Dorien De Vidts, HUB, Trainee in Malaysia

Posted by admin in AIESEC Stories, International Internship Experience     

Aug
3

Hi, I am Dorien, I was an AIESEC Member of AIESEC HUB, Belgium from 2002 until 2005 and I completed my AIESEC experience by going on exchange in the summer of 2010 to Serdang in Malaysia. During my development traineeship of two months I worked on a project called HOPE together with other AIESEC trainees. The aim of the project was to raise awareness amongst youth about HIV/AIDS. Our main responsability was to conduct workshops of 1,5 hour in high schools and universities where we were warmly welcomed. Next to the workshops we also visited NGO’s and various shelters where people who are HIV positive can get information, support and medical care. I really loved my traineeship experience for various reasons. First of all because I learned so much from talking to people who are HIV positive. What blew my mind was how they still have a really positive outlook dispite the challenges they face. This made me realise to never take things for granted and to be grateful for the life I have. It was so fulfilling to be able to spend time with them, to work with people from the NGO’s who are extremely devoted and to share these stories with the students. Secondly I really loved discovering Malaysia, which is a truely Asian country because you get to discover three cultures in one country: Malay, Chinees and Indian culture. Thirdly it was really great to share this experience with the other AIESEC trainees. Because of them I got to experience 7 other cultures and we had a lot of fun travelling to beautiful cities and mesmerizing islands together. To summerize I had an amazing and unforgetable experience and would recommend it to every single person!