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Brendan Carroll '10
Brendan Carroll '10
Dealing with the ins and outs of a new job, a new country and new language at the same time isn't easy. For Brendan Carroll' 10 (Saxtons River, Vt.), however, the chance to learn on so many levels at once was the perfect work opportunity. Carroll is spending the summer working for El Instituto para el Desarrollo Humano (IDH), an NGO (non-governmental organization) based in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The organization focuses on a variety of issues including human rights, social and preventative medicine, gender equality, and environmental protection, as well as conducting cultural, socio-political and economic research.

As an intern in IDH's human rights department, Carroll is spending almost three months in Cochabamba. He works to design, create and distribute publications that raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and issues of sexual health, as well as participating in radio and television interviews throughout the city and helping to design and run a community integration workshop. Carroll says that his internship allows him to support the organization and learn about the non-profit sector from its members at the same time. He has also learned a great deal about the emotional as well as the physical effects of HIV/AIDS, since he communicates directly with those affected by the disease, rather than working solely with numbers and statistics.

Working at the organization has brought its own challenges, since the professional environment has different priorities than Carroll is used to from his academic career. In 15 years as a student, he has learned to produce work based on his own opinions of what constitutes his best. At IDH, however, he works on his assignments with his employer's goals in mind, rather than his own. Carroll says that the professional experience and personal growth of his time in Bolivia are preparing him for "more focused" career-related experience in non-profit work.

After his work in Bolivia, Carroll plans to continue exploring options in the non-profit sector, and says that his experience this summer has given him valuable tools to use in future internships or career experiences. However, a major part of his learning this summer has taken place outside business hours. Routine chores like banking, shopping and transportation became suddenly difficult in a foreign language, but although Carroll says language issues have "proven to be very frustrating," ultimately the challenge to communicate has been one of the most valuable learning aspects of his work at IDH. In his free time, Carroll explores the culture of the city, as well as traveling farther afield. In addition to Cochabamba, he plans to visit Lake Titicaca and the salt flats of Uyuni, Bolivia, and has also traveled to Cusco and Machu Picchu in Peru.

A Hispanic studies major with a minor in sociology, Carroll is also involved in the Rainbow Alliance at Hamilton. After he graduates, he hopes to go to graduate school abroad. "I would love to have the opportunity to combine travel and study," he says.
 
-- by Laura Bramley

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