Week 2: Personal Contributions (English as an Asset)
With the second week of my internship coming to a close and the whirlwind of the anaversary event over, I have settled into what my personal contributions to CESAL actually are. My main asset is being the only fluent English speaker in the office, which means that I am responsible for translating grant proposals for development projects from all over the world focused on anything from education to health to violence prevention. I find this to be satisfying work because I am able to ensure that the proposals maintain their formality and clarity when translated to English. I feel like I am helping to preserve the dignity of the organization as the team moves forward on these important developmental projects.
Another responsibility of mine is updating the website. This comes less naturally to me compared to the translating, however, it is a great learning experience and similarly makes me feel like I am contributing to the integrity of the company by ensuring that it is presenting itself properly. Being an intern, I of course do some grunt work as well such as organizing spread sheets, and I won’t have any freedom to assist in planning projects or anything involving more responsibility, however, I am very happy with what this internship is exposing me too and recognize that my contributions are meaningful. I look forward to seeing how my personal contributions develop during my time here.
The language barrier is slowly getting easier, but the differences in culture and language make the leadership side of my observations different than anything I’ve ever experienced. I don’t believe that I have contributed any leadership insights because I am still observing and understanding the dynamic, but I hope that I’ll be able to take advantage of the leadership opportunities that arise while working with this team.
Completely understandable that given the cultural differences, you may need to take longer learning about the organization before you can offer up insights, recommendations, etc. No worries. Sounds like the work that you are doing is quite significant for the organization. And who knows, perhaps you’ll have the opportunity to be more involved in planning projects, etc. once you’ve been there a bit longer and demonstrated your ability.