About the Organization

The WLC was founded in 2004 as a Namibian-based feminist organisation whose core activity is supporting women’s writing as a form of resistance with the aim of developing feminist activism in Namibia. The WLC envisions a society in which all women actively engage in shaping the politics, practices and values of both public and private spaces. They strive to fulfill this vision by initiating a new kind of political activism embedded in the understanding that when women write about their lives, their writing becomes a uniquely political expression of resistance, transformation and celebration, and as such illuminates and reflects the spirit and energy of feminist politics and activism within our society. The WLC actively engages in facilitating the voice and expression of Namibian women through information-sharing, education and training, research, writing, art, photography, and the publishing of critical feminist texts which they distribute within their society. It proposes a grassroots development of leadership among Namibian women, based on the development of the ability of poor women to articulate their experiences and needs through written and artistic expression, informed by critical analytic capacity.

WLC has focused their work on culture, HIV/AIDS and women’s rights. The organization plans to also explore the area of women’s rights and Christianity in the coming year. Some of their main activities include:

• Women’s rights/feminist training
• Training in writing skills
• Photography skills
• Feminist oral history research
• Development of advocacy materials on women’s rights

Read a summary of the WLC's work since 2004 on the Additional Information tab.

Job Description

Interns will be assigned to a variety of tasks related to the programming and/or management of the WLC, depending on their skills and the needs of WLC at the time of the internship. Sample tasks include:

• Conducting qualitative research on feminist topics and feminist oral history research
• Writing fundraising proposals
• Leading or supporting writing skills and women’s rights workshops
• Planning and organizing reading/drama events with young women
• Organizing publicity events, writing press statements, conducting radio work and giving interviews
• Marketing and selling WLC’s books
• Taking photos of WLC events for communication and publication purposes

# of Positions per term

1-2

Start Dates

Summary

Duration of Internship

12 weeks

Academic Background

• Women/Gender Studies
• English
• Writing
• Journalism
• Education
• Sociology
• Others as appropriate

Skills/Experience

• Planning and organizing skills
• Networking and facilitation skills
• Report writing skills
• Understanding the concept of human rights for all
• Knowledge of feminism and women’s rights, feminist theology or feminist poststructuralism/discourse analysis
• Ability to multitask and work under stress
• Ability to coordinate activities
• Photography skills

Language Ability

Fluency in spoken and written English

Other Requirements

• Ability to take lead and take initiative
• Ability to be innovative
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Total costs vary depending on how long you plan to be abroad, where you will be living, your personal spending habits, and current exchange rates. The following estimates will give you a ballpark figure for this internship. Get help with the math from our handy Cost Calculator.

IE₃ Program Fee

The program fee* for the first term of any internship is $2950 - $3150. You do not pay tuition in addition to the program fee. Visit your University's IE₃ page for details, costs for additional terms, and campus administrative fees.

*The program fee noted above reflects the anticipated fee increase that will go into effect for the Fall 2010 term and will apply to all terms thereafter.

Estimated One-Time Expenses

Expense Type	Price
Host Site Fees	This internship is supported by Hatani Wild Intern of Namibia.  12-week Interns will be charged an additional $1500 that covers their accommodations, airport transfers and local orientation and ongoing support.
International Travel	$2,500
Visa Fees	$400 (estimate)
Recommended Immunizations	$440

*See Additional Cost Information below.

Estimated Monthly Expenses

Expense Type	Price/month
Housing	See Additional Cost Information
Food	$150
Local Transportation	$75
Recreation	$100
Personal Expenses	$50

Compensation

None

Brief summary of WLC’s work since 2004

The Women’s Voices Project Phase One was the vanguard project of the organisation. It was implemented between July 2004 and June 2005 and laid the foundations of a solid grassroots base for our work. The project was implemented in three phases: Conceptualisation of the idea of “Women’s Voices” in a funding proposal submitted to donors in 2004. Preparation and implementation of four human rights and women’s writing workshops held in Windhoek between October and November 2004. Selection, editing and publication of women’s writings collected through the women’s writing workshops, and the launch of the anthology in June 2005. An anthology of women’s writings entitled Between Yesterday and Tomorrow was published and has been widely distributed.

The Women’s Voices Project: Phase Two was conducted between July 2005 and May 2008. It focused on the most marginalized Namibian women, including those affected by HIV/ Aids, young women and girls, rural women and poor women. Continuing and expanding the initial work, Phase Two pivoted on the issue of culture and HIV and Aids through four types of activities: first, writings published in the second anthology, We Must Choose Life: Writings by Namibian Women on Culture, Violence, Poverty and HIV and Aids; second, a book of photographs and a traveling banner exhibition titled Taking Our Lives in Our Hands: Photographs and Text by Namibian Women; third, a feminist research report on Repressive Cultural Practices in Women’s Lives in the Caprivi; and fourth, an advocacy booklet regarding the rights of Namibian women and girls protect themselves from HIV and Aids through challenges to poverty, culture, and violence.

Women’s Voices Project: Phase Three this is the current phase which started in 2008. In 2008 we conducted Advocacy Seminars all over Namibia using our advocacy booklet and the traveling photography exhibition. We also conducted writing workshops on the theme of women and courage. This year we will produce an anthology on acts of courage in women’s lives; pilot and produce a reading guide for the first two anthologies; and complete and launch the Caprivi research. This phase as a whole is funded by the Embassy of Finland.

Lessons learned from all our work are: to reject harmful cultural practices, to make the personal political, to become autonomous human beings, in other words to have personhood, and to hold the state accountable. The projects were also critical in initiating the vitally important process and practice of documenting Namibian women’s writing across the spectrum of class, race, age, ethnic identity, rural and urban location, sexual orientation, and other social differentiators. We have made a strong case that the process of empowering women through research and creative literature while building their capacity to highlight crucial social problems and to envision better ways of living is just as necessary to Namibia’s overall development as constructing roads, providing wells and health care.

Additional Internet Resources

Search the internet for Sister Namibia Magazine articles
The Namibian newspaper - http://www.namibian.com.na/
Search the internet for writings by Liz Frank and Elizabeth /Khaxas