Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Last Day :(


Today was my last day at Joint Council. I'm going to take next semester off from interning, but plan on coming back for events and fundraisers Joint Council has and maybe interning here again some day.

It was a really nice day here. Four other interns were here, and Tom and Rebecca took us all out to lunch at a delicious Asian restaurant. Today I worked on gathering news articles on adoption in Ethiopia and working on the membership database. I also added up all the hours I spent working on different projects and tasks here. I mentioned to Rebecca that I have a Spanish final tomorrow, so she gave me a summary report on a foster care study to translate into Spanish! It was a great way for me to study a little bit and still help them out. Tom and Rebecca are always trying to help the interns get involved with things that are relevant or interesting to us.

I learned a lot working at Joint Council. Lets see...
1. How to manage a database (Etapestry)
2. Proficiency in Excel
3. How to edit a website (listservs)
4. How to merge mail
5. What it is like to attend a congressional hearing (!)
6. Communications skills with businesses

AND MANY OTHER THINGS!

Moreover, I learned so much about international adoption. It is a very complicated process that involves many different issues. I never realized the extent of corruption that is present and the many issues within the field. I also learned that the people who dedicate their lives to working in this field are extremely compassionate and dedicated. I am very happy I had the experience of working here and getting to know Tom, Rebecca, and the other interns.
THANK YOU JOINT COUNCIL!!!!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Small tasks for a big cause

This week, I worked a few different things. On Wednesday, I sent letter about membership dues to various organizations who are members of Joint Council. I also helped gather supplies and prepare for another fundraising event that we had at 10 Thousand Villages on Thurday night. It was a pretty successful fundraiser. I also wrote and sent thank you notes for donations that we received.
Today, I added members to our database of people who participated in the event on Thursday. I called a few more stores about donating prizes for our photo contest. I sent out a few more letters about membership dues, and then worked on organizing the membership database. This week went by quickly! Last week will be my last week here... kinda sad :(