This summer, preceding my final year at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, I had the transformative opportunity
to intern at the United Nation’s World Food Program’s regional office in Panama City, Panama. At an organizational level, WFP serves to alleviate global food insecurity across 120 countries through a diverse array of short-term and long-term strategies. The regional office coordinates and facilitates action through supporting country offices across Latin America and the Caribbean. Increasingly prevalent is their work in preparing for, and responding to, climate-related disasters.
Working specifically with the Communications team, my weekly tasks varied within the realm of internal and external communications. To summarise my key responsibilities, I curated the weekly internal newsletter and compiled regional weekly updates for review by the head office in Rome. Furthermore, I helped gather material for social media campaign content, notably for international days, such as World Humanitarian Day and events including the 4th Small Islands Developing States conference. Moreover, I translated, wrote and uploaded content for WFP’s Spanish website, ranging from media messages to press releases, publications, and stories. I additionally uploaded and updated various web pages, notably the emergency pages for each country. Following major events like Hurricane Beryl, I compiled reports evaluating post-performance across social media platforms to evaluate which formats most widely disseminated key information. I am certain that my majors in History and Psychology prepared me aptly for these tasks, instilling within me respectively a deep appreciation for historical context and effective communication methods.
Having recently completed the McGill-Smithsonian Panama Field Studies Semester this past January to April, my approach to both comprehending and tackling food insecurity within Latin America was deeply rooted in small-scale research. Most of my year leading up to the internship had been spent bug-sprayed-up in various tropical forests, agricultural sites and residential communities, learning about the current manifestations of food distribution and production systems through hands-on field work. One field course had me spend a month in the fishing town of Palo Seco documenting, by conducting extensive interviews, the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic on artisanal fisherpeople based on their membership status within the locally run cooperative.
Getting to understand the differing large-scale approach to tackling food insecurity deployed by the world’s largest humanitarian organization was highly valuable and perspective-expanding.
An undeniable highlight of my time at WFP was my visit to the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot, where non-perishable items are stored by various humanitarian organisations, including WFP, ready to be rapidly deployed in times of crisis. This visit enriched my understanding of how this complex network functions to deliver such effective large-scale support to various vulnerable communities in rapid time frames.
More specifically, understanding the communication and task distribution between the extensive network of country, regional and head offices was very insightful. With the arrival on June 1st of an already highly active hurricane season, I experienced the emergency response of the regional bureau to Hurricane Beryl, the earliest arriving Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record. Within the communications unit, I assisted the team rapidly collating and disseminating crucial information to different groups, from country offices to the wider public. Within the wider regional office, I observed the logistics behind how emergency provisions - including cash, food and telecommunication equipment - were rapidly coordinated in countries worst affected, most being island nations. These focused actions allowed me to comprehend the sheer level of commitment, dedication and logistical support that WFP workers deliver in crisis alleviation and the pursuit of the organisation’s mandate.
Getting to culturally immerse myself in Panama was another highlight of the placement. My weekends were spent beach-hopping, city-exploring, sloth-spotting, and even whale-watching! Furthermore, a significant personal goal was to build a professional proficiency in Spanish, and opportunities to practice my language abilities that arose both in and out of the office helped me to achieve this. Though at first it proved challenging to rapidly improve my language skills to
the level demanded by an office environment, I am now more confident than ever in my desire and ability to live and work abroad in a Spanish-speaking environment beyond McGill.
I would like to sincerely thank the Communications Team at WFP, the Arts Internship Office at McGill, and Ms. Vanasse and Mr. Wilbert for facilitating this incredible opportunity. I received the Vanasse Wilbert Internship Award, for which I am very grateful. The transformative clarity the past three months of experience has given me concerning my future professional and personal ambitions simply cannot be overstated.
