If you are anything like the team at African Impact, you’re already thinking ahead and finding opportunities for self-discovery, growth, and learning in 2024. Whether you’re taking a break between studies (did you know we’ve just been named the Top Gap Year Program Provider?), thinking about a career change, or are simply searching for an opportunity to boost your resume, an international internship could be right for you.
Here Are Our 7 Best Internship Programs in Africa:
- Marine Eco-Tourism Internship in Zanzibar
- Public Health Internship in Zambia
- Design-Your-Own Field Research and Wildlife Internship in South Africa
- Veterinary Assistance Internship in Cape Town
- Gender Equality Internships across Africa
- Environmental Sustainability Internship in Zambia
- Photography Internship in South Africa
1. Marine Eco-Tourism Internship, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Suited for: Eco-warriors, ocean-babies, and students of tourism
What’s the bigger impact? Conserve wild dolphin populations while ensuring local people can still benefit from tourism income
Did you know that a lot of wild dolphin swimming tours are conducted in an unethical manner that can drive the dolphins away from their natural feeding areas? Even worse, did you know that the loss of these dolphins would mean many local people would be left without an income from this type of tourism? Welcome to the issue we have on the stunning tropical island of Zanzibar, Tanzania.
This internship (probably located in the most beautiful coastal region of Africa) revolves around eco-tourism and finding practical, real-world solutions that will conserve Zanzibar’s dolphin population, while still ensuring that the community can benefit from our ocean-friends. Supported throughout by the African Impact team, interns collaborate with hotels, tour operators, community members, and tourists themselves, to build a solid foundation for eco-tourism and motivate better practices. Expect hands-on exposure to sustainable tourism, marine research, problem-solving, and of course, spending time with the bay’s resident dolphin population.
FIND OUT MORE: Marine Internships
2. Public Health Internship, Livingstone, Zambia
Suited for: Up-and-coming members of the healthcare services and related industries, groups, as well as those with limited time available
What’s the bigger impact? Improve rural and impoverished communities’ access to quality public health services.
Like you, we believe that health is a basic human right. It’s why we’ve been working in the town of Livingstone in Zambia for over ten years, fighting to break the inter-generational cycles of poverty that limit the community’s access to quality healthcare.
This year, we launched a pioneering 4-week public health internship here that aids our team in determining the health of community populations and addressing context-specific barriers to effective healthcare. This practical internship will provide you experience in: promoting healthy lifestyles; frontline care at clinics and in home-based care sessions; researching disease and injury prevention; implementing educational programs; recommending policies; improving accessibility; building information packs for the Population Council, and more.
FIND OUT MORE: Public Health Internship
3. Design-Your-Own Field Research and Wildlife Internship, Greater Kruger Area, South Africa
Suited for: David Attenborough-worshippers, explorers, and those who love nature
What’s the bigger impact? Provide quality data on endangered and at-risk species that will contribute to conservation plans. If someone told you that you could undertake an internship from a safari vehicle, what would you say? If your response is “No, thanks. I don’t do outdoor activities.”, then perhaps it’s not for you. If nothing sounds better than endless days under the African sun, keep on reading.
On the borders of the world-famous Kruger National Park lies a private lodge dedicated to wildlife research and conservation. From here, interns can conduct their own field research and wildlife projects on any species that can be found in this region, whether it be the African elephant, lion, cheetah, wild dog, giraffe, or even raptors. Whether you’re looking to supplement data for your thesis, or you just want to get your foot in the door for a job working with wildlife, we’re always on the look out for interns to join our research team.
FIND OUT MORE: Design-Your-Own Field Research and Wildlife Internship
4. Veterinary Assistance Internship, Cape Town, South Africa
Suited for: Crazy cat and dog ladies (and men) and students studying veterinary practices
What’s the bigger impact? Help find homes for, and perhaps even safe the life of, abandoned, neglected, or abused domestic animals. If you are living everyone’s dream of becoming a veterinarian, then there is no where more unique to undertake a veterinary assistance internship than in Cape Town. Here, extreme levels of poverty and poor education on animal welfare leaves hundreds of thousands of domestic animals homeless, or in squalid conditions.
As a veterinary intern, you’ll work alongside pro-life, non-profit animal shelters and clinics who can care for up to 1000 animals at a time. With a focus on canine and feline-care, you’ll get to observe and assist during surgeries, as well as be involved in pre-and-post-operative care. When not in scrubs, interns get involved in the daily running of the animal shelter.
FIND OUT MORE: Veterinary Assistance Internship
5. Gender Equality Internships across Africa
Suited for: Advocates, change-makers, and strong-willed men and women
What’s the bigger impact? Empower, educate and uplift disadvantaged girls and women across Africa, while including boys and men in the conversation. Founded in collaboration with African Impact and the African Impact Foundation, The Girl Impact is a gender equality initiative that works across three countries in East and Southern Africa. Our goal is to support and educate young girls to help them make better informed decisions as they move towards womanhood, as well as to provide educational workshops and encourage income generating activities. Further, we look past just girls and women and empower surrounding boys and men to join and encourage the movement of gender equality.
Whether you are a 17-year-old female, or 35-year-old man, we offer internship placements year-round, across four locations; Cape Town and Zululand in South Africa, Moshi in Tanzania, and Livingstone in Zambia. This internship speaks to someone who is passionate about gender issues, developing hard-skills in a non-profit role and using their strengths to mentor and provide support on education, health, prevention of early pregnancy, personal safety, sustainable living and growth in self-belief.
FIND OUT MORE: Gender Equality Internships
6. Environmental Sustainability Internship, Livingstone, Zambia
Suited for: Anti-plastic enthusiasts, as well as those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty and care about the environment
What’s the bigger impact? Decrease plastic pollution and help local people find innovative ways to reuse, repurpose or recycle. Evidence of pollution is everywhere. Of the 78 million tons of plastic produced annually, 32% flows into our oceans. To put this into perspective, this is the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute. By 2030, this is expected to increase to two per minute. Fast-forward to 2050, and this could mean there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.
To tackle this issue in Livingstone, Zambia – where discarded litter ultimately makes its way into the rivers that feed the Indian Ocean – we’ve recently launched a ground-breaking Plastic and Environmental Initiative. As part of this, we’re inviting interns to join us and work closely with Livingstone’s communities to devise waste management plans, educate children, and come up with strategies to recycle the plastic waste present in Livingstone. As one of the only programs of its kind in the world, interns gain unparalleled exposure to sustainability and international development issues, environmental pollution research and analysis, as well as social development initiatives.
FIND OUT MORE: Environmental Sustainability Internship
7. Photography Internship, Greater Kruger Area, South Africa
Suited for: Both budding and professional photographers, those people who feel more comfortable behind the camera
What’s the bigger impact? Have your photographs used for conservation efforts across the world and feed into animal identification databases. We’ve all had our jaw drop to the floor as we scroll past an impossibly beautiful photograph of an African lion on Instagram. We get the same feeling as we flick through the pages of National Geographic’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year. For some of us, that’s as close to the real thing as we’re ever going to get. Not for our photography interns.
Mentored by a professional photographer – who has graced the pages of Africa Geographic itself – interns join us a private reserve in South Africa, surrounded by the continent’s most spectacular wildlife. You will learn not only about wildlife photography, but how to work as part of a team who are focused on, and in tune with, global issues. While learning how to get that perfect shot, or developing your existing skills, the images that you will contribute will raise public awareness towards wildlife decline, habitat loss, cultural conservation and human-wildlife conflict.
We look forward to seeing your Nat Geo exhibition in 2020.
FIND OUT MORE: Photography Internship
