My internship at Oude Molen
Spending a month working for a great social project and travelling a new country at the same time – that was my plan for South Africa when I was looking for a meaningful internship in 2018 and when I found the Oude Molen Eco Village, I was sure it would turn out just like that.
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I am Konstantin, a 23-year-old Business Management student from Germany and what I liked best about Oude Molen was that it’s not just one of the multiple NGO’s that fund themselves through donations. A social project is only sustainable when it manages to establish an activity that will create social value and that is financially stable. This is exactly what Oude Molen does. The community consists of a number of social businesses – organizations operating like companies. Instead of making a profit for their owner they choose to improve living conditions for their stakeholders. I loved their approach, and so I applied to join them.
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During my time at the village, I was able to become a part of several projects within the village. Together with Chloe, another intern at the time, I got the chance to take part in the creation of a 3D model of the village. The both of us were also engaged in the re-opening of the village pool which implemented social media tasks, we did market research, attended meetings and had to set up an online booking system. Last but not least, we worked on setting up this internship website (so if you find it interesting, props to us!).
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In hindsight, the best thing about this experience were the many wonderful people you get to meet at Oude Molen. People that have decided to dedicate their life to improve living conditions for others – and that was very inspiring. You have the chance to become a part of a great team and your tasks can verify from administration to gardening with the local underprivileged kids. South Africa is a country of diversity. And the Oude Molen Eco village is just as diverse. Come here, try yourself out, grow your personality – and then go back and be the change. The beauty of this place and its people will blow your mind!
