Program Reviews

I absolutely loved interning with Intern Abroad HQ in Peru. I worked with kids in an after school program where I planned activities and games for them and had a blast! We cooked different foods, played Go Fish!, colored coloring pages, went to the park, had dance parties, etc. I loved every minute. It was so much fun to plan these activities with the other interns and then introduce them to the kids. They really loved learning and were always excited to spend time with us. My personal favorite days were the cooking days. We prepped beforehand and then let them do the easier things. They loved eating what they had made! And it was fun for them to try different things from the United States, South Korea, Belgium, and other countries from around the world.

I completed a 2-week Marketing & Communications internship in Valencia, Spain. The city was a beautiful place that I completely enjoyed living in and exploring. The internship itself, however, was not worth the money that I paid for it. The internship promised that its students would learn about marketing, website design, copywriting, graphic design, etc. In my placement with the Villarreal soccer club, none of this was mentioned. Instead, I spent my first week researching the club and its programs, which makes sense but is also something that I could have done at home prior to leaving for Spain. My second week was spent researching the team's past players and writing articles about their soccer careers. I did most of the work from an office in Valencia, and only visited the team's actual office in Vila-real once, where I was put into a back room and told to continue my research, making the trip a complete waste of time.

Then, when I reached out to my main contact with IAHQ, complaining that this placement had given me nothing in terms of experience or learning new things within the communications industry, they simply said, "Well, you did only sign up for two weeks, which is considered an 'introduction period. Tough luck.'" No internship that I have ever had throughout my four years of college was an 'introduction period.' That's what college classes are for. That's not what an internship is.

From my experience in Valencia and meeting other interns from all over the world who were also interning with IAHQ, very few of them were having a good experience with their placements. One of my friends was a PT student hoping to go into nursing, and they placed her in a gym to observe workout classes. Another intern in the medical field was placed in a women's monastery. He showed up to his first day of the internship and was told he couldn't go inside, men were not allowed. So, as a result, he spent his first of three weeks without an internship as IAHQ scrambled to find him a different placement.

Therefore, it seems to me that this program is not actually listening to the wants and desires of their interns, who pay a huge sum to be a part of this program. They also don't do their research into the companies they are placing their interns with. Additionally, they have very poor communication. Before leaving for Spain, I had no idea what my internship placement was, even though I had emailed weeks before leaving asking for more information.

Intern Abroad HQ is an amazing organization. Their team was phenomenal in providing as much information as possible when I was very skeptical and unsure. After all, one wanted to make sure they weren't being thrown into another continent without any support or idea! Dallas was very helpful in helping me prepare for my internship. Their online journal assignments was a great way for me to document and ponder my experiences as they happened and were very good at keeping tabs on me and my family when I had a medical emergency. This I cannot emphasize enough, they have your back from start to finish. My liaison-contact there, Elisha, is such an amazing guide and overall a chill dude to hang around with. For him, it is a matter of who he doesn't know him in Cape Town, which helped a lot when seeking the most beautiful locations and the best activities. The housing there is very college dorm-like. You may live with students, both from abroad or local, and the area of Obs (Observatory) is a unique and interesting community. One thing is for sure, there is always someone down to have fun with at the Freeland lodge.

I am preparing to become an occupational therapist and chose this program to intern under. The Kaya branch of Akeso Clinics in Cape Town has a great team of psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers that had great methods in treating adolescents with mental health disorders and a whole variety of issues pertaining to being a troubled youth. I came to work every day caring for the patients and was privileged to see their progress as they worked out very difficult issues in a communal setting under professional guidance. Great people at Akeso - Kaya, they are very accommodating with interns and felt just like family.

I cannot state enough how great my experience was. If anyone wanted to have a good experience interning in Cape Town I recommend coming with an open mind. Be accepting that things can be uncomfortable and different. Learn how to flourish with the idea that plans don't always go as they were intended and that the best moments can be spontaneous.

I spent 6 weeks in Cape Town, South Africa doing an occupational therapy internship. I had the best 6 weeks of my life, and learned so much in such a short time. I was able to experience the incredibly welcoming culture of SA, gain valuable observation hours which will help me in the future, meet tons of awesome fellow interns and students, and experience many of the awesome activities and beauty of Cape Town and the surrounding area has to offer. I wish I could have spent so much more time here. Thank you to InternAbroad for answering all of my questions and making sure I was prepared and informed before my trip, as well as providing support during the trip if I ever needed it. To anyone who is thinking of doing an internship - don't let fear hold you back! Take an open mind, be flexible and enjoy your experience abroad!

I went on a six-week internship to Greece with Intern Abroad HQ and was working in Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Research at the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation. I always had someone to rely on with this company if I had any questions or concerns, and they are very proactive in ensuring their interns get the best out of their experiences. You can tell they've been doing this a very long time and companies like this help take the stress out of finding the right internship for you. I was lucky enough to have Dallas as my point of contact with Intern Abroad HQ and she always went above and beyond to make sure everything was going according to plan and kept in contact before, during and after the internship. Thanks Guys!

Prior to beginning my internship, I had no idea what to expect when I was planning to visit Cape Town. My decision to go there and intern abroad was almost purely based on looking at photos of sunsets on Table Mountain, on Google images. I was further motivated by an interest in educating myself further on the history of South Africa. Also, completing a business internship within the UK had made me more curious to see how different businesses operate within other countries.

Knowing that I would love the opportunity to intern abroad (if only for a short while) I decided that this internship opportunity would be the perfect time to combine my passions. I arranged an internship with Intern Abroad in the heart of Cape Town, for two-weeks at the end of January 2019. The short-term flexibility of the internship programs worked with my schedule and ensured I’d gain a taster of life in South Africa.

After an overnight flight, I stepped off the plane at 10 a.m. to a not-too-shabby 30 degrees hitting me right in the face – quite a change from the negative numbers I’d left behind in Scotland! Within just two hours, I’d arrived at and already left my accommodation to explore, having met fellow interns on the same programme, led by our local Internships Coordinator, Elisha.

The remainder of my first day on the internship program was spent getting to know everyone, which wasn’t difficult, as they couldn’t have been more welcoming and talkative. Between visiting their favourite spots together and driving to the coast, to sit on a rock and watch the sun go down in South Africa, I really couldn’t have asked for a much better way to settle into my new home for the next two weeks.

I woke up bright and early the next day to begin work at my internship placement - a task that was made easier with the blazing sun and blue sky staring in at me from the window. Safe to say, it was quite different to waking up for a 9 a.m. lecture back home!

For my Start Up Entrepreneurship internship with Intern Abroad HQ, I was placed via a customized process to intern with OBSRealty. To get there each morning, I only had to take a (not-so-strenuous) 10-minute walk down the road to the office. This location was relatively central, situated near the city center, the University of Cape Town, and about 10 minutes from the Cape Town International Airport as well. On the way to my internship placement, I passed cute cafes that I would later visit for lunches, street art vibrantly painted around every corner, and even the odd book shop for me to nip into on my way home from work (to find something to read at the beach that night).

My internship placement at ObsRealty is a local business, which specializes in residential and commercial sales and property management. The close-knit team at this internship placement included another intern and I. Each of the company’s staff members helped and demonstrated the day-to-day operations of their real estate business. I was driven to parts of Cape Town that I wouldn’t have visited otherwise, given the time constraints of my short stay. I had the opportunity to speak to local people, learning how the start-up company had developed and grown throughout the area. Each day was full to the brim, but it certainly didn’t end once the workday was over!

From visiting the most unbelievable beaches like Clifton 4th beach and Camp’s Bay, to seeing the colourful houses in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood, watching the latest releases in the Labia Movie Theatre on Orange Street, to exploring the Kirstenbosch National Park. If you can see the attraction listed within Lonely Planet’s guide to Cape Town, then you can rest assured that I visited it within my two-week internship! While I was a little worried that only having a mere two weeks for my experience wouldn’t be enough to see and do everything, the support from my Internship Coordinator (and Uber transport!) helped me to really make the most of every minute, from sunrise to sunset. I made sure that I ticked everything I’d hoped to visit off my list!

The most memorable day of my internship in Cape Town came on my first Saturday. A group of interns and myself joined the Internship Coordinator in Cape Town to visit the Old Biscuit Mill for brunch and to soak up the hectic weekend atmosphere. From there, we took an incredible road trip to Simon’s Town, to swim with the penguins at Boulder Beach. From there, we continued even further on, to the most southern point of Cape Town - aptly named “Cape Point”. The fog on that particular day may have slightly affected how far down the coast we could see, but this area offered so much more - like watching a baboon steal and then proceed to drink a full bottle of Gatorade from an unsuspecting tourist (please watch your food and drinks and don’t feed the wildlife!)

Driving back up the coast, stopping at many incredible points along the way with Elisha as our tour guide, we got to visit a huge sea lion, see emus strolling along a beach, watch the sunset (which never failed to astound me, no matter how many times I watched the sun set in Cape Town), all before heading to a pub to watch a six nations sports game. We finished our weekend day-out by viewing the city lights from the top of Signal Hill. It was an incredible day to remember!

I couldn’t have chosen a better place to have done my internship or even just to have visited. Cape Town is a city with the most welcoming locals, an incredibly humbling history, and views so stunning that even flicking through the photos of them on my phone still leaves me in shock, that I was able to take in such beautiful sights. Having the Intern Abroad HQ team every step of the way really did make my trip unforgettable and allowed me to have such a personal memorable experience. Without the support of the Internships Coordinator in Cape Town, it would have just been so different otherwise, as recommending the best local eateries or the most beautiful picnic spots was a task he excelled at.

I wish that it would have been possible for me to remain on the internship in South Africa longer than two weeks, but now it just means that I’ll have to return in the future - either to reconnect with some of the people I was fortunate enough to meet, or to see what more Cape Town has to offer!

This experience was so meaningful for me! At the beginning I had a lot of fear and I wanted to return in my home country, because it was very difficult to understand so many differences between my home country and my host country. But after the first week it was really easy to do everything and my host country was so full of things to do. Then I had a great time with my host family that helped me to feel very involved in the country’s culture and I felt that I was helpful for someone during my internship. I made friends and I made a lot of activities during my month in Perù. This experience helped me to be more fearless and to be more brave and confident. And also helped me to become more confident in my professional abilities and to be more responsable. I collected a lot of memories for my entire life!

I had the opportunity to work with a local midwife in Cusco, Peru this summer and it was fantastic! I worked with her side by side visiting patients in their homes, where we assessed their vitals, monitored their progress, assessed newborn vitals, conducted consultations, and held group antepartum classes/support sessions. I learned so much about the process of antepartum care, birth plans, health and wellness, and ancient Peruvian techniques for pain management and coping with labor and delivery. I worked with the midwife for 8 weeks, traveling with her to the Sacred Valley to see her patients two or three times a week. The days were very long, we usually left Cusco around 7am and got back around 10pm, sometimes later. There were three or four deliveries during the time I was interning, but unfortunately I was not able to attend any of them. I think this was due to the language barrier (fluent Spanish is definitely necessary) and the haste required to travel to the Sacred Valley when delivery was imminent.

I also took Spanish lessons from the school in Peru that organized my internship. The lessons were great, and they organized weekly outings/events/parties for the volunteers so it was super easy to meet people. I made a good group of friends there and we had tons of fun! I recently traveled to the UK and met up with a few of the friends I met in Peru :)

Intern Abroad HQ was wonderful in helping me prepare for my trip. They were always there to answer questions, provide information, help me book excursions, and make sure everything was taken care of before I left. The insurance I got through them was also great, I got food poisoning and had to stay in the hospital overnight and everything was completely taken care of. Everuthing with them was perfectly smooth and easy, I can’t wait for my next volunteer trip!

I absolutely loved my experience at Archipelagos. I learned real professional skills from the environmental conservational realm. The scientific directors and staff are wonderful people with the passion to influence future generations about the value of ecosystems. Additionally, they are true activists that dedicate their lives to conserving the ecological heritage of both marine and terrestrial services.
Although some students found their management frustrating because they have deadlines for their masters or phD, I had the honor to see their true motives which are to protect, conserve and spread awareness through monitoring ecosystem services with academic studies. I was disappointed when I realized I would not be taught to scuba dive, due to time frame issues I wish could've been addressed before I arrived. However, I gained a much broader experience in assisting in plenty of projects that matter for sustainable development.
Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation have locations on a couple of islands for research. I absolutely love the Lipsi location because it is the perfect authentic Greek experience. You can experience a lot on foot, the locals are kind and the food is forever imprinted on my taste buds. Samos felt more like summer camp, it was hard to explore without a car, so I recommend getting an international license before you go abroad! Both locations are among the world's biodiversity hotspots. In my whole entire life, I have never felt so harmonized with nature and my self from being geographically located within organic balance. The abundance of species is something everyone must experience because this exemplifies diverse functionality. I am forever grateful for the alignment that I harbored in the Aegean Sea.

My experience with Intern Abroad HQ was incredibly smooth, organized, and simply one I will never forget. From the moment I submitted my application, I was put in touch with a specialist at Intern Abroad HQ who provided me with all the information I required and was always available for an email or a phone call if I had any questions. The information package provided was incredibly detailed and answered all of the questions I had about the program and the process.

I participated in the wildlife conservation internship at Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa. The moment I arrived at the airport I was met by my transfer to the reserve. The field guides I had on the reserve were extremely knowledgeable and helpful in being able to adjust to life on the reserve and the work to be done. Throughout my time the work involved a mix of both manual labour (fence and tree removal) as well as data collection. It was such a joy to wake up every morning surrounded by wildlife and then head out on the reserve and work so closely with the animals. The field guides also did a great job to break up the work throughout the day to avoid the high heat of the South African afternoons. Safety was also a major concern for the field guides and I never felt unsafe during my one month on the reserve. They even provided a lecture to review animal behaviour and how to conduct yourself should an encounter with an animal occur.

On top of feeling like the work I was doing was making a concrete difference for the wildlife of Dinokeng, I also left the experience with friendships with people from around the world; many of which I know will last long after the experience ended. I cannot speak enough about how this experience challenged me and provided me with a feeling of accomplishment in the work I was doing. I will definitely be volunteering abroad again one day and know it will be with Intern Abroad HQ.