Logging onto my virtual meeting with my team.

Author: Maegan Pelletier | Major: Business Management

Academics

This summer I was given the opportunity to participate in a virtual internship with the Eswatini Cane Growers Association. I volunteered at a non-profit organization in 2018 in Kenya and was thrilled at the opportunity to serve the people of Africa again. Although I was not able to visit Africa in-person, I was ecstatic to still participate in the Eswatini Service-Learning Internship remotely because I am passionate about helping the people of Africa and growing in my education. I chose this program because I desired an international educational experience for the summer of 2021, despite the travel restrictions imposed during the global pandemic. My goals were to help identify sugar cane farmers at risk, build relationships with my international connections, and refine my understanding of non-profit organizations. I worked for the Eswatini Cane Growers Association and was assigned a project to calculate yield comparisons for the three main sugar mills in Eswatini and identify the growers at risk. I worked on a project analyzing production data that was collected the past few years to identify the productivity and efficiency of sugarcane growers. I refined my Excel skills as I composed a spreadsheet including the crop production statistics of the three different farms- Mhlume, Ubombo, and Simunye. My internship partner and I worked together to run simulations and regressions from my Excel spreadsheet to identify the struggling farmers in each region. Although I was not able to participate in an in-person class, I met with my instructor on a weekly basis over Microsoft Teams to receive direction and guidance on my project. I appreciated the frequent communication and support from my advisor and working closely with my internship partner. I also had weekly meetings with our contacts in Eswatini. I enjoyed building relationship with my connections in Africa and gaining understanding about my project from them. One main difference between my internship and my classes at the U of A was that my experience involved more “learning on the job” rather than studying a textbook. I gained understanding from working with a database and asking direct questions about sugarcane farms, rather than reading material and taking exams. Both learning environments are beneficial, but I enjoyed the more hands-on experience with the Eswatini internship and loved my time during the program. I quickly learned how to take responsibility for the tasks assigned to me and to take initiative to meet deadlines. I also learned that with all new things you will make mistakes and that it is okay when you have to redo portions of your work. A large part of internships is understanding that we are not perfect and are not expected to know everything at the beginning. But instead of staying at that point, we must push through and dedicate ourselves to learning and working hard.

Culture

My main experience with the culture of Eswatini was interacting with my contacts that live there. I enjoyed getting to know them personally as well as professionally. My greatest challenge of working on a project about sugar cane was that I have not physically been to a sugarcane farm, or even seen sugarcane. But the Eswatini staff were so supportive and helpful to provide understanding about the terminology and the culture of farming. One of the main things I learned from interacting with the Eswatini contacts was how to communicate with coworkers in a different time zone. Eswatini is seven hours ahead of Arkansas and so whenever I was waking up to start my workday, the people in Eswatini were packing up to go home from theirs. I learned how to communicate through emails and WhatsApp, and patiently wait for responses that sometimes took a few days. I found that this experience with my African contacts was very helpful for me to gain a context of working with international partners.

Advice

I would absolutely recommend the Eswatini Service-Learning Internship to other students. The staff at the Eswatini Cane Growers Association are very kind and eager to explain the culture of sugarcane farms. I would recommend going into the virtual internship experience with an attitude of patience because communicating with people in a different time zone can be difficult and sometimes slow. However, do not let the remote environment of a virtual internship steer you away from participating in it. You will still gain great understanding and make personal connections, even though the approach may look different. I encourage you to study the country you are interning with and ask your international contacts about their experiences. I am very thankful for this great international virtual experience, and I have increased my research in the culture of African cultures as my internship has come to an end.