During the internship component of the Glocal program, I interned with Kuchinate - an arts-based economic and psychosocial collective for African asylum-seeking women. I learned that the NGO world is often in survival mode, and thus has difficulties in planning its long-term goals. One can often find the key solution for the different problems that come up within the community, as they hold a diversity of skills, human wealth, and useful knowledge.
I conducted my internship in Lima, Peru with Ocupa Tu Calle, a local organization seeking to reduce inequality of access to quality public spaces through the recovery of unused and abandoned spaces, through participatory, small-scale community urban interventions. Along with my work in the field of urban public space, I also learned about additional challenges of the city's residents, related to other fields such as migration, environment, poverty, and crime.
As an experienced architect and urban planner with a special interest in spatial justice, I conducted my internship with two affiliated organizations of SDI which are supporting shack and slum dwellers in Namibia and Kenya. In Namibia, I worked with the local organization, Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG), which is supporting the shack dwellers federation of Namibia and was part of the Community Land Information Program (CLIP).
During the four months of my internship in Sierra Leone, I had the opportunity to develop several manuals regarding livelihood and life-skills training, work closely with local staff on project managing and development, support donor relations and partners cultivation, and experience the implementation of participatory approaches through community engagement methods.
During my internship, I gained a better understanding of international advocacy and how local events impact the international platform, as well as how to use this as a tool for development.
A lot of people told me that the Hebrew University was the best university in Israel. The professors are incredibly accessible. In terms of classes, there’s great discussion – they really want to involve you. It’s a really good environment to learn in.
For me, the program turned out to be super-practical - I literally learned about a theory on a Monday and implemented it in my community on the next Thursday. Moreover, it is both diverse (people from at least 10 nations and many different professional backgrounds) and very personal (there’s always someone there to listen to your request or problem, and to figure it out together with you).
Stav is a social innovation consultant with over 14 years of experience working across sectors on social challenges in technology, international development, education, and gender diversity.
Liel Maghen has been involved in the field of peacebuilding for more than a decade.
