I am Leo Puyol, studying business and law in France. My program was human rights in Africa as part of my mandatory overseas internship for my studies. I was dealing with Children’s Rights and Gender equality issues. The Children’s issues included child labour and child marriage problems. In gender equality terms, the focus was on women’s rights to education that may be harassed due to financial and other factors. As an outcome of my work, I would like to mention the children’s open interaction in discussions of their rights.

I was working with the Art in Tanzania Human Rights team, including the team leaders and other interns present for the same topic. The group visited a mining location where we faced the reality of child labour. It was essential to see the problems in theory and practice. We discussed with many women in the area the importance of the children not working at the mines but going to school. 

Sometimes we faced challenges as the children did not speak English at some schools, but the Art in Tanzania team leaders joined these sessions translating between English and Swahili. Also, the African way of life was much different compared to France and Europe, so it was essential to accept it.

I am proposing that Art in Tanzania arranges for a practising lawyer to visit the human rights intern team on and off to add options to get involved in everyday legal work.

For the potential new interns, I would advise working with Art in Tanzania; you can work and make a change. You need to be able to work as part of the team, and if so, it will be an excellent experience for you.