Lockdown has forced us all to adapt to using technology more. People have slowly adapted to virtual volunteering and internships as well. Here is an experience from one of our externs from Denmark.
When I found out about the structure of my bachelor in Global Nutrition & Health: that we were required to take two internships, one of the first thoughts that came to mind was FMCH. I thought that FMCH would be just the right place to learn how to apply so many subjects I was learning and was interested in, and see how an organization helps so many people through nutrition. I had been interested in FMCH’s work for many years and thought they were doing some amazing work that I wanted to learn more about.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding lockdown in India, I was unable to come to Mumbai and then visit the FMCH office, the centres and anganwadis where so much work is done. However, I still gained so much from the experience of working with FMCH on the other side of the globe, in Denmark.
I was able to stay connected with the team at FMCH through google hangouts and WhatsApp calls, messages and emails. I read interviews about the field officers’ current experiences and got to understand more about how FMCH was working under the lockdown. My biggest learnings were in my internship were how to be creative regarding teaching ideas with limited resources and space and complementary feeding for babies specific to India and Indian cooking.
Though my experience interning at FMCH was not what I had expected back at the end of 2019, I still feel like I gained so much that I will take away for my future work and also just in my personal life. I feel lucky that I was able to do my internship from so far away and did not have to miss this experience because of the pandemic.
