This summer, I had the opportunity to participate in an online internship program hosted by Virtual Internships. As the name suggests, I interned at a company for four weeks, with a group, entirely online. The category of the company I chose was Social-Impact Companies/NGOs because of my passion for NGOs and what they do. I didn’t know what to expect. However, now that the internship is done, I can confidently say that I learned a lot.

SERVE – my paired company

Before diving in the internship, let’s take a look at the company I interned at – SERVE. SERVE is an acronym for socio-economical, ecological, religious, and virtuous empowerment. SERVE is a non-profit organization based in Sri Lanka, and their goal is to help those who are in need, especially women and children. They work to ensure that the communities they serve are safe and people within can work towards equality. Their current projects include helping women in prison who choose to raise their children with them while in jail, teaching children who are at a disadvantage useful skills, and providing a safe space for children to play.

Internship timeline and tasks

For week one, we created a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for our host company as well as propose solutions for their current weaknesses. For the second week, we created job adverts. The position we had to create a job advert for was a promotions and marketing officer. We also learned about all the different positions at SERVE, and how they connect. For week three, we helped improve SERVE’s promotional aspect through social media and crowdfunding websites. For week four, we got to be creative and could do whatever we thought would be the most helpful.

Lesson 1: Effective communication is everything

This was a team project, so teamwork was essential. I learned that teamwork always requires effective communication, and when no one is communicating sometimes you have to step up.

Our group got into a fight once, and some people got upset, so I tried my best to resolve the issue by acknowledging both sides and trying to fix the problem. In groups, misunderstandings will happen, but solving them peacefully is the most important goal.

Lesson 2: Working online and globally is empowering but complicated

During the internship, as mentioned, my teammates were from different time zones. One was in Qatar, another in Norway, and the instructors were from England and Sri Lanka. We also could only communicate online.

All these difficulties sparked miscommunications, but through these mistakes I learned how to handle this type of online interaction, and the most important aspect is that I should always respect my teammates boundaries.

Lesson 3: Time management is always important

During these four weeks, I was in summer school from 7AM to 4PM every day, and also preparing for the SATs. It was hard at times when I had to multitask, and it was tiring, but I made it through.

I tried my best to always plan ahead, valued every spare minute I had, and fought the exhaustion I was facing on a daily basis.

Volunteering makes you a better person

Because SERVE is an NGO, I also had the chance to understand those who don’t have the resources they need. For example, in one of the projects SERVE was helping children raise money for backpacks and shoes, because without these items, they can’t go to school. SERVE also needed to raise money to buy windows for one of their playgrounds for the children they help. Currently, there are no windows, so whenever there’s rain everything floods out.

Throughout this whole experience, I learned to be grateful for what I have. There are many things we take for granted in life, but the reality is that there are people who would never dream of acquiring those things. We should never be ungrateful about what we are provided, and instead cherish all the things we have access to.

Furthermore, I learned that there’s always a way to help. For instance, I couldn’t go to Sri Lanka and help those people directly, but through the internship I helped SERVE reach a larger audience and, hopefully, more money. We tend to think we don’t have to contribute because there’s always someone else that will, but this mindset is what keeps us from helping those in need and making the world a better place.

There are people who live under trying circumstances, and we, as people who were privileged enough to be born with enough resources, should all try to help. You may never understand what the underprivileged are going through, but the best you can is to reach out and try to make them live under better circumstances.

Lastly, if you have the ability to do so, please donate to SERVE through this link. They work hard and provide for those in need in Sri Lanka. Every penny helps.