I am incredibly satisfied with how this project went. There were initially some organisational issues regarding my placement and for the first 2 weeks of the internship I was placed in a hospital/University rather than a TV station as I had originally requested. This was a nice surprise as I had not expected to learn so much about Traditional Mongolian Medicine which afforded me a deep insight into Mongolia’s traditional heritage. I feel I was able to make a profound impact on the University through my article which was published in the Medical Journal and through my personal engagement with the students. During my third week I was placed at the ‘MNB’, where I felt a greater sense of belonging with the work and wished I could have been placed there earlier. However, there were complications with my entry permit to the building as it is guarded by the military. I was then moved again to ‘Tenger TV’ which was the highlight of my placement. I formed a special bond with the journalists there and was sad that only 3 days of my placement were with this team. I am incredibly proud of my successes in the work I did at ‘Tenger’, creating 2 original reports and anchoring them. My report on Ulaanbaatar’s traffic jams has garnered significant online views and continues to spark conversations about one of the city’s most pressing issues. I did not expect to engage in such impactful work and left feeling incredibly satisfied. I was not prepared for the challenges I encountered with food. I had requested a ‘wheat free’ diet as I have a wheat allergy and this was not accommodated. I struggled to communicate my dietary needs with my host family as there were limited options and I did not want to offend them. I was not given any other options to find food which suited my needs and had to seek these out myself which didn’t happen for quite a few days.
I would recommend this project to a friend.
