First regional summer intern announced

Sevefaiga Manu is relishing the opportunity ahead of her, where she will return home to Samoa, to undertake a 10-week internship with the New Zealand High Commission in Apia.

The 21-year-old University of Canterbury student is part of a 16-strong cohort of NZ Aid Pacific Scholars who have been selected for the 2016-2017 NZ Scholarships Undergraduate Student Summer Internship programme.

The programme, facilitated by Pacific Cooperation Foundation (PCF), started last summer and it was received very well by both scholars and NZ-based host organisations.

This summer, PCF has extended the programme to include a regional host organisation, and Sevefaiga will become the first regional intern to take part in the programme when she completes her internship with NZ High Commissioner in Samoa, Her Excellency (HE) Jackie Frizelle and her team.

In her final year of a Bachelor of Criminal Justice degree, Sevefaiga will stay in Samoa following her internship, as students are bonded to their home country after completing their NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) funded scholarship.

It is an honour to be picked for the internship, starting in November, Sevefaiga says.

“I’m so excited to be doing this internship in Samoa as I have been away for a while – my parents can’t wait either,” she says.

“It is a great extension to this programme and it makes sense to engage with people back at home because I am bonded to Samoa for two years and will be looking for a job here.

“I hope this experience will give me an edge and access to better job opportunities.”

It has given Sevefaiga peace of mind to have an internship to head to following her studies, she adds.

“This internship will provide work experience, which a lot of organisations in Samoa now ask for of job applicants – so that will be good for when I start looking for a job,” she says.

During her 10-weeks with the High Commission, Sevefaiga hopes to improve her communication skills; learn how to become more adaptable in the workplace; and also learn professionalism.

HE Jackie Frizelle is thrilled to have Sevefaiga join her team to complete her internship.

Becoming the first regional host in the Summer Internship programme feels like a natural extension of the NZ High Commission of Samoa’s work here, she says.

“Our work is all about partnerships, looking for win-wins and building capability,” HE says.

“We are involved in managing the scholarships programme (among other things) so the internship is a very nice connection for us.

“It’ll be a privilege to have one of Samoa’s brightest and best students working with us for ten weeks.”

The High Commission’s work is about building bridges between NZ and Samoa, and who better to help us with that than a Samoan student studying in NZ, she adds.

Completing an internship in the scholar’s home country will be beneficial, as it can provide them with access to new experiences and to contacts that may help them with thinking about where they want to go in their career.

“We hope to offer Sevefaiga some really interesting work and she’ll meet some great professional role models in our wonderful Samoan staff,” HE says.

“I also like the fact that as it is in her home country it keeps her links to family and community alive here.”

The Summer Internship programme begins on November 21 and concludes February 17.

 

 

Photo: Sevefaiga Manu