My name is Sarah, I am a senior at Tufts University, and I am the newest Marketing and Communications intern at School the World.
The first time I learned about STW was during my sophomore year, when a friend became one of their first interns. Fast forward two years later to my senior fall, and I, like most others my age, was desperately trying to figure out what to do with my life. This internship would let me explore a new area of interest for me, so I was eager to start work in early January.
I did my research before I started, and could list off all the facts about the organization you would want to know: STW is a non-profit organization that builds schools in Guatemala and Honduras; their mission is based on the four pillars: Schools, Books, Teachers, and Parents; they stay in their communities for five years, and many more. But it wasn’t until I started to learn about STW from the inside that I was able to see how remarkable of an organization it is.
Everyone working for STW is extremely dedicated to their job and the mission. Kate, CEO and founder, and Alana, Communications and Outreach Manager, work hand-in-hand with a dedicated Guatemalan staff of seven. Though each of us interns (there are four of us this spring) has our own unique role, we help in all kinds of ways to help keep the organization progressing.
Besides us, other people float in and out of the office all week long. Students participating in this year’s service trips drop by to deliver donations that they worked hard to solicit from family, friends, and neighbors; board members and parent volunteers come in to help finalize campaign plans and events; 3 high school students (all previous trip participants) volunteer once a week in the office to send thank you notes to donors. The commitment I’ve seen in everyone that walks through the door of our office is incredible, and speaks a lot to how far STW has come since its founding in 2009. I see this especially in students that are returning to Guatemala for their second service trip with STW. They are so excited to return to see the school they funded in 2013 and to build a second school for a new community.
Some of my time is spent filing paperwork and helping organize the donations that come in, but what I love is being updating the STW Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook page. I think social media is a great way for students, parents, donors, and anyone else to keep up with STW’s newest projects. It’s fun to re-tweet messages from other organizations with similar goals to ours, or post a picture on Instagram that was taken in one of our communities, and show others what a big impact STW is making in the lives of children in Central America, and how much potential it has. Reading testimonials from volunteers and from Guatemalan students and teachers is truly inspiring, and being able to share them on our social media pages helps me feel like I’m doing my part to help this organization.
It’s been a great six weeks, and I’m excited for the next couple months!
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