We have many interns working for us behind the scenes. They are featured here below.
Vivian
Hello, my name is Vivian and I am one of the interns for Platform for the Needy. I am from the United States. I am a passionate student who wants to become a doctor to help those in need. I am a social media and website design intern
Jack Taylor-Advocacy & Communications Director USA
Hello! I’m Jack, a marketing and communications intern for PLANE Uganda. I’m a recent college graduate from University of California Santa Barbara where I majored in environmental studies and communication.
I’m motivated by providing meaningful aid to those who need it the most, and working with PLANE provides an amazing opportunity to directly help and advocate for Ugandans experiencing issues regarding social security, healthcare access, and funding for education.
The aim of the organization to strive for an empowered and violence free society resonates with me, and I’m excited to work towards the aforementioned goals of
PLANE.
My role at PLANE is to increase engagement with the online resources, as well as increase connections with like-minded institutions, volunteers and donors. I will be
managing social media platforms, writing original content, and working on PLANEs outreach to other organizations.
The work being done at PLANE is meaningful, impactful, and rewarding. I encourage anyone interested in working with the organization to reach out and help us continue to provide a platform for the needy. Reach me on 1jacktaylor01@gmail.com
Kai Hagiwara
My name is Kai Hagiwara and I currently live in the united kingdom and just finished my A levels. I joined PLANE to help increase awareness of issues surrounding women’s rights and education in Uganda. With my interests in business I plan to help use social media platforms to help support the less fortunate. I feel this platform can really have a huge impact on and make positive changes for people in Uganda.
Stephanie Edelgaard
My name is Stephanie Edelgaard from United States.
I joined PLANE as an intern candidate for 5 weeks. It was a great experience with PLANE. I got experience and learnt a lot about Uganda which I never knew before. I learned that this organization is planting many types of trees that have multiple uses and even using apiary to help people conserve the environment which is one of the most important area one can help in.
It was an amazing experience for me. I gained communication skills; fundraising skills and how to handle people in the right way to look into the organization.
I also gained more editing skills. Mostly on this internship I helped edit the organization magazines and articles, I helped with any tasks that they needed extra hands on. I also joined many meetings to help educate myself and help grow my skill set. The biggest achievement for me was learning new skills I’ve never tried before like setting up fundraising strategies and ideas. My vision for PLANE is to continue what they’re doing, trying new ideas and branching out to places all over the world that are in similar situations.
Diandra Rodrigues
My name is Diandra Rodrigues. I am originally from South Africa and have an honours degree in psychology. I am currently lucky enough to be doing an internship with PLANE and have been given the position of Gender Based Violence Advocacy Officer. Throughout my life, I have always felt a calling towards making a difference in the lives of those in need and doing whatever I can to make this world a better place for all.
My aim for the next few weeks of my internship is to create awareness, not only about issues related to Gender Based Violence, but also awareness of the resources and tools that vulnerable women can use to escape these awful circumstances in a safe manner and get the help they need. I believe all women should be free of violence and abuse, and should be able to live a peaceful and safe life, free to make their own decisions and live as they wish. In turn, my hope is that this will contribute to children’s safety by allowing mothers to remove their children from abusive households and giving them the care they need.
Overall, I am grateful for this opportunity I have and I look forward to seeing the change that all of us at PLANE can create by working together for the greater good!
Clara Kim Ngan
Hi, my name is Clara Kim Ngan and I am currently studying in high school at RISS, Vietnam. I joined PLANE as a digital marketing intern, which is a field that I am very passionate about. As part of a NGO, I want to be someone who can change the community. Somehow I can help children and women in crisis. That’s why I decided to become an intern here, be exposed to an ethical environment, develop my skills, communicate with the international community which helps me to broaden my perspective and have the opportunity to help underprivileged children and women.
Hollie Corbett
Hi! My name is Hollie Corbett aged 16 years old and I live in Auckland, a beautiful city of New Zealand.
I’ve had the privilege of joining PLATFORM for the NEEDY (PLANE) as a Marketing & Fundraising Coordinator intern to impact on the community with my sills and also learn a lot from the organization. Growing up, I was always a helper. I am passionate about serving and making a difference in the lives of the most underprivileged people and communities to lessen the burden and help them reach a happier place.
When I came across PLANE, I was so impressed with the variety of issues that are trying to address, and in such depth too! I hope to contribute to digital marketing and design, fundraising from my country, editing and just helping out wherever I can! I would love to spend this time as an intern to help raise awareness for issues such as education for needy children and women’s rights as I feel strongly connected to them. In the near future, I would love to see the organization continuing to grow in terms of reach and resources, such as distributing more tangible goods that leave communities in a better place.
Kishan Sivakumar
Hello! I am Kishan Sivakumar, a Junior at Lebanon Trail High School. I am the Research & Outreach Coordinator USA intern. I have aspirations in the medical field through research and public health. I have experience using Machine Learning algorithms to create an app for medical diagnosis under the University of Texas at Dallas. I am also conducting an Ambassador project under Yale Center for Clinical Investigation at Yale University. I am motivated to help others and make the world a more safe and hygienic place!
Jhanavi Srivastava
My name is Jhanavi Srivastava, a Science Teacher & Health Care Coordinator from Canada, and I am 15 years old. I am in grade 11 and a student at Woodlawn High School. I am currently enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Program. I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. My position at PLANE is as Biology and Math Teacher as well as a Health Care Coordinator. Over this year, I have dedicated my spare time in educating unprivileged youth of Canada and now Uganda in hope to create bright future. I found the volunteering opportunities at PLANE through the CRIMSON EDUCATION program I am a part of. My career path will be in medicine, which explains my love for biology. I joined PLANE after researching about them and their work and it felt like a great opportunity to give back to the world. I would like to transform this organization by not only spreading my current knowledge to students but also making them see the value of education and how they can use it as a powerful weapon to transform their future into something they might not even have considered before. I intend to be the spark of light and hope that the youth of Uganda need.
Vittorio Nazzi
Hi, my name is Vittorio Nazzi, but I prefer to be called Vitt. I am an English Teacher & Environmentalist from Barcelona at PLANE. I’m a gap year student who graduated from ES International School in Barcelona, in 2022, and I’m from Italy. Throughout my high school life, I was involved in nonprofit organizations in Israel, and mental health clinics in Barcelona. As an international student and third culture kid, I’ve been heavily focusing on making a change to the communities that welcome me with open arms, but this year I’ve decided to stretch my reach. I saw the opportunity to help PLANE via my brother, and I was deeply moved by the situation many children face. I thought that I should help, and so I applied to become an English teacher for the children in need in Uganda. I would like to offer my knowledge through an opportunity of growth and culture, and I’m happy to be helping and contributing to make meaningful change.
Gregorio Nazzi
My name is Gregorio Nazzi and I am an 11th grader studying at Benjamin Franklin International School in Barcelona. I am a Mathematics Teacher from Barcelona at PLANE.
I’ve lived in six different countries and have experienced many cultures and settings. This allowed me to become more curious. My curiosity has expanded as time went on to wanting to help people. I am glad to be part of PLATFORM for the NEEDY. I think it is an amazing initiative. I am very happy to have the chance to be spreading my knowledge to other kids in Uganda teaching them Mathematics..
Raissa Batra – Content Writing
Hi, I am Raissa Batra. I am a junior living in Canada. I am a budding wordsmith connecting to the world with my short stories and using my craft to speak up against discrimination of all kinds — gender, racial and economic. I also love to play the piano and firmly believes that writing is a lot like music — to make an impact one must strike the right notes. My hobbies also include reading and traveling.
Leo Andrin Küng Website Manager
Hey there!
My Name is Leo, I am 24 years old and live in Switzerland, in a small town of “Basel”, bordering France and Germany.
I am currently finishing a trinational studying program called “International Business Management”, which is offered by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland together with one university in Germany and one in France. This means, I study in three countries, in three different languages and with people from all over Europe.
I also did a semester abroad in Mexico City, one of my favorite places in the world and am fluent in Spanish.
In my free time, I love to do sports like football and weight training, and I also play the piano and the trumpet in a symphony orchestra at the music-academy of Basel.
Concerning business in general, I would say I am fascinated by driving business success by developing strategies and leveraging Digital Transformation to do that, which I believe is crucial in today’s world. I want to use my skills for something meaningful, which is why I am at PLANE now.
What PLANE does in Uganda is absolutely pivotal and really resonates with my values and what I believe in.
I hope I can help PLATFORM for the NEEDY during a 4-week internship, where I will try to improve the company-website and it’s Search Engine Optimization. That means, I will adapt the website content to the google algorithm and make it more customer friendly and intuitive. That should lead to the website ranking higher on google and therefore driving traffic to it, again leading to more donors and volunteers.
On the other side I will create a professional LinkedIn company account and a respective content strategy for PLANE. LinkedIn is a massive platform that is crucial in today’s business world. Through a professional company profile, PLANE can be more visible by people looking for internships and possibilities to gain experiences at NGOs, leading to an increased demand to work for PLANE and therefore allowing the organization to grow and help more people in need.
I hope that my work will contribute to the success of PLANE and am looking forward to collaborating with great people and brilliant minds!
Dercio (Deco) Macie Web Developer
I’m Dercio (Deco) Macie, a Financial Accountant turned Web Developer based in Manchester (United Kingdom).
I’ve completed EDX’s “Skills Boot Camp in Front-End Web Development” where I’ve learned ReactJS, JavaScript, HTML, CSS among other skills. I am currently enrolled and pursuing a degree in Computer Applications at Amity University.
I joined the organization as part of an internship and worked mainly on the upgrade of its WebSite. It was a pleasure to work with PLANE whose values are 100% in line with my own, and after learning about the superb work they are doing in Uganda, I was moved to contribute to the cause.