The Joy of IFAD Internships

Hello! You might not know me but, as I write this, today is the last day of my internship with The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with IFAD! Words aren’t enough to express my gratitude. I still find it hard to believe that I even got this internship. But I know that everything has led me to this point and it will be a stepping stone to the next greatest thing. Because of how special this experience was, I want to share my story, what led me to IFAD, and what I accomplished. So, let’s begin!

Origin Story

Since I was a toddler, I have had an immense passion for helping the world. My parents saw this in me, so they got me these special Band-Aids that said “Heal the World” on them. While it might have seemed silly, I revered these bandages and ended up placing the last one on the front of my dresser so I could see it every day as I got ready. In fact, I still have this dresser with the bandage at my parents’ place! It continues to motivate me to this day.

Eventually, we had to move away from this childhood paradise because developers had purchased the land. It was heartbreaking to see ecologically valuable land be destroyed at such a young age. Those wetlands were home to native grasses (like sweetgrass and cattails), foxes, owls, bats, mice, dragonflies, etc. Development was delayed severely due to the owls nesting, but once biologists were able to relocate the owls… the building began. While those individual owls were saved, the habitat where they likely had been for generations was suddenly gone. At the formative age of 5 years old I quickly learned that development is very powerful and that maybe if I knew more about it, I could have saved that wetland

Today that land is a Days Inn, a strip mall, and a retirement home. All experience regular flooding.

Fast forward 10 years to high school, I have an amazing history teacher. We have to act out the League of Nations during the Paris Peace Conference as our summative for the WWI unit. The task was very involved. Every student was assigned a nation (I was Japan), and they had to research that nation’s motives, what they said, and what they accomplished during the proceedings. At the end, as a class, we all signed a prop Treaty of Versailles. From there I got an interest in history and the United Nations. My history teacher, Mr. Keast, noticed this and provided me a special challenge for our WWII unit. He wanted me to select a unique perspective to write about for our “Causes and Aftermath” paper. I ended up stumbling across a book titled, “The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food” by Lizzie Collingham. After reading it, everything sort of clicked for me that food is the basis of human life, and I wanted to have a career involving food (in addition to being the topic of my paper).

Luckily, I was able to actually find a post-secondary school that I could combine all my passions into one degree. And I was even more lucky that this institution was about 40 minutes from my parents’ house… the University of Guelph. But getting an internship with IFAD in my last semester of my undergrad is probably the luckiest I have ever been.

What does an IFAD intern even do?

This is a question I received a lot. In summary my job has been: (1) assisting colleagues in Rome, Washington, and New York with research, (2) attending events related to development and food, and following it up with an executive summary to share with my colleagues, (3) becoming club president for the IFAD Student Club chapter in Guelph and hosting events to engage youth with IFAD’s mission.

The last one was my favourite part because I was able to forge some great friendships with other students that care about the same issues.

This was my team. From Left to Right is: Ethan (my co-intern), William, Alors, Miles, Joy (myself), Katherine, Meg, and Hasan. Not pictured is Bruna, Claire, and Ellie (my other co-intern).

Together we were able to accomplish so much! We ran two in-person events, and two online events. We also have one more in-person event happening at the end of this semester. Along the way we also had many club executive socials for team building. I am also very proud to announce that we were crowned Trivia Night Champion back in February. I have the giant Champion mug in my kitchen to prove it! Last year IFAD Guelph was quite small. I can’t believe how fast it grew up!!!

Internship Highlights

September 2024: Club Fair & Building the Exec Team

 

October 2024: Arrell Food Summit in Toronto & The Seeds of Vandana Shiva Film Screening in Guelph & Filming a Welcoming Video for the IFAD Youth Club in Japan

November 2024: Working at the UN Virtual Career Panel with Jean, Michele, and Moses

January 2025: Taste the World Cultural Exchange in Guelph

February 2025: International Development Week Indigenous Knowledge Virtual Seminar with Dr. Penados and Global Affairs Canada

March 2025: Coffee and Donuts with Rachel, Nicole, and Ellie in Guelph

And we still have one more event to come this month! Keep your eye out for “Can YOU Feed 9 Billion People?: A Multi-Media Experience.” It will be packed with fun games and technology.

Through this internship, I learned so much about event planning/hosting, social media management, and how the development landscape operates. This is something that will follow me for the rest of my life! It was hard work but the end result is very rewarding.

Welcome to Washington

In February, I had the unique opportunity to take a vacation in Washington DC with my best friend, Esther. While we were there, we visited the IFAD Americas Liaison Office (ALO) HQ to spend time with my boss, Carmina. It was SO COOL! Thank you, Carmina!

What’s next? & Thank You

Now that I have my Bachelor’s of Science in Agriculture and International Development, I honestly don’t know what I will do next. I don’t have any major opportunities lined up so in the meantime I will continue doing what I enjoy most, volunteering with food, youth, and my neighbours!

I would lastly like to thank everyone for making my time with IFAD so special!!! IFAD wouldn’t exist without you here to inspire young people. Thank you to our UoG Supervisor (Dr. Chowdhury), Team Canada (Carmina, Jean, and Rachel), & the rest of ALO (Gabe, Brooke, Courtney, Travis, and Claudia). But most importantly, THANK YOU TO MY FELLOW INTERNS! Ethan, Ellie, Nicole, Enki, and Jia, you are beyond valuable to the team. I know success is ahead for all of us.

Kind Regards,
Joy ⭐