My name is Amaani Ataullah and I am a U3 student majoring in Psychology and pursuing minors in History and Anthropology. I have grown up between Pakistan and the United Kingdom and am currently residing in Montreal.
I have always been interested in working toward promoting the value of and helping in advancing educational opportunities in less economically developed countries. Moreover, I am incredibly passionate about justice and conflict resolution, particularly in countries with unstable democracies or newly established governments. In the past, I have collaborated with various organizations to gather information regarding the role of government/judiciary in mass persecution of and discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan. I have worked with grassroots organizations to help alleviate female poverty in male-dominated economies by empowering women through microfinance opportunities. I have also advocated for the importance of public speaking and communication as a means of tackling educational disadvantage in Rwanda and London.
I wanted to pursue an internship with IMPACT because it is a community-focused organization and makes the indigenous communities it works for/with the centre of every project. They have made incredible strides in advocating for and assisting these communities in land rights and natural resource governance; institutional capacity development; human rights, lobby and advocacy; climate change adaptation and resilience; research and documentation; livelihoods and economic empowerment as well as with peace building and conflict transformation. I was genuinely inspired by the large-scale projects this small-scale organization was undertaking and the huge impact it had in the region in which it worked. It is evident that they have the trust and confidence of the communities they work for and this led me to want to work with them and learn from them.
Initially, I was set to fly to Nanyuki where my fellow intern, Justine, and I were going to live for the course of the internship. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic our internship was moved online and we began to work remotely. The first few weeks were difficult, as neither IMPACT nor us understood how we could translate our in-person intern duties to a more remote environment. Many of our responsibilities involved being in the field, documenting and conducting studies and research. However, we were actually able to find abundant work after adjusting to this change. Over the summer we worked on several things. Some of the highlights are mentioned below:
1. Setting up an online fundraiser for COVID-19 relief — This fundraiser aimed to help pastoralist and Indigenous communities of Northern Kenya in the context of COVID-19, by supporting IMPACT’s awareness-building initiatives and the distribution of personal protective equipment in remote areas. I used M-Changa, an online fundraising platform tailored to Kenya but also user-friendly for international donors. This project included selecting images, coming up with a description for the fundraiser and setting up an IMPACT account, which will now be used by the organization for future fundraisers.
2. Editing and working on various documents — throughout the summer, I edited internal and external reports, policy briefs and field reports. My work on these documents included substantial restructuring and reformatting, as well as rewording and proofreading. The documents edited include a policy brief for the Integrated Management of COVID-19, Desert Locusts and Flood Risks in Pastoralist Lands; a field report on Blacksmiths of Samburu and Rendile; PARAN’s 2020-2022 Strategic Plan; IMPACT’s 2019 Annual Report.
3. Crafting a concept note for a future microfinance initiative — At the beginning of the internship, IMPACT notified us of a potential microfinance initiative to be implemented later on. At that point, the project was limited to a basic idea and lacked any substantial details. Justine and I worked collaboratively with Ole Kaunga and Beatrice Lempaira to flesh out the concept, and then prepared a concept note to be handed out to potential investors and partners.
4. Building a new website for IMPACT — Originally, Justine and I were simply supposed to help IMPACT update their website content. However, it quickly became apparent that the whole website was outdated and inadequate. To solve this, I spearheaded the creation of an entirely new website, in line with their long-term goals. Justine and I then worked collaboratively on creating the content for this website. This was, by far, the most time-consuming aspect of the internship.
I am not receiving credit for my internship but was able to learn a lot from my experience, regardless. This internship has confirmed my previous desire to work with minority/indigenous groups. However, it has made me certain that I want to be working in a setting that allows me to connect with these communities and be more immersed in the work I am doing. Though I enjoyed my internship remotely, I learnt how much I value human interaction and being able to engage with the people I am working with and for. The funds I received for the internship allowed me to work on my internship without worrying about the limitations imposed on me by COVID-19 (such as not being able to find a job). I was able to maintain a standard of living that allowed me to focus on my work and I am incredibly grateful for this. Through the process of the internship I was undergoing many sudden personal issues, which meant that I was sometimes not able to be as involved as I would have liked to be but the internship enriched my summer by providing me with an outlet to work on things I am passionate about. I am extremely grateful to Carol and Lloyd Darlington for their contribution to this internship; it truly made a big impact.
