Art in Tanzania internship program
I met Matias on a Sunday, the day I arrived at the Volunteer House in Madale, Dar es Salaam. He had just come back from the beach with some of the other volunteers, and he introduced himself to me. He was friendly, accommodating, and a good conversationalist, and I thoroughly enjoyed being around him. Matias was kind enough to let me interview him about his experiences here in Tanzania, and this is the conversation we had.
The following interview took place on 21st June 2016.
Dolly: What is your name?
Matias: Matias Bertola
D: Where are you from?
M: I’m from Italy and Argentina. I grew up in both countries, but now I’m studying in the UK. So, maybe I brought my internationality as well.
D: How long have you been here?
M: I’ve been here three and a half weeks.
D: How much longer have you been staying here?
M: I’m staying two and a half more weeks so that the total will be six weeks.
D: What project are you handling?
M: I’m working on an internship on solar power. We’re trying to determine how to integrate solar power into the eco compound of Art in Tanzania to meet its current demand and the new demand resulting from expansion. To do that, we’re trying to build up a project so that this works as a pilot, showing to the community that even though you need a big initial investment, the potential income and benefit of the project are significant as we’re looking at a payback period of about a fifth of its lifetime.
D: Has this project met your expectations?
M: Regarding organisation, No, because it’s pretty much up to me what I do. Nobody checked me, but then it exceeded expectations based on its potential, because I can do more things than was expected. However, I had to research to reach that level of expertise to accomplish them.
D: Have you learned from this?
M: Yes, I’ve learned a lot, definitely, but it’s mostly independent learning. So, I think if you’re willing to work hard for yourself and you have other purposes than working for an employer who tells you what to do, then this might be the right place. However, you have to come up with an organised project.
D: Are you confident in applying the skills that you have learned?
M: Yes. I think it will help a lot with my next year. Potentially, it has given me many ideas and shown me the difficulties in learning, as well as the challenges that exist, for example, in energy in Tanzania or developing countries. So, it’s showing the problems; if you see them, you can start thinking about solutions.
D: Why Tanzania?
M: Mostly because I have a work placement module for my university career, and this was an excellent opportunity to work on a project that makes a difference and creates something real instead of working in an office, maybe in a big company, where I might learn more from professionals and about the industry, but I wouldn’t have learned as much about the real difficulties in developing countries. So, the decision to come here has shaped a bit my career and where my thoughts are going at the moment but I think mostly, it’s about the opportunity of doing something productive and real.
D: How do you find living in the volunteer house?
M: The volunteer house is different. It could be challenging for someone who, maybe, is expecting a higher level of accommodation. Still, on the other hand, for an intern like me, it’s pretty inspiring to see all these different projects, internships or volunteers who come abroad. It’s quite a pleasant environment – very friendly and very relaxed, which is nice for a summer internship, I suppose, because the other option for me would have been working in an office and living in a little apartment on my own.
D: Do you feel that you are more exposed?
M: Yeah. I mean, we have volunteering places we go and work with local people, so we are learning Swahili in between. You know, we have people from all over the world – actually, from all the continents – and it’s pretty inspiring to see how we can all blend and create a new community, kind of a family after just two weeks here. I’ve already experienced a change. When I arrived, almost everyone left, and now, we’re getting new people. So, it shows you how community life works, which we might be missing in big cities and our more modern lifestyles.
D: Well, Thank you so much for this, Matias
M: Thank you.
