Nienke in the Caribbean

Participant

Nienke

Programme

Internship

Country

🇱🇨 Saint Lucia

Duration

4 weeks

Short bio

I’m Nienke, I’m 21 and I study Trend Research and Concept Creation in Lifestyle at Fontys in Tilburg. I came to this organisation through my minor in Global Development issues

How satisfied were you with the support from Holland?

The support I had in Holland was really good. The organisation already had links with my school, so the contact went very smoothly. I was first able to meet Ruben in Holland and then I also had online contact with Joël, who was in Saint Lucia.

My story

“Sometimes it was tough, but the wonderful moments far outweigh the difficult ones. I’m really glad I took on the adventure and I look back on my time there very happily, I’d recommend it to everyone.”

Nienke · internship in Saint Lucia

In the summer of 2022 I spent a month in Saint Lucia contributing to the organisation United Through Sport, or The Power of Sports as it’s called in Dutch. A whole month in the Caribbean was quite something, but looking back I’m incredibly grateful that I went.

To prepare, I researched the culture of Saint Lucia for my minor, but it still took a lot of getting used to when I actually experienced what it was like there. How things were organised and how people interacted with each other was really quite different from anything I had experienced before. But I adapted quickly, and before I knew it, it felt completely normal.

I mainly gave swimming lessons at the swimming club on the island. I got on really well with the swimming coach Evelyn, and even though I didn’t have much experience of teaching swimming, I soon got a taste for it. I really loved working at the swimming club. I also went along to rugby and netball. On top of that, our group of volunteers also taught sports sessions at the primary schools.

Sometimes it was tough, but the wonderful moments far outweigh the difficult ones. I’m really glad I took on the adventure and I look back on my time there very happily, I’d recommend it to everyone.

What advice would you like to give future interns and volunteers?

If you’re still unsure about going, I’d say do it! Prepare well, talk to volunteers and the coordinators in Holland, but if you get the chance I’d definitely go for it.