My name is Homa Azodi. My fields of study are International Development Studies and History. My areas of interest are mostly related to sustainability and gender equity. This last year, I completed two pieces of research, one for each field; first on the Azerbaijan Crisis of 1945-1946 and its influence on the narrative of the Cold War in History, and second the effects of government climate policies on reproductive health and rights of women in the Middle East as independent research in International Development.
As an Eco-citizenship Education Intern at Educonnexion, my objectives were to learn more about my areas of interest through the organization. I also wanted to start working on a personal project linked to the independent research I started previously on the effects of climate policies on reproductive health and rights of women, but with a broader approach. Finally, I wanted to establish new connections during scheduled events with people working in different organizations that valued sustainability and gender equity as their own objectives to attain. I wanted to learn more about their experience and see which potential professional opportunities I could find once I finish my studies.
As Educonnexion describes itself on different platforms, the organization is an educational program that empowers individuals and organizations to play their full part in the transition to a world built on principles of ecological sustainability, social justice, and global solidarity. Their goal is to bring together those who wish to teach, learn or act as global citizens and face the challenges of our era. They offer a wide range of tools and resources for youth, educators, the public, community groups, and international cooperation organizations. Its mission is to train and support a motivated, equipped, and committed generation to face the challenges of today and tomorrow.
My responsibilities as an intern were to participate in project management, such as promoting workshops to help recruit participants, to assist staff in research and development of new educational tools, to collect data and compile it to support the workshop's pilot phase, to improve the organization's services to support groups in marginalized situations. I believe these responsibilities helped us develop skills such as public speaking, research and autonomy.
The highlights of my internship were writing and doing research for the educational kit, assisting at a meeting of the Quebec association of organizations in international cooperation (Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI)), helping Educonnexion move to a new neighborhood, going to Terrebonne to help children plant vegetables and learn about ecological solutions to preserve the planet such as compost and finally writing and adapting one of our supervisors’ new projects for the next year such as his workshop on black history and a new role-playing workshop on the global debt of ‘developing’ countries. I also enjoyed getting to work on a personal project inspired by the project I started during my last semester on the consequences of climate change on women.
Following my one-month internship report, I believe that I faced the same challenges that I also mentioned then. It is important that I say first that overall, I enjoyed my internship at Éduconnexion and collaborating with both my mentors and the other interns. As explained in my last report, the tasks I performed reflected the expectations that were shared with me at the beginning of the process. I helped to plan events as well as participate in them as an intern representing the organization. I also made some research to update documents used these past years. Finally, I used tools such as imovie and canva to create videos and posters to share on different platforms to promote the organization (e.g., Facebook and soon Instagram). However, as explained in my last report, given that my mentors at Éduconnexion had ongoing or soon-to-be projects that they planned independently, I often had to wait to receive indications, and this led to confusion and delays regarding the role I had to play as an intern. After the last report, the unexpected departure of our main supervisor also contributed to accentuating the challenges we faced to organize our schedule and plan our actions in advance accordingly with the head members of the organization.
During the last weeks of the internship, we overcame these challenges by using the resulting free time to focus on our personal project. This positive outcome responds well to the hope I had to use the skills I learned during the internship to exert more leadership and become a more autonomous intern. We also had numerous casual informative discussions with the members of the organization that we initiated ourselves. These discussions helped us learn a lot about future possibilities linked to our personal interests. I certainly believe that strengthening my communication skills during the last weeks of the internship helped me overcome some organization and planification challenges with my mentors that I mentioned previously.
Finally, I will not receive academic credits for the internship. This internship on its own helped me find answers to many questions I had regarding both my academic and professional interests. I also met amazing people that I will continue to stay in contact with. So, overall, this internship had a positive impact on my university experience. The funding of this internship helped me ensure I pay for necessary items and services for living while learning more about my fields of interest and gaining more professional experience. I want to take the opportunity to thank again the generous donors of the Keith Bergner and Angela Stadel Arts Internship Award, Keith Bergner and Angela Stadel, for allowing me to pursue this rewarding opportunity!
