Last 10^th of April, 10 students from The Ateneo de Davao University flew in from the Philippines to engage in the first undergraduate internship program with WEAVE. The students, who are currently in their junior year in college taking up International Studies Major in Asian Studies, were accompanied by their instructor, Mr. John Harvey Gamas also an alumnus of the university. Even before the internship program formally began, the interns took a week to travel around Thailand making Bangkok their first destination followed by visits to Ayutthaya and Sukhothai. After a week of sightseeing and leisure, the group made its way to Chiang Mai, where the main office of WEAVE is, making it a pit-stop for five of the 10 interns whereas the other half traveled further to Mae Sot to fulfill their part of the program.

This partnership between WEAVE and the Ateneo de Davao University in sponsoring internship programs for selected students first came about last year when a group of graduate students from the Jesuit university came to Thailand and contributed to WEAVE’s advocacy in Early Childhood Development and Women’s Capacity Building situated in Mae Hong Son. This year, the same advocacy is being mobilized through the student interns who are assigned to contribute to the Research, Publication and Documentation Department in Chiang Mai and the Income Generation Program in Mae Sot.

The interns not only have the opportunity to impart with WEAVE their personal and trained skills but as well as grasp this experience to learn from it and be prepared for what future paths they may head on to.

This year’s overseas internship program greatly benefits not only the women’s organization but the students and the university’s International Studies program much more so. It is more than just another internship program but an exchange of skills, knowledge and ideas that move to create better projects for the organization’s cause. The internship that formally ends on the 14^th of May which will be culminated in Mae Sot will be another successful partnership with WEAVE.