Meet the Uni Graduate Whose Internship Took Her to Southeast Africa

She was able to make a difference in the Malawi healthcare system.

This post is presented in partnership with Project Everest Ventures.

When you think about applying for an internship, it’s only natural to first consider local organisations and businesses to help you gain hands-on experience. Except, you don’t always have to limit your search to just your city, or even your country.

As Australian National University graduate Camille Schloeffel discovered, you can complete an internship overseas as well.

"I went to the graduation fair and Project Everest had a stall there, and I signed my name up and got a phone call back," she told Student Edge.

"I was nervous and excited, because I’ve never been overseas for anything uni or internship related."

Camille, who graduated from ANU in 2019 with a Bachelor of Development Studies and a Bachelor of Arts, decided to apply for Project Everest’s health consulting internship in Malawi. Shortly after graduating, she jetted off to Southeast Africa in December.

While you'd usually have to save up for such a big trip, Camille's accommodation and travel insurance costs were totally covered within the cost of the internship placement. Plus, Project Everest also provided brekkie and dinner on working days. 

Pictured: Internship team (supplied).

As Camille explains, the month-long internship enabled her to make a real difference to the Malawi healthcare system.

"Because Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, their health system is mostly on paper," she says, highlighting that in Australia, doctors are able to access our records electronically.

"In Malawi, they have [Health Service Administrators] which would be similar to a community nurse, so they’ll refer them on with paper and the patient will have to repeat their medical history to the doctor because there’s no electronic records."

As part of the internship, Camille helped create a digitised referral system for doctors in Malawi.

"With Western Sydney University, we created an easy-to-use digital system," Camille says.

"It means that doctors have way more time to talk to the patient about their symptoms and get an outcome, instead of just talking about background information."

While the whole experience was exceptionally rewarding, it certainly had its challenges. As Camille points out, it was confronting to be working in a country so far away from home.

"When you’re in a different country and you’re trying to work on a project, there’s going to be a lot of conflicting ideas," she says.

Of course, the ANU graduate is no stranger to taking the lead. In 2019, Camille was named a Westfield Local Hero for starting a student movement against sexual violence called the STOP Campaign.

According to Camille, the internship played a large role in furthering her problem-solving abilities. 

"It definitely helped me to build resilience. I learnt how to communicate effectively in a team when you’re trying to consider a lot more than a normal university project."

Pictured: Project Everest internship students (supplied).

Camille also explained how undertaking the internship taught her a great deal about business, which was an area she hadn’t focused on in her degree. However, she reiterated that Project Everest offered the students all the support and guidance they required.

"I don’t know of any other organisation that throws you in the deep end but wraps so much support around you at the same time," she says.

"We had a lot of support and guidance from previous teams through their handovers and our team leaders."

While the entire internship was immensely enriching, Camille says her favourite part was simply meeting likeminded people with similar values.

"I think my favourite part would have been just with my team going out into the town," she says.

"Even though everyone’s really different and studying different things, the people who end up on the internship tend to have quite similar values.

"So, I think I definitely made some life-long friends. We all got along really, really well.”

As Camille tells us, she’s been able to transfer the skills she learnt from the internship to her current graduate program.

"It has definitely helped me with leadership skills and thinking about things a bit differently."

If, like Camille, you want to get real world experience driven by purpose, apply now for an Impact Internships with Project Everest Ventures in your uni break. Join a team of like-minded legends from across Australia who are committed to using their uni skills to making the world a better place. Gain leadership skills, experience unmatched personal development, and be a part of something real. Get involved with Project Everest now! 

Header Image: Supplied