“Trust the Process, Enjoy the Process”: Reflections from Three Months of Internship as a Mekong Development Intern at EarthRights International – Southeast Asia Office

 

 

Let’s say it is the last week of the internship as a Mekong Development Intern under the Development Team. Since I decided to come back to Thailand, the whole period until now was a roller coaster ride. The first two months after coming back in Thailand, it was the most tiring days ever. There was not even a day that I went to bed without crying. The luck brought me in June. I decided to join the Project Cycle Management (PCM) and Training of Trainers (ToT) training for the alumni in Chiang Mai. Just two days before my departure to Chiang Mai, I had received an interview for the position of Mekong Development Intern. In the same day, I received an offer email for the position that made me relieved since I can at least have a reason to continue staying in Thailand. I decided to accept the offer with the condition I can join the PCM but not the ToT. After the three weeks of PCM in June, I started to officially work as a Mekong Development Intern in July, 2024. The two main responsibilities as an intern are compiling the information for the funding database and another thing is to write a fundraising guideline for the alumni. I have compiled almost 130 funders for the funding database. The fundraising guide is currently now in the editing process. I tried to put my ultimate efforts when working for both tasks since those are the deliverables, I can show for my next job application. However, that’s not the only reason that I put efforts. Since I am also an alumnus of the EarthRights, I have sense of belonging when I am developing those two things. I try to wrote from the perspective that could be beneficial for me, for my batchmates of ERI, beneficial for the people who I met during the regional gatherings and core team members and so on. For the fundraising guidelines, I tried to pull together all the relevant information and theories that I learnt during the Development Project Planning and Management course during my Master and the Project Cycle Management Course in EarthRights. 

Apart from the main responsibilities, I have to manage many things at the same time. When I came to Chiang Mai, I was indebted for my visa costs. So, I have to figure out how to manage my finance. I also have to manage my time. Apart from full time internship, I was supposed to take the Tableau Desktop Certification exam as soon as possible. The Tableau recommended to use at least the software for three months to be able to take the exam. However, I was able to take the exam with the practice of two and a half months and I passed it. During the three weeks PCM training and one and a half months of the internship, I had to set aside my evening and my weekend for the Tableau class and Tableau practice. Finally, the price paid off. In addition, I also have to manage my stress. With the job insecurity and financial insecurity, I don’t know what my future will hold. I have to worry about my visa. I have to worry about my money. So, I just have to live with the stress since I can’t avoid it. I have to find ways to cope with it. One of the things that I do is exercise. I try to run or go for cycling if there is no raining. However, it is not a viable option in the days of raining, especially these days. During the raining days, I tried to sit up from around 50-100 times in the evening. If I physically get tired, it makes me feel a bit easy to fall asleep. However, exercise only is not enough. I also have to make my brain tired so that I can fall asleep more easily. Some days, I study Thai language. A few days, I try to read books. But from the whole 2024, one of the most important things that I learnt is “Trust the Process, Enjoy the Process”.