Executive Summary

This report is a summary of a two-month industrial training carried out at Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA). The main objective of this training was to blend theory and practice and compare the two.

It was found out that most of the things done in the field were the same with what was taught in class but different in its application because in class we use assumptions for better and easy understanding while the practical part gives you the real-world situation of the organization.

The activities carried out by the intern are: sending out of professional emails, writing of reports from an executed project, power point presentation, updating of the strategic plan, how to use a corporate email, coordination of a grant proposal and project implementation (World Ocean Day).

The key strength of the organization is; there is team spirit among members of staff and little of no grapevine and conflict. While the weaknesses of the organization are; there is no security which gives free access to any kind of person to the organization and the organization needs to improve on their network communication. In spite of the difficulties faced during the internship period, the atmosphere that was provided by ASCOA was cordial and conducive for students on internship.

The staff were always prepared and willing to explain questions asked by the intern whenever and wherever need arose. The internship enabled the intern to discover new ways of doing things and each part of the job to be performed especially what was taught theoretically which was better explained and shown practically during the internship.

To recommend to these weaknesses, the organization should improve on its network communication so as to facilitate the smooth functioning of activities and tasks. Also, the organization should recruit a security agent who will serve as a guide to the organization and the workers concern.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose Of The Internship

Internship can be seen as the practical knowledge whereby students go on the field or working environment to blend theory with practice so as to improve on the skills, competences and on the practical know how. Internship can also be seen as an act that seeks to bring theory to practice from various fields of specialization such as management, accounting, marketing, insurance, banking and finance, nursing, engineering just to name a few.

We can say that internship is a chance to use a business classroom to connect with what is happening at school to add value to the educational experience, and to clarify the vast number of options available to students.

Due to the increasing nature of businesses within and across the world, businesses are involved with management because management helps to direct people towards the attainment of a specific goal. According to Mary Parker, management is an act of getting things done through and within people in a formally organized group. Internship is a period whereby students go to an organization to get practical experiences by applying the theory learned in class to the real world situation.

Also, according to the professional norms of businesses it is a period during which semi-business professionals get business related practical experience in organizational aspects with the aims of preparing them to become efficient and acquitted with all professional working requirements such as working hours, dress code, business communication and other vital norms. Internship is also carried out in order to prepare for Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program and it can be further seen as an exposure for experience for the intern to the rest of the world such that they expose their talents and skills to the organization.

The internship was carried out at Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA). It is an organization that is out to reach out to the society and the community and also to save more lives.

The University is finding internship to be extremely rewarding to students since they lack the practical experience to excel in the job market. A number of studies have shown that there are six attributes that employers are looking for which are; motivation, leadership, oral communication skills, experience, critical thinking skills and interpersonal skills. Internship is a three-way advantageous process that is, to the student, the employer and University.

To the Students

• It helps the students to develop potential work habits and improve human relation skills.
• It enables the students to acquire new skills and apply those learned in the classroom.
• It helps the students to test their aptitude for practical career before permanent work/contracts.

To the Employer

• Companies or organization offer students internship placement for both long term and short-term reasons.

Long Term

• In the long term, employers cab use internship as an effective way of advertising their graduating jobs and schemes to students. Survey shows that some previous interns are hired for the graduate jobs and training schemes and this is usually less expensive since they already have an idea of the running activities of the organization and will require little training.

Short Term

• The short-term internship provides the employer with sometimes cheap and free labor for what is usually low-level office-based task such as filling reports and drafting.

1.2 Internship Preparation

The intern saw some volunteers of ASCOA at checkpoint in front of the Molyko Stadium beside a bus and all of them wore same t-shirts bearing the name of the organization. So, the intern was curious and went and asked from one lady who was a coordinator and she told the a bit about the organization and even made the intern to understand that they were going for a clean-up program, which is something they do regularly.

Later that day, I had to go online to know more about the NGO because what actually caught my attention was because I saw younger children who were involve in the clean-up project so I started having interest in the organization and had to know it better. When I googled and got some information, though I wasn’t granted access to every page of the website but I had gotten little information which I could begin from there.

So, the following week I wrote an application and submitted at the communication office and it was received by one lady by name Madam Lizette Namondo who told me to go and they will get back to me later. After a week and some days, I got a call from the organization informing me that my application has been granted I was expected to begin internship the coming week.

The reason why the intern chose ASCOA as an internship placement is due to the fact that the organization carries out humanitarian activities like child support and women empowerment which constitute a focus area of the organization. Also, due to the fact that the organization carries out regular projects which gives the intern the opportunity to be involve in project planning, execution, evaluation, monitoring and closure.

1.3 Scope Of The Internship

Internship program

On the first at work, the intern had an orientation meeting with different persons from different department and one of them was my supervisor Madam Lizette. Who gave me an internship agreement form to read through and told me that after I’m done reading there is a portion where I was going to sign in conformity to the fact that I had gone through the document and was ok with it and she then asked me to go and search the organizational website and read about the code of conduct, policies, and activities of the organization and she also told me that there were some items which every intern is  required to give to the organization during the period of internship.

Later on, I was called by the CEO who had a talk with me and told me that he was going to be my supervisor alongside madam Lizette and he asked me to go draft my objectives for internship, type, print and submit to him. During the first week of internship, the intern had to get used to the environment and the other volunteers from different department as well as other members of the organization.

The training period was mostly with the project department of the organization and this was carried out in the project office of the organization and it took place at the Association for Community Awareness Buea South West Region for a duration of two months.

There are so many different department which the intern was assigned under the project office and given the tittle of a project assistance so that I can be fully involved when it comes to handling of projects. Some of the departments/units where internship was done were the Communication department, Peace building department, Admin and Finance, Environment and as well the Project department.

I was assigned to these departments to carry on a task and I got to learn and asked some questions this helped widen my knowledge on some things I didn’t have information on. My main focus was under the project department that’s where the intern spent most of her hours of work during the internship period.

Historical Background of ASCOA

The Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA) was fully established in early 2014 in Cameroon after one year of community service in Equatorial Guinea by the founder Mr. LINUS AYANGWOH EMBE.

During his time in Equatorial Guinea, he volunteered with an international organization SAVE THE CHILDREN and received an award from the CEO CAROLYN MILES, which planted a seed of community service now known as ASCOA. Since then, ASCOA has been able to launch projects in communities and create more opportunities for self-reliance, build new tools on how to approach sustainable development with the least resources possible and prioritizing those mostly in need.

The organization has been expanding in the spheres of social development; it has worked for the promotion of the sustainable development goal seventeen (17) and has grown into global network, advancing open policies with branches in Cameroon, USA, Kenya and the UK.

The Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA) is a charitable Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with headquarters in Cameroon and West Africa and offices in the USA, UK, and Kenya. Its goal is to enhance the quality of life od underserved communities and promote sustainable development in Africa and the world at large. ASCOA has put in efforts in fostering environmental protection with special focus on;

• Plastic pollution and marine littering
• Increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS and combating related stigma.
• Engaging in women empowerment.
• Child support
• Peace building
• Taking care of displaced population.

ASCOA is an NGO that works together with international and African partner organizations for community outreach and education to create sustainable local communities and fight against climate change and the discrimination within the society.

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