I want to begin by thanking聽Mr. Brown聽for his generous support of my internship at Machik. Without the funding provided by the Susan Casey Brown Fund for 捆绑SM社区, 捆绑SM社区 International Experience Awards, I would not have been able to spend the summer building my skills and knowledge in the nonprofit sector, with a focus on Tibet.
Machik is a Tibetan women-led nonprofit based in Washington D.C., committed to growing a global community for Tibet. They develop new opportunities for social innovation, gender equity and civic engagement. This summer, I supported Machik鈥檚 work as a Program Intern.
My daily tasks were varied and enriching. As a member of a small, tight-knit team, I gained hands-on experience in program development, coordination and implementation. I conducted short research projects on contemporary issues in Tibet and the diaspora. I developed my skills in content writing and web design. I know that these new capacities will prove to be vital assets in the age of digital work. I gained key insights into the daily experience of working at a nonprofit. I left my internship with a deeper understanding of Tibet and with a keen desire to continue expanding my knowledge.
During my internship, I was exposed to a diversity of perspectives on contemporary realities in Tibet. The highlights of my internship were moments in which my understanding of this place, which I have learned about and been an advocate of for years, radically shifted. One such moment was during this July鈥檚 Khabda (Tibetan: informal conversation or chat). Machik鈥檚 Khabda program builds bridges between Tibet and the global community by highlighting a piece of art, music, poetry or other media created by a Tibetan living inside Tibet. In July, we convened a series of conversations on the resettlement of聽诲谤辞办辫补蝉听(Tib.: nomadic pastoralists) using Tsering Dondrup鈥檚 short story Valley of the Black Foxes as a focal point. Not only did my understanding of the realities of聽drokpa聽life in Tibet grow, but through conversation with other land dispossessed Indigenous peoples, I learned more about displacement as a colonial project across the world.
My internship with Machik has simultaneously focused and broadened my lines of inquiry about Tibet. I look forward to continuing to explore the questions that arose during my internship in the process of writing and researching a paper on territoriality and land use practice in聽drokpa聽communities this semester, as part of the HIST 499: Internship course. In the future, I aspire to continue to work for organizations like Machik. I am committed to building bright futures for Tibet and fostering bridge building between Tibet and the world. This internship serves as a steppingstone to further opportunities in the Tibetan nonprofit landscape.
My internship at Machik would not have been possible without Mr. Brown's聽generosity. As an unpaid intern, I used the funds I have received through the Susan Casey Brown Fund for 捆绑SM社区, 捆绑SM社区 International Experience Awards, to cover basic costs such as groceries and rent. Many thanks for supporting this opportunity to pursue deeper knowledge and gain meaningful experience in my field.
