Hi there, my name is Anne! I came to Thailand from Canada to intern with APTN for 3 months and it has been an immensely impactful experience. Take a look at this blog post if you want to read my recap and reflections from working with the organization.
February
I arrived in Bangkok in the month of February to begin my internship with APTN filled with immeasurable excitement. After a long process of searching for the right position, I could not believe the day was finally here—I was sitting in my new home taking in the view, happily eating the first of many plates of khao niyao ma muang (mmm aroy mak!). Though I spent most of my life in Canada, there was always this pull that connected me back to my roots in Asia as a Filipina-Chinese, and I was so grateful for this opportunity to deepen my knowledge of the region while in Thailand.
On my first day at the office, I was greeted by the many friendly faces of my coworkers who kindly welcomed me onto their team and since then, have provided me with incredible mentorship. During the weekly team meeting that morning, I was immediately struck and impressed by the level of representation within APTN. Their commitment to being a trans-led organization really shone through, in addition to having people involved from diverse backgrounds across the Asia-Pacific. In the afternoon, I got the chance to meet Yume who, like myself, was a university student beginning as an intern (we soon became quick partners-in-crime at the office). Throughout February, we got an in-depth introduction to APTN’s history, values, and mission with our supervisor Jas (Knowledge Management & Operations Officer), as well as took some time to highlight the professional skills we wanted to develop during the internship and reflect on our individual goals.
Moreover, as I was enrolled into various tasks and projects, I discovered little by little how I could personally make a contribution to the organization in my role. First, I helped Nhuun (Human Rights & Advocacy Manager) with a statement for the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (‘APFSD’) by writing an initial draft and finding resources that specifically discussed SDG intersectionality. This statement was meant to highlight the ongoing situation regarding trans rights and critical need for progress, as well as underscore the nature in which 2030 benchmarks cannot be achieved if proper consideration is not given for the unique circumstance of the trans and gender diverse community. The second project I had the opportunity to assist with was APTN’s Trans Health Module (‘THM’), this educational tool was created for health providers to promote the practice of more trans competent and sensitive medical services across countries in the region. Yume and I spent some time completing the training ourselves before we met with Marli (Project Officer) who kindly walked us through the fine points of the initiative and tasked us with adding the Indonesian translations to the website as they were about to launch the online course in its sixth language.
Some other key highlights from my first few weeks at APTN also included being able to attend two events hosted by Infoxchange on ‘Cyber Security Preparedness and Resilience’ and ‘Exploring AI and its Impacts’ from their respective NGO Transformation through Digital Technology and Building Positive Digital Citizenship Forums. Through listening to the speakers and participating in discussion with other NGO representatives, I gained a lot of valuable insight into the dynamic space in which non-profit activity operates—just as other sectors are evolving, NGOs must also adopt adaptive strategies to ensure the crucial work they do for vulnerable groups of people remains uninterrupted.
March
Started off March in a very impactful manner by attending the Asia-Pacific Regional Commemoration of International Women’s Day. During our Intern Check-In Meeting a couple weeks before, Jas encouraged us to find such an event to attend as a part of our learning and development. It was very inspiring to hear stories of the strides that have been made in different countries to achieve gender equality from the different representatives. Such progress reports also affirmed the need for governments to enact more gender responsive policies and that is a belief APTN also has and strongly advocates for in their work. I learned more about this subject furthermore as it fits into the context of the Trans Movement, particularly while I worked on two other projects this month.
As part of the internship work plan, Yume and I were tasked with creating a presentation summarizing an APTN publication of our choice, which we then delivered for the whole office. I ended up picking one titled: Trans Resilience Report: Stories of Hope, Pain, and Survival From the Trans Movement During the COVID-19 Pandemic and here is a quote that I directly pulled out of my notes:
“COVID-19 was a rough awakening for the international community as it underscored the many different ways in which states across the Global North and South were ill-equipped to deal with a public health crisis of that magnitude. As a result, many people slipped through cracks in broken systems, and were left to suffer without receiving adequate aid from the governments meant to protect them. APTN in their Trans Resilience Report brings to attention the casualties and harm discussed far too little, which took place specifically within the trans and gender diverse community. The pandemic had a direct and disproportionate effect on this group due to existing unaddressed vulnerabilities, as well as interrupted the work of NGOs and other critical service providers who were these people’s first line of defense in many countries across the Asia-Pacific.“
During this presentation project, I got to practice some important hard skills from delivering information to an audience in a concise and engaging manner to critical-thinking and articulating my opinions as I answered questions at the end. All in all, it was quite eye opening to learn how the lack of consideration for gender in COVID-19 response policies in the Asia-Pacific region, directly correlated to local authorities abusing their power at the expense of trans and gender diverse individuals. The pandemic therefore, was notably not only a future lesson for Global Health, but also Human Rights.
Next up, we had the opportunity to learn about some of APTN’s more recent work from Ha (Hate Crimes & Violence Monitoring Officer) who walked us through the newly launched Trans Thrive Project. Many trans persons have unfortunately experienced hate and violence from others due to their gender identity—harm is reported to have come from not only state apparatuses, healthcare providers, and religious authorities, but also from an individual’s friends and family members. Yume and I were tasked with helping Ha collect and compile resources to make services like mental health counselling and legal aid more easily accessible for survivors of transphobic hate crimes.
As we worked on these two major projects, some important side tasks I had included: helping create a pre-survey as well as proofreading and editing the visa letters of delegates APTN was helping to attend a human rights conference in Geneva, assisting Chompoo (Accounting & Finance Officer) with some clerical work like organizing, scanning, and labeling documents for the external auditors, and starting work on a video storyboard for some clips APTN had of their Pacific partners, as well as taking minutes while I participated in the collaboration and conflict style team building sessions with the rest of the APTN staff.
In close, there were a few more events that I got to attend in addition to the Women’s Day Commemoration such as the 2024 Asia Pro-Bono Roundtable which discussed pro-bono work ‘In Times of Crisis’ and Infoxchange’s Building Positive Digital Citizenship Forum on ‘Privacy Responsibilities.’ March was definitely a busy month—filled with so much learning not just about the organization I was working for, but also the world outside and myself.
April
By April, I had become accustomed to my day-to-day responsibilities at APTN as an intern and could not believe that my time here in Bangkok was coming to an end so soon (3 months really flew by in a blink of an eye). At this point, I was wrapping up the last few tasks on my to-do list including writing this blog post with all my reflections from internship. Once I return home, I can already imagine just how much I am going to miss and cherish this experience. To anyone considering interning abroad, I highly recommend taking the leap of faith as it is an opportunity not only to grow professionally outside your established comfort zone, but also allows you to appreciate a new culture while learning more about yourself and your capabilities.
In terms of our final responsibilities before leaving, Yume and I mainly spent our last weeks helping prepare the slide deck for the upcoming Pacific Convening and troubleshooting the brand new Being Trans website. The Pacific Convening is one of the many sub-regional conferences that APTN hosts which give members of the trans community and key stakeholders the chance to gather, celebrate progress in advocacy, and discuss their hopes for the future. On the other hand, the Being Trans website is an informational hub that was created by APTN to act as a platform for the open exchange of information and resources between trans individuals and groups. The hope is to empower the community to make and publish guides in their own languages as well as unique cultural and religious contexts, which would make information online more accessible and inclusive to those in need of support. All in all, APTN definitely does not fall short of having interesting projects and these were just some of which I got to personally lend a hand to!
Lastly, it was also my first time celebrating Songkran (Thai New Year)! The team went out together for a delicious lunch and then we all took turns to give each other blessings back at the office. Outside of work, my friend and I participated in the water fight at Khaosan Road during the holiday. These moments were filled with so much fun and warmth—it was the perfect way to end off my trip, spending it with the lovely people who mentored me and friends I made throughout these past 3 months. Wow, it’s truly the end now!
Conclusion
Overall, interning with APTN not only gave me so much valuable insight into the field of cross-cultural advocacy, but also reaffirmed my passion to pursue a career related to advancing human rights and uplifting marginalized communities in the Asia-Pacific. By taking this leap, that is traveling to a new country and experiencing living on my own for the first time, I got to build my confidence and practice new forms of independence. Now, I feel even more ready and excited for wherever the future takes me next, and I hope those who come to intern after me at APTN are able to have an experience that is just as positive.
All my love,
Anne
P.S. – Click here to find me on LinkedIn and see where I am now after working for APTN :))