INTERNSHIPS

The ELSA internship is developed based on the needs expressed by the African partners. The internship has two objectives :
• to reinforce the capacities of African partners in terms of project management, medical and psychosocial care of PLWHIV;
• to meet partners, members of the ELSA platform and others involved in the fight against AIDS.

Internships are an opportunity to share experience, benefit from the expertise of each association and thus improve one’s skills for activities in the field. The internships are designed to fit as fully as possible to the needs, expectations and requests of the participants. It also offers the interns a chance to observe from a different perspective, put his/her existing knowledge and perceptions under the microscope and leave with new questions and different ideas.

• North :
Several structures can be requested to host interns : the five associations members of the ELSA platform and French NGOs that have proposed their skills according to their activities in the field. The ELSA platform has also contacted professional health workers. The South-North internship also offers the occasion to increase the South-North cooperative actions with several partner associations, most of which are French.

• South :
Various associations geared towards HIV/AIDS fighting are likely to host interns. An African intern can thus be sent to another African association and work in its offices. The intern can benefit from the experience of the members of this association, exchange knowledge and information and offer a different perspective. The South-South internships allow interns to identify more closely with the association than if they were in Europe while at the same time facing new situations. The hosting structures offer a wealth of experience, expertise and know-how.

The organization of an ELSA internship involves several steps:

1]  Call for interns sent to all partners of the ELSA platform. The call is made to every member of the African associations that are partners of at least one association member of the ELSA platform.

2]  Answers from candidates, members of a partner association, to a questionnaire (accompanied by a detailed profile of the candidate). The request is presented by the candidate, with validation from his/her home association, and is sent to the ELSA platform.

3] Answer from the ELSA platform: the executive board (1 representative per member association) meets to discuss the applications. Applicants are assessed according to several criteria: motivation for internship, consistency between the content and the profile, the number of requests per region, the capacity for the intern to transfer his/her skills, the capacity to produce a report on the internship.

4]  Identification of the host structure: this step ensures that each candidate is offered a host structure that best suits his/her request.

5] For every request accepted, the executive board must propose a schedule and a programme that fits in with the participant and allows him/her to prepare for the internship.

6]  The ELSA platform pays for :
- The intern’s plane ticket
- Visa fees
- Travel insurance costs covering medical assistance (healthcare and repatriation), legal assistance and unexpected expenses (due to the loss of means of payment or travel tickets), for the duration of the internship,
- Daily living costs (incl. accommodation and meals)
- Training costs (proof of training must be given).

7]  During the internship, the ELSA platform will be on hand and open to suggestion, acting as the intermediary between the associations and the intern.

8]  The intern has two months to complete a report on his/her internship that must be sent to the ELSA platform, which in return will issue a proof of internship certificate.

• Self-assessment and post-internship evaluation:
The interns are asked to fill in a questionnaire focusing on their level of satisfaction concerning the running and content of the internship, the educational tools that were provided, the management and organization of the programme.

• Internship report:
A report on the internship should be sent within two months following the end of the internship.

• Long-term assessment:
(between six months and one year after completion of training)
The hosting structure is requested to name a referent person to “mentor” the intern during the internship, and support him/her after the internship if necessary.