Internship with IOM confirmed

Yesterday I spoke with Fernando, the head of IOM programs in Colombia and he confirmed that I'll be working directly under him this summer! He sounded like a very nice guy and I am confident that we are going to get along very well. In talking with him, I learned that I'll be based in Bogotá and that I'll have the opportunity to travel around to the various IOM field offices, something that I am really looking forward to. He mentioned that I'll be working on issues related to Law 387 that requires the government of Colombia to provide basic humanitarian assistance to recently displaced individuals. I am hoping to have the chance to study the long-term impact of income-generating projects for displaced men, women, and children.

Until yesterday, I thought that I was going to be based in the IOM office in Apartadó, a small city located in northwestern Colombia. Now that I'll be staying in the capital city of Bogotá, I am somewhat relieved because Apartadó is a fairly small and isolated city and I did not have sufficient information about the security conditions there. In addition to now having the chance to network with other international organizations based in Bogotá, I'm very excited about this opportunity because my good friend, Maggie, will also be in Bogotá this summer. She is a classmate of mine at Fletcher and she'll be doing her internship in Colombia with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

That's all for now. I'll write more soon.