THE ATENEO de Davao University has developed a virtual international internship program that aims to provide a professional learning experience to participants.

The program was developed by the university’s Internationalization for Mindanao Office under its Global Experiential Learning Program.

The four-week virtual internship program provides skills-based professional learning through online engagements with the university’s network of partner industries and institutions.

“ADDU’s Remote Internship Program intends to provide student-interns with practical experience in industrial operations and professional work simulations that can augment their formal education, all the while maximizing online technologies that allow for a remote learning format,” the university said.

“For the September 2020 Cycle, a total of 64 students from various partner universities in Asia applied for the internship program. After an extensive screening and deliberation, two students from St. Aloysius Gonzaga Institute of Higher Studies in Myanmar were accepted as interns for Project Dyesebel (Davao Youth’s Environmentally Sustainable Advocacies Building and Empowering Lives), a non-profit, youth-led organization that serves as a platform for young students from the Sama Dilaut indigenous peoples of Davao City,” it added.

The interns, Moris Bo Bo and Cho Cho Win, learned about Mindanao culture in the environmental context through a virtual interaction with the internship host.

They also attended the AIM-organized series of webinars that will aid in their professional development particularly on communication, remote work, and goal setting.

To conclude their internship, the interns co-organized the Environmental and Cultural Online Dialogue 2020 on October 5 to 6, a dialogue between youths from Mindanao and Myanmar who discussed environmental challenges and youth climate actions they encountered in their locality.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to join this internship as I have learned a lot about the environment from Project Dyesebel. At the same time, we learned a lot from the webinars including the use of online platforms which is very useful during this time of pandemic,” Bo said.

For the next internship cycles, the advocacies of each host will revolve around the themes of Peace building, women and children’s rights, Indigenous Peoples, environmental sustainability and preservation, and social entrepreneurship.