Internship

The Western Heads East Internship Program is a challenging, dynamic, competitive, and multidisciplinary international learning opportunity for students to grow and assist with health sustainability initiatives in Africa. Since the project began, over 150 student interns from a variety of academic backgrounds have participated in the program, which works with partner organizations in Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya and at home in London. 

Why become an intern?

Interns have the opportunity to:

  • Practice sustainable business and social enterprise skills
  • Collaborate on new kitchen and laboratory facilities
  • Promote awareness to Western University's community about health sustainability in East Africa
  • Receive a course credit
  • Participate in remote and on-site internships

Read some of our intern stories below and visit our Intern Videos page for testimonials from past interns, and to learn more about the impact of an internship experience with Western Heads East.

Hear from some of our past interns!

Ellena Andoniou

Tanzania, 2006

"The beauty of working so collaboratively is that you’re there to really support the Yogurt Mamas, which could be a huge spectrum in terms of what that could mean. So, we’d be helping with packaging, or figuring out logistics because there’s no electricity to cool the product or distributing the yogurt."

Kathryn Morgan

Tanzania, 2010

"What always stood out to me is the grassroots nature of it. You're going over and supporting these businesses, but the idea is to have the people empowered there."

Anisah Hooda

Tanzania, 2018

"I was always interested in global health and public health, and what better way to see what's out there than to go somewhere yourself instead of reading about it or watching documentaries."

Andrea Burke

Tanzania, 2016

"I just fell in love with people’s stories. Now, I’m a researcher, in part, because I just loved the case study project that I did."

Mohammad Almaradweh

Kenya, 2022

"I knew I couldn’t change the world in three months, but I hoped to provide some useful materials that organizations could continue to use going forward."

Blake Barkley

Kenya, 2012

"The experience really drove what I continued to do in terms of my academic career. It was a really pivotal moment for me, in terms of diversifying the experiences that I had, but also getting really hands-on project management experience in international development. It broadened my horizon, both personally and professionally."