Double R Productions collaborates with The Washington Center for Internships and that’s how I ended up here. As a master’s student from Belgium, the country best known for its beer, chocolate and Smurfs, I joined the Double R team for a 15-week internship. I decided to take on an internship abroad to expand my horizons and meet new people. Being so far away from home is a big adventure as is my work at Double R. For the first time ever I am going to work everyday instead of studying and taking classes. When talking to Rosemary for the first time on the phone I was a bit nervous at first because it is a company in the capital of the US and I come from a really small country. But, she quickly got me interested in an internship as a production assistant.
So why Double R Productions? The media has been my point of interest since I was a teenager. Everything that has to do with broadcasting, film and public relations fascinates me. Media can inform the public but also mobilize it. These fascinations encouraged me to take on a degree in media. It was my best decision ever as I eat, sleep and breathe media. For instance, back home I am involved in a small NGO called Save Children of Hope. The organization is still very small but we manage to provide meals and education for a couple-hundred Kenyan children. Thanks to the media, we can reach more people to donate and thus help more.
The first few days at Double R were great. On the very first day we got in on the action. The other intern and I answered phone calls, researched and watched news in search of the most important events for one of Double R’s year-in-review projects. The next weeks will be stuffed with things to do so I can hardly wait to get started again next week.
As I plan to graduate in the spring, I hope this will be a real hands-on experience. One that teaches me the do’s and don’ts of production and that will help me in my future career and in my personal project for Kenya.
-Ilse Schooneknaep
