Transitioning to the world of work through internship: Learning from a Regional Organisation

Three graduate students served as interns at the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Secretariat in Kampala, Uganda. The Secretariat is the coordinating unit for 66 African universities in 26 African countries. The students were assigned to four departments/units; Partnerships and Business Management (PBM), Grants Management (GM) Training and Quality Assurance (TQA) and the Executive Secretary’s Office on a rotational basis. The aim was to offer a holistic engagement within the institution and provide opportunity for diversified experiences and learning. Each unit within RUFORUM Secretariat provided opportunity for skills development and learning experience, such as uploading resources on the RUFORUM knowledge repository, thereby increasing efficiency in working with information management systems, engaging in proposal writing in respect to specific calls such as the African Union call, Intra- Africa Academic mobility, and Erasmus+, among other resource mobilisation calls that RUFORUM either directly or indirectly supports as a coordinating unit. During the period of internship, the interns were able to provide timely delivery on assigned tasks, increased their confidence and ability to communicate, including with high level dignitaries. They also had experience at responding to and handling protocol at various level of engagement. This internship experience has served as a catalyst and indicator to the interns that learning is a process, place-specific, situation-oriented and therefore it is a lifelong undertaking.