Internships

Julia Vinnen's Internship with FNF MENA

   1. Where are you from and what is different in Amman to where you are from?

I am from Heidelberg in Germany.

While you will find the occasional Shawerma shack by now, lots of things are different in Amman.

From a spread of Hummus, Mtabbal and Labaneh and the smell of Turkish coffee in the morning and the Bauhaus architecture that spreads all over the city, to the lack of public transport and the general chaos (in a good way) of downtown, not many things are the same as in Germany.

But what stuck out to me the most is that the openness and kindness of the people, that showed me the country and made me find hopefully lifelong friendships.

   2. What was the highlight of your internship work with FNF Amman/MENA?

My main project with FNF Amman was to accompany the making of the NauHaus, our new office building. I was able to take over a lot of responsibility in this process and learn about the inner workings of an international NGO on the way.

Apart from that, an absolute highlight of my work with FNF was writing an application for funds for a new project in Iraq, giving me the opportunity to research and evaluate different aspects of the country that I was not yet familiar with.

   3. What is your main Take-Away from this internship and how might this be helpful to you in your future endeavors?

This internship gave me an insight into the inner workings of an international NGO. I got to see the foundations work from an organizational and from a project level, while observing major political events in the country and the region.

After finishing law school, I am planning on working in the NGO or governmental sector, and I feel that this internship with FNF gave me valuable experience in this regard.