Social Impact Entrepreneur Experience in Timor-Leste

Trekking with Project Everest Ventures was quite a unique experience and wasn't what I was expecting at all. However, in saying this, there were many things I did enjoy during my month in Timor Leste such as the culture, the people of Timor and the country itself. Timor Leste is just such a beautiful place to live and work from ~ I especially love the simplicity of day-to-day life here. During my trip I also made a lot of progress on my personal development and learnt a lot about myself and my capabilities. Overall, it's a really good experience and an awesome opportunity for anyone looking to work on their personal or professional goals in a unique setting.

When I first signed up to go overseas with Project Everest, I did it because I wanted to gain an internship experience to accompany my degree. I now look back on this and laugh at how laugh at how completely unaware I was that I was about to go into the best month of my life.

For me, my experience was so much than just something to put on my CV. The development I experienced both personally and professionally resulted in me feeling so much more capable in the things I could achieve. They were things I already knew I was capable of, but never had the confidence to go forth with. I left my month feeling incredibly inspired by my leaders, and formed relationships with people who have now become some of the closest people in my life. The support I received from Project Everest was unlike anywhere else. From ensuring my safety, to checking in on my health daily, to helping me to complete my experience as uni credit, there was never a point where I felt alone and without someone I could speak to.

Although you’re not staying in a luxury hotel, the experience Project Everest gives you absolutely makes up for the occasional power outage. It’s real, it’s raw and I came across challenges daily, but I absolutely loved it.

As someone looking to make a career in the international development space, this internship was not only valuable but very applicable to my career development. I learnt so much more than I ever expected I would and the leadership team were always very supportive of facilitating what I individually wanted to develop. When I first heard about the opportunity, I was concerned about the safety barriers, but the team was very accommodating and walked me through every measure and the reasoning behind those measures so that I could enter country without that worry and could better focus on the project.