Worthwhile Experience!

I would say the experience is worthwhile. Particularly because you are in Jamaica and not in the Jamaican/tourist resorts. Living in a parish with a host family, you really get to learn and you are forced to adapt to the local culture, the people, the food, transportation. My host family was great! On the weekends, it’s the norm to and you are encouraged to coordinate with the other volunteers weekend trips to go to the resorts, the beaches, the mountains and other cities across the island. This makes the experience with Projects Abroad even more worthwhile. Although the description of the Human Rights Internship in Jamaica with Projects Abroad is advertised as interns working alongside a human rights program officer, you don’t necessarily work alongside a human rights program officer. With my experience, I can attest that a “human rights program officer” is just that: a title. A better, less misleading title would be program coordinator/supervisor. Your supervisor doesn’t necessarily have any expertise when it comes to human rights studies. They function more as cultural brokers in that they can teach you about the local culture and what to expect. They will help you coordinate, plan and deliver your human rights presentations but you are expected to craft and write the presentation on your own. Which can be very difficult with very little direction given. I would advise any volunteer to bring their own laptop, if you have one. As it will make the research for the presentations easier. Not all of the desktop computers in the Projects Abroad office in Jamaica work properly (either they run slow, are not connected to the wifi or are not equipped with the resources that you need). I will say that I loved going to elementary schools (Grades 1 through 6) in Jamaica and delivering child rights presentations to children. We taught them about the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child with an emphasis on bringing awareness to child sexual abuse. We really did teach the kids things that they didn’t know before which was so rewarding!

After speaking with the other volunteers, some of them have done other projects through Projects Abroad in other countries. So the program service and staff support may vary from country to country and from program to program. With that being said a Human Rights Internship with Projects Abroad in another country may be better coordinated as well as better suited for you.