As I come to the end of my first month of interning at aditus, it is hard to put together a well-wrapped and ribbon-tied summary of my experience so far – and to answer the ultimate question, “what have you been up to in January? ”
Never try, never succeed, right?
Continue ReadingLooking back at my internship and stay in Malta it’s hard to believe that I had some hesitations before I took the decision to spend four months there. I can now say with complete confidence that I have no regrets and I’m really happy for all that I learned and experienced during this time.
What eventually attracted me to Malta, apart from great weather and beautiful views, was an exceptional activity of various NGOs around the Platform of Human Rights and their engagement in defending and promoting human rights.
So at aditus , where I finally worked for four months, I had a chance to contribute to various projects – I was assisting in research for the ATLAS project on legal aid in Malta, I was helping with conducting interviews and research for the Annual Human Rights Report and I was engaged in fitness check about the compliance of Maltese law with EU directives, amongst others.
I also had an opportunity to participate in various training and seminars as well as take part in meetings with other Maltese NGO’s and stakeholders.
Now, I am so glad that I had a chance to work at aditus and to see how a small group of such dedicated people can make a difference to life of people who are in distress. aditus` work shows that advocating and fighting for rights of people in need, regardless of their colour, religion, gender identity or nationality can really change the situation of everyone whose rights are violated.
My internship at aditus confirmed my wish to specialize in human rights law, so I am now continuing my studies in this area and I hope to work in human rights organization in the future.
However, my four months in Malta were not only about working. I can say that during this time I gained the whole “Maltese experience”. I was freezing at the beginning and suffering from the heat later on, spent a lot of time in traffic jams, ate more pastizzi than I should have, tried a rabbit dish, travelled across Malta and Gozo and swam in Blue Lagoon.
Malta might be a small island but for sure it is not a place where you can get bored and the beautiful views and amazing beaches can reward all the stuff that can sometimes annoy you.
I want to thank everyone with whom I worked at aditus – Neil, Carla, Claire, Antonella and all the interns, for everything I learned and for the great time I had. The atmosphere at work was extremely friendly and lively. I was lucky to be part of their team for four months and for sure I will miss our talks and lunches on the terrace. Continue the great work you are doing and I hope that we’ll meet again soon!
Having just arrived in Malta and making my way to work on my first day with aditus, I didn’t really know what to expect of the upcoming two months, which seemed like a long time back then. Looking back now, after those two months flew by in no time, I regret not having had double the time.
What I gained from the internship – apart from weight due to a pastizzi-overload and a real sense of patience during daily traffic jams – were truly valuable experiences in defending, advocating for and promoting human rights.
In the course of the two months I had the opportunity to contribute to asylum casework, to help organising an advocacy campaign for holders of temporary protection status, to take part in workshops and stakeholder meetings, as well as to conduct research on important legal issues.
Most important of all, I got to work together with a great team of young people, who showed me what all that law-studying might be good for after all: employing legal means and vigorous advocacy to achieve justice and equality for all members of society, disregarding class, color or sexual identity.
For the great time, inspiration and encouragement in Malta, a big thanks to Neil, Carla, Claire, Antonella and Sarianna! Keep up the great work and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future.
Jakob, Claire, Marina, Antonella, Neil and Carla.