Monica Goforth‘07
Sydney, Australia

Monika Goforth is an International Relations major and Spanish minor who had a summer internship at CPAR, Ethiopia.

I learned to live and work independently. I learned a lot about the culture and history of the area, and Ethiopian politics. I learned a lot about the difficulties NGOs face when working on development projects - from the side of funding, government controls/requirements, and the community's interest or involvement in making the projects successful.

When: Summer between junior and senior year.

Why an international internship: I'm very interested in international NGOs and development work. I have a lot of experience overseas. CGI offered this one in Ethiopia, and I've never been there before, so why not? Big adventure, very cool!

What language did you speak: English.

What did you do: I accompanied development workers to their field projects and interviewed community members, CPAR staff and government officials on CPAR's effectiveness as a development agency. In the end, I wrote a 30 page analysis pointing out gaps in their projects and recommending solutions.