Report

Mohana Rajakumar

World Vision International - Costa Rica

I think all people want to better the world.  But this past summer, every day I came in to work with people who are doing something tangible and affecting entire nations.  I spent most of my time in the World Vision Regional Office in San José, Costa Rica.  While sitting at my desk, I was able to work on projects for the Latin American and Caribbean region such as translating an example of a child labor book, doing research  for an AIDS book, and raising money for a center for sexually abused teenage girls.

I was able to use my writing and editing skills from my English degree in each of the major projects that I worked on.  As an English PhD student, the written work was an exciting opportunity to use my grammar and diction skills not only for scholarly work but also to benefit the world at large.  In addition, my oral and written Spanish abilities have greatly improved and were helpful in translating back and forth between languages.  This internship and living situation were my first experiences in a Latino culture.  I had to use my Spanish in a day-to-day context and consider this as one of the primary benefits of this internship.  I now realize that my skills as a writer and bilingual speaker could be useful in this type of endeavor in the future and I am confident that before too long I will return to the world of non-profit work.

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