Written by Zanzibar intern, Faye Sherlock.
Hujambo! Im Faye, a 23 year old from England and the new THAF intern in the beautiful paradise island that is Zanzibar. I studied Business Studies at university and have worked in marketing for a year and a half, when I decided I wanted to start a career within the charitable sector I knew this was my opportunity to return to Africa. This internship gives me experience with not only fundraising, events and project management but also gives me the chance to see first hand the impact we are making to a community.
For the first month of my internship I was lucky enough to be working with volunteers on two of African Impacts projects here in Zanzibar, the Marine Conservation project and the Community project. Ive loved being able to get stuck into the projects so that I can understand exactly how I can help and who is affected by the wonderful work the volunteers and staff members do. My month of volunteering is up, so the following four months Ill be specifically working with the three THAF focal projects as their intern.
I’ve already organised a fundraising spa day and a film night and I’m super excited for what the next four months will bring. Hopefully I’ll be able to make a real impact to this warm, welcoming community.
A highlight in my first week was visiting a turtle sanctuary in the north of Zanzibar, where you can see and feed the turtles. Its called Mnarani Marine Turtle Conservation Pond. Only approximately 1 in 1000 turtle hatchlings survive to adulthood, the project aims to decrease the likelihood of endangered species through controlled breeding before releasing them back into the wild. What a special start to my internship!