International Peace Initiative Internship

General Information about International Peace Initiatives Internships


IPI is a non-profit, NGO working in Kenya. The goal of the organization is peace building at all levels of the human being – health, conflict transformation, economic sustainability, and social well-being. IPI often has unpaid internships available in Meru, Kenya.

IPI works with grassroots organizations in Kenya to meet its peace building goals. In Meru, Kenya, interns work closely with the IPI Kenya office and the Amani Community Children’s Home. In addition, interns have the opportunity to visit other women’s and grassroots organizations in Meru in order to get a broader perspective of the issues with which women are struggling in this part of Africa.


IPI Interns will:

1. apply their classroom experiences to real life situations in a challenging environment – the HIV/AIDS pandemic – and the ways in which it has affected individuals, families and the community, 
2. assess current HIV/AIDS prevention, intervention, and treatment efforts in Meru and evaluate how community members are benefiting from the initiatives, 
3. learn from and share knowledge with the community through interaction with the HIV positive women, 
4. identify how recipients of services connected to AIDS think care could be improved, 
5. compare local knowledge to research and international models from global North and global South, 
6. learn about how AIDS provides both life challenges and opportunities, and impacts all members of the international community, and 7.interact with the children at the Amani Community Children’s Home to provide a cultural exchange by sharing humor, games, art,stories and each other’s company. 

Overall, this is an excellent opportunity for interns to learn, first-hand, from members of the community as well as share their knowledge with the community. Interns are given the opportunity for a wide range of experiences such as:

• Living with a Kenya family
• Visiting HIV positive women in our program 
• Working with the children in the area 
• Interacting with women in the women’s groups around Meru 
• Visiting schools the children in our program attend 
• Visiting and working at the local hospice and University hospital/clinic 
• Visiting Meru district administrators for interviews on the government initiatives to combat AIDS in Meru and Kenya in general. 

Supervision Plan:

Interns are each assigned a local host, a woman selected by the IPI-Kenya staff, who takes
her/him to meet different families in the area and helps with any intercultural challenges
related to language, food, and cultural norms.

Dr. Karambu Ringera, the Coordinator of the Internship program, conducts an initial
interview, helps design the learning activities and assessment of learning for each intern, and observes interns as they spend time in the community.

In addition, Dr. Ringera acts as mentor, sharing her own knowledge and experiences, and
provides support and guidance as needed.


Apply for an Internship


Please contact Dr. Karambu Ringera for more information on internships, by email: (ringerambu@yahoo.com )