Europe Dream through Internship

Hello and Selamat siang!

My Name is Avina and I am 21 years old student from beautiful Yogyakarta on the Island of Java, Indonesia. I am currently studying „International Relations“ as my major at Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta. In my actions and in my studies I believe I can make a difference in the understanding between cultures; that is why I chose to study political science and foreign affairs.

I have big plans for my 7th semester coming up: I applied for an internship at the Indonesian Embassy in SOFIA, Bulgaria, and I got accepted!!! I received the offical letter of acceptance recently and the internship will be for the entire month of August 2017. It will the very first time for me to go abroad and I am super excited.

An internship is not obligatory in the 3rd year at University, but I believe that I need to start gaining work experience in this area and to learn about INTERNATIONAL relations from a practical viewpoint. Furthermore I would like to improve communication skills and become a good team-player, in my personal view a must and also at the very core of social science work.

BULGARIA might not be the destination you would look out for when thinking of Europe, but for me there is a special bond to this enchanting country which is hard to describe: I like the mixture of eastern and western culture and I am interested in exploring what is not so obvious. In my mind the idea to write my master thesis on eastern european countries is developing – my stay in Sofia would be the perfect start for my reserach. And I am more than happy to show the people of Sofia more about my beautiful Indonesia.

Here in Yogyakarta I work with street kids, providing them with support and sometimes food, which gives me great satisfaction. That is voluntary work but I also started a small food business to be able to pay some of the costs for the internship myself and not having to ask my parents for funding so much. If you have any more small business ideas, do let me know! I am also happy to bring over some yummy Indonesian recipies.

Because the internship in Bulgaria will be unpaid and the trip to Europe and the living expenses there will need to be covered I am making this campaign and ask for your generous support. Any amount would be a help and would be very much appreciated. I believe that the goodness you give to me I will be able to return in some way. In the past year I have met so many travellers from Europe, have hosted them in my hometown and shown them around which made be believe that I easily connect with people. I have received plenty of input and encouragement for my plans and I hope I was able to return some of the warmth and goodness.

Before, i had made the same campaign, but it didn't really work so i make an extention campaign. I make this again, because there are still many things i have to prepare such as visa, the living cost during my stay there and so on. But, i have done one step closer, which is buying the ticket. From the previous crowdfunding campaign that i made, i could buy round ticket to Bulgaria, and the flight will depart in 26th of July and arrive in 28th of July. But because there are still many things to prepare, i would be more than happy if anyone out there would like to support me.

Thank you for your support! And I hope to meet you in Europe. Thank you all :)