GVI offers summer internships in a number of different focus areas, including community development, teaching, women’s empowerment, and global public health.
Students looking to gain experience in international community development will find many opportunities with us. They can choose an internship with a specific community development focus like education, health and well-being, or gender equality, or they can choose to complete an internship with a holistic view of community development. We offer international community development internship opportunities in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, or Fiji.
GVI offers teaching internships abroad in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Nepal, South Africa, Madagascar, Thailand, and Fiji. Interns will have the opportunity to teach a range of education levels, from pre-primary, primary, and secondary school students to young and middle-aged adults.
Interns train by supporting local educators, first learning skills like lesson planning and classroom management, and then, as they gain work experience, are given opportunities to lead portions of classes or even full lessons.
In Costa Rica and Thailand, teaching interns can even complete their TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certificate.
GVI offers global health internships in Cambodia, Nepal, South Africa, Thailand, and Fiji. You can be part of the work being done to help communities to prevent transferable illnesses by conducting UNICEF’s WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) workshops with children.
Work to prevent non-transferrable illnesses like diabetes and cardiac disease by leading physical education lessons and nutrition workshops with local students and other community members. In certain locations, like Fiji, you might also get the opportunity to facilitate maternal and prenatal health, as well as infant and toddler health workshops. In some locations, our global public health interns also conduct emergency first aid workshops.
Please note that GVI doesn’t offer any medical internships abroad. The reason for this is that GVI abides by the principle of primum non nocere or “first do no harm.” We simply aren’t comfortable with the potential risks for patients involved in international medical internships. If you’re considering a medical internship abroad, we suggest that you fully investigate the ethical concerns around medical internships, ask the internship provider you plan to use about their operational practices, and make an informed decision afterwards.
For those students who would like to work specifically on gender equality issues, we offer women’s empowerment internships in Cambodia, Ghana, Nepal, Costa Rica, or South Africa.
Perhaps you’re a law student who’s committed to eradicating gender inequality and enforcing women’s rights, or maybe you’re a medical student who is focused on women’s health, including reproductive health, prenatal, and infant care. You might want to work as a psychologist or social worker and are looking to help women empower themselves by freeing themselves from limiting beliefs and creating a community of women to support them on their journey. Those studying to be teachers might also be interested in focusing on helping girls specifically with challenges to achieving their goals.
GVI can offer you the opportunity to learn about the challenges women in specific local contexts face around the world. What are the differences and what are the similarities? You’ll learn about the kind of support that is most valued by local girls and women in communities around the world. In the process, you’ll master numerous skills, like teaching adults and leading workshops. You might also be given the opportunity to complete a research project focused on women’s issues in the community. We offer international women’s empowerment internships.
