
"As an intern, I met the most interesting people in the cocoa industry in Bali. Cocoa farmers, cooperative members, government representatives, buyers & stakeholders" Evelyn, Master of Science in Geography at the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn
About the company
I did a two-months internship at the environmental nongovernmental organization in Denpasar. The organization has projects that works hand-in-hand with various national and international stakeholders and with regards to content they are concerned with cocoa and seaweed.
The project’s objective is to strengthen rural agricultural potential across Indonesia, promote empowerment of youth and women farmers as well as make the local cocoa sector globally competitive, economically viable, environmentally and socially sustainable.
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Daily activities
I was continuously involved in the daily activities as well as field trips to the project area and I learned a lot about the commodity of cocoa, the cocoa sector in Jembrana, sustainable agricultural practices, the process of fermentation as well as green business and market initiatives. Furthermore, I am very much appreciating the chance to meet and talk to several cocoa farmers in Jembrana, cooperative members, government representatives, cocoa buyers and other stakeholders.
Due to the very fieldwork-oriented operation I gained knowledge about various methodological approaches in participatory development. Moreover, throughout the internship it was my task to keep SNS updated. Nowadays, SNS plays a relevant part in almost every organization to spread the internal message. This organization only recently started to use SNS, so I have learned how difficult the promotion is and how important meaningful statements are.
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What I learned and Future Intern Tips
What I learned about myself in Bali and my internship is that it is a wonderful feeling when you are very passionate about a topic, like all the team members always are. Then you very much enjoy working and supporting a certain cause.
A little tips for anyone who is interested in enrolling to this internships, it would be very sensible to learn some Bahasa Indonesia beforehand, because many working processes are in Bahasa. But my colleagues nevertheless are always appreciating the support of the interns. Moreover, be flexible, because especially when being on field trips, the working hours might be more than normal. Field trips are the most interesting part!
Finally, I would say that doing an internship in Bali is a great experience to get to know local life and in addition discover the island as well as enjoying touristy spots.
The working atmosphere was great and always pleasant
And not only that, I really found some lovely new friends there, which contributed to the high enjoyment of my time in Bali. Moreover, they gave me some insights into the local culture, which is fascinating and sometimes so different from the German one.
Through the project I already had the chance to see some places in Bali, for example three local chocolate factories, where we ate tons of delicious chocolate. At the weekends then, I had free time to explore the island by myself or with friends. I enjoyed the sun lying at beautiful beaches, learned how to surf, went to two Balinese weddings, released a baby turtle into the ocean, climbed up Mount Batur to see the most amazing sunrise, visited the rice fields in Ubud, enjoyed local food, experienced Canggu vibes, went snorkeling and met wonderful people.
But what I surely do not miss being back in Germany is the crazy traffic all around Bali.
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