Internships allow experience with U.N., aging issues
|
A UMNS photo by John Goodwin Stephanie Oduro is a summer intern at Global Action on Aging.
|
Stephanie
Oduro, a native of Ghana and resident of Jersey City, N.J., is serving a
summer internship at Global Action on Aging in New York. The nonprofit
organization was founded by Susanne Paul, former staff with the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin.
Photo #05-582. Accompanies UMNS #449. 8/12/05 |
Aug. 12, 2005
By Linda Bloom*
NEW YORK (UMNS) —
Stephanie Oduro has always been fascinated by the United Nations, but a
recent internship with Global Action on Aging gave her a more realistic
picture of how the U.N. operates.
Oduro understands, for
example, that change rarely happens quickly. “I’ve learned that
diplomacy is very slow and very tedious,” she said.
A native of Ghana and
resident of Jersey City, N.J., Oduro was finishing a summer internship
at Global Action on Aging in August, along with Ruo Fu of Beijing,
China, Priya Sharma of London, Ontario, and Cindy Chin, a New Yorker and
resident of Queens.
Global Action on Aging
was founded in 1994 by Susanne Paul, former staff with the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Over the years, the nonprofit
organization has received support from various United Methodist
agencies, including the board’s Women’s Division, the Board of
Discipleship, and the Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Under Paul’s guidance,
Global Action on Aging — which “advocates by, with and for older persons
worldwide” — has progressed from a start-up venture to a recognized
nongovernmental partner for social justice programs sponsored by the
United Nations.
In the past year, the
agency has doubled its office space at the United Methodist-owned Church
Center for the United Nations, allowing for an expansion of interns and
volunteers.
The diverse linguistic abilities of the interns is particularly important as the Global Action on Aging Web site — www.globalaging.org — attracts a growing number of readers from non-English speaking countries.
Besides English,
articles can be found in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.
The top 20 areas represented by visitors to the site each week include
Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the
Russian Federation.
Among the summer
interns, Fu speaks Mandarin; Oduro is fluent in French and Twi, a
language of the Ashanti region of Ghana; Sharma speaks an Indian
dialect; and Chin is conversant in Cantonese and some Mandarin.
|
A UMNS photo by John Goodwin Susanne
Paul, former staff with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, is founder of Global Action on Aging in New York.
|
Susanne
Paul, former staff with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, is founder of Global Action on Aging in New York. The
nonprofit organization "advocates by, with and for older persons
worldwide." A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin. Photo #05-583. Accompanies
UMNS #449. 8/12/05 |
Interns come to Global
Action on Aging from various sources. Paul has formed a relationship
with a French graduate school, the Institute for Political Studies in
Aix-en-Provence, which sends two students as nine-month interns each
year. Russian students come through the Muskie Scholars program.
Paul said she also uses a few “virtual interns” who research and post articles from other locations.
A number of interns have learned about the agency through www.idealist.org, a Web site that lists social justice-related job and internship opportunities.
“If it weren’t for that listing, I might not have found it,” Sharma said.
What drew her and the
other interns to Global Action on Aging was both the proximity to the
United Nations and the promise of a good work experience. “You could
really see we’d be getting a lot of responsibility, which is not common
for internships,” she explained.
The interns develop and
update the agency’s Web-based programs, which deal with issues such as
elder rights, health, pensions, rural aging and older people caught in
armed conflict. Using Web research and a variety of U.N. and private
sources, the interns post information in those categories.
Sharma, who is pursuing
a bachelor’s degree in health science and philosophy at the University
of Western Ontario, said she particularly has enjoyed the Friday
meetings with fellow interns, when they pool their research and design
the front page of the Web site.
Fu — who has been
studying health care policy and management at the New School in
Manhattan and will stay on as an intern in the fall — has appreciated
the opportunity to work on health care issues and the affiliation with
the United Nations. “It’s been a really great learning experience for
me,” she said.
Although the problems
facing the United Nations and the world are frustrating, “you see so
many people at the U.N. work so hard to make this a better place,” she
noted.
Oduro believes the
research work she has done during her internship on pensions and Social
Security will assist her as she pursues a degree in international
relations at the University of Pennsylvania.
Chin, a psychology
major at the University of Rochester, wanted to explore the world of
nonprofits. She has seen how dedicated nonprofit staffs can be to their
work and enjoys the connection that Global Action on Aging has to its
members.
Paul credits her
interns with building up the Web site over the past five years, to the
point where it draws a million hits a month. Interns also may work on
special projects, help with general office chores and assist with Global
Action on Aging events.
“Our interns are producing the materials here, day by day, that document the situation of older persons,” she said
|
A UMNS photo by John Goodwin The summer interns are (from left) Ruo Fu, Cindy Chin, Priya Sharma and Stephanie Oduro.
|
Summer
interns with Global Action on Aging, a nonprofit organization founded
by Susanne Paul, former staff with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, are, from left: Ruo Fu of Beijing, China; Cindy Chin of New
York; Priya Sharma of London, Ontario; and Stephanie Oduro, a native of
Ghana and resident of Jersey City, N.J. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin.
Photo #05-584. Accompanies UMNS #449. 8/12/05 |
Potential interns must
have a commitment to social justice, as well as good writing,
researching and Internet skills. Paul considers a sense of commitment
and a willingness to learn as important as any specialized knowledge
about issues of aging.
“Many of the foreign
students think about the U.N. as a potential employer,” she said. She
added that Global Action on Aging often arranges lunches for interns
with U.N. employees who share their experiences and give helpful
information.
Interns serve a minimum
of three months. Although the internships are unpaid, academic credit
can sometimes be arranged and some interns are able to raise financial
support for living expenses from local community members and
institutions. Part-time internships also are available.
Information on internships can be found at www.globalaging.org, the organization’s Web site.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Audio Interviews
Susanne Paul
Stephanie Oduro
Related Articles
Methodists join NGOS in Madrid to discuss aging
Madrid event to define new strategy for aging population
Resources
Global Action on Aging: Internships
United Nations
AARP: Internet resources on aging
Center on Aging & Older Adult Ministries
|