What I’m Actually Doing Here

After catching up on several of my fellow international interns’ blogs the past few days, I realized that I should probably include a post about my actual internship and what I’m doing. So here goes.

I am working for Habitat for Humanity Mongolia as a Resource Development and Communications Associate.

Habitat for Humanity has been working in Mongolia for more than 10 years and has served to date 2063 Mongolian families through new homes and home repairs. There are four programs in Mongolia in four different cities: Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet, Darkhan, and Khangai. I am working in the National Office which is located in the capital of Ulaanbaatar.

My internship duties can be vague and general, but also very specific. I will be working on developing and strengthening relationships with local and international donors in order to make HFH Mongolia more sustainable and less dependent on HFH International. I will also be working on communications (read marketing) materials while I’m here. I’ve been asked to work with the staff to create 2-3 year strategic plans for Resource Development, Communications, and Advocacy for HFH Mongolia to carry out after I leave. One of the biggest things I’ll be working on is the Blue Sky Build 2012 (BSB). It is a week-long 20 house building blitz in the first week of July. Over 100 international volunteers and lots of national volunteers will be helping to build 20 homes in 6 days. Finding donors and assisting with promotion and marketing of this project is a lot of what I will do.

So far I’ve been familiarizing myself with past and current HFH Mongolia policies, communication materials, and everything else. I’ve met with the BSB team to discuss what they’ve done so far and what I can help with. I’ve researched potential donors that will need to be approached in the next few months, I’ve gone on a home visit to meet with potential home partners hoping to get a house through HFH, and I’ve put together the 2^nd quarter newsletter. I’ve liked my internship so far and I feel like I have a lot that I can do while I’m here, but that it is also up to me to get things done. The people I get to work with have been fantastic and I enjoy going to work most days.

I feel very grateful that my internship has worked out so well (so far).

If you would like more information about Habitat for Humanity Mongolia, please visit their website at: www.hfh.mn