Dutch Student Ends Internship at the CALD Secretariat

Ms. Wytske Zijlmans, a student of Political History and International Relations in the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands completed her three-month internship programme at the CALD Secretariat.  The internship, which took place from 6 September to 6 December 2010, provided Ms. Zijlmans the opportunity to be part of the CALD Secretariat in two projects overseas – the 4^th CALD-ALDE Meeting / 2^nd CALD Vision Mission Workshop held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 12-16 November and CALD’s Taiwan Election Monitoring Mission which took place on 24-28 November.

Ms. Zijlmans also assisted in IAF Replication Seminar on Human Rights of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Philippine Office, held in Cebu City, Philippines on 20-23 November. She also participated in some lectures and seminars organized by FNF Philippines partners namely the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP), the National Institute for Policy Studies (NIPS), Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) and Philippine Economic Society (PES).

Aside from assisting and participating in these activities, Ms. Zijlmans was also tasked to do research, audio-visual presentations, manuscript editing, and documentation in the course of her internship.

In February 2011, she will begin her graduate studies at the University of Utrecht under an exclusive program on international relations from a historical perspective, specializing in decolonization of Southeast Asia.

When asked about her thoughts on the internship programme, Ms. Zijlmans said, “During my internship I was warmly welcomed in the CALD family. I got the opportunity to experience Asian politics on various levels, which, I must say, is very interesting from a Dutch perspective. More importantly, the programme significantly improved my work and social skills.  This, without a doubt, would help me in my graduate studies and in my other future endeavours.”

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This post was written by CALD