INTERNSHIP IN THE PHILIPPINES: An Initial Encounter (Intern: Louis)

Hello, my name is Louis Vito. I’m a first year student from Prasetiya Mulya School of Business and Economics in Indonesia. In my college, we need to take an internship during our first holiday. I applied for an exchange program to an organization called AIESEC and I ended having an interview to get the program and I was accepted. But then there was a little problem. The date of the program didn’t match with my holiday so I need to apply for another program. Days later, Wryneth, one of the EDAYA’s staff emailed me that they want to accept me as an intern so they give me a special chance to join EDAYA as an intern, actually I was very happy that day.

            I traveled via a bus to EDAYA’s workshop with Ayaka, the founder of EDAYA. When I arrived on EDAYA’s workshop, I found that it is so much different with what I was imagining. I thought that the workshop would have more modern touches like a typical house or workshop in the cities, but EDAYA’s workshop is more “traditional looking” but with modern facilities - the unique kind of place. After I spent a night here, I found that it is very comfortable here. The weather is nice and the people, warm.

At the workshop I met Edgar, Wryneth, Jhordan, Marj, and Ogie. The people here are happy to get an intern from Indonesia and they gave me a very warm welcome. We talked a lot about the differences and similarities between our cultures. During the first night, the EDAYA team held a barbecue party to welcome me as a new intern and then we sang the traditional songs, accompanied by the traditional bamboo musical instruments. They even gave me a cake! Their kind of welcome really made me feel that I'm accepted here. Edgar, the craftsman, also taught me how to make a Balingbing, one of the traditional Cordillera bamboo musical instrument. The instrument is simple, but it needed good crafting for it to produce a good sound. The good value that I am learning everyday in EDAYA is that everyone has equal positions here, like no one is too superior, so everyone can freely express their thoughts and ideas to contribute to the making of a good decision that benefits everybody. Because of this, it feels like a real family here.