The Grassroots China Initiative offers summer internships to entrepreneurial and motivated students interested in working on the ground with NGOs in China. In the past, students have interned with groups in Qinghai, Henan, and Beijing and in rural primary schools in several parts of China. Internships are tailored to students' individual skills and interests. Most require a high level of Chinese proficiency. A sampling of intern experiences are recounted below.
Amanda Parker and Maggie Howard, Henan Community Information Exchange Center, Winter 2009 "For three weeks over winter break, Maggie Howard and I, both Hopkins-Nanjing Center students, volunteered with the Henan Community Information Exchange Center in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The time we spent with the executive director, Duan Jun, and his colleagues was extremely rewarding, and we learned a lot about the HIV/AIDS and NGO situations in Henan. Henan is in the unique situation of being both one of China's poorest provinces and as a province with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the country. This means that material and human resources which could potentially be mobilized to help those living with HIV/AIDS is oftentimes scarce or inadequate. Furthermore, education among the wider population about the nature and preventability of the disease is also lacking. "In addition to observing the everyday workings of a fledgling NGO in this type of environment, we also helped translate parts of the organization's website and were present for the planning stages of the upcoming project Duan Jun wishes to do, which is an effort to record the experiences of NGO leaders in Henan. Primarily due to funding issues, we were not able to help him begin this project while we were there over the winter; however, Maggie and I both hope to have the opportunity to return to Henan once the project begins so that we can assist Duan Jun in performing the interviews necessary record these NGO leaders' remarkable stories." --Amanda Parker Anika Penn, Henan Community Information Exchange Center, Summer 2009 "This past summer I had the opportunity to work for the Henan Community Information Exchange Center (HCIEC) in Henan Province. Henan Community Information Exchange Center is an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in Henan Province, which has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in China.  I worked with the executive director, Duan Jun, to complete a needs assessment for his organization, develop a business plan for his new non-profit, and work out a strategic plan for his partner organizations throughout the region of Henan. "My internship was quite an experience. Not only did my Chinese improve immensely (as none of my colleagues spoke English), but my understanding of HIV/AIDS in the region and the role of civil society in China greatly improved as well. Though I have a background in international public health, I had not before worked on these issues in China. I was able to build on my previous work in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, while applying the country-specific background I've gained since coming to SAIS." -- Anika Penn Nat Kretchun, China Global Fund Watch, Summer 2008 "With the help of funding from the Grass Roots China Initiative, I spent the summer after my first year at SAIS working for China Global Fund Watch, a Chinese NGO focused on HIV/AIDS issues. While not without its challenges, my internship was eye-opening, at times genuinely inspiring and proved the perfect complement to my SAIS education. China Global Fund Watch was set up as a watchdog organization for the China-based activities of the Global Fund to Combat AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. China Global Fund Watch has also played an important role in organizing elections for civil society representation on the Global Fund's China Country Coordinating Mechanism.  "As a young and very small organization (three staff members excluding me), most of the challenges of working at China Global Fund Watch were those associated with any recent start-up. Things weren't always perfectly organized or focused. However, precisely because the organization was small and relatively new, I was able to contribute in ways I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. I wrote several pieces for the organization's quarterly publication on issues related to HIV/AIDS and civil society, and translated into English what has become one of the organization's core documents. Though I am not sure I was fully aware of it at the time, far more instructive and meaningful than the tasks I completed was the invaluable glimpse I was given into the messy realities of a country grappling with its own way forward -- realities that are impossible to grasp fully in the classroom. During my summer at China Global Fund Watch, I had the opportunity to work alongside extremely passionate individuals with truly remarkable stories. I learned as much from the obstacles they faced and the frustrations they endured as I did from their successes. My summer internship was without question one of the highlights of my time at SAIS." -- Nat Kretchun
Julie Hutto, Snowland Service Group Intern, Summer 2007 Julie Hutto and Ryoko Tomita spent the summer of 2007 working with Snowland Service Group (SSG), a local NGO in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province. Located at 14,000 feet upon the Tibetan-Qinghai plateau, Yushu is semi-nomadic and one of China's poorest prefectures. Julie and Ryoko worked with SSG staff on translation and computer training and on projects to promote education and community development. They also worked on a study of business and entrepreneurship in Yushu's prefectural capital of Jiegu. Jason DeRosa, Hebei Province Project Hope School, Winter 2003 When Jason DeRosa wanted to spend his winter vacation making a difference, Project Hope in Beijing arranged for him to teach English at an elementary school in a poor rural area of China’s Hebei province. E stablished in 1989 and operating under the China Youth Development Foundation, Project Hope’s original mission was to provide poor rural children with the means to obtain at least a primary school education. By raising money from relatively well off urban families who agreed to sponsor the education of one child through primary school, Project Hope became China’s most successful non-governmental organization. Chinese companies and international corporations also donated funds to build and equip rural schools. Jason not only began teaching his students English—he also taught them how to “do the hokey pokey!” | 
