Life of an Intern

Here at Niños de México we welcome the company of those who wish to partner with us. One way we do this is through our internship program. What is it like to be an intern you may ask? We questioned a few of our former interns in order to give you a better idea of what it’s like in the Life of an Intern.
First off we wanted to know what the interns thought of NDM in their own words. The answers can be adequately summarized into the following: NDM is a place where children are brought in order to be a part of a family. To be taken care of and shown the love of Christ. The hope is that the children will feel what it is like to be part of a real family and feel real love.
When asked what their favorite memory was during their time here, a unanymous answer came about. The experience was different for each intern but they each seemed to remember their best memory as when they truly saw how Niños de México is a family. There are many moments at NDM that will bring this aspect of the ministry to light while you are here.
We also asked about the spiritual impact of the internship on the interns personally. There were various answers ranging from getting back in sync with Christ, learning to have their hearts broke for other people around the world, and learning about the blessings that we take for granted each day. While here we try to have a devotional time each week with the interns but much of what God teaches and uses to impact them is done through living with and loving the children here at our institution. Our hope is that through experiences in our internship program, people will learn to see a bigger picture of Christianity and how to grow their personal relationship with Christ.
Being an intern is not all happy moments and easy streets. We also asked what was the most difficult part of being an intern at NDM. Communication due to the language barrier was the most popular answer given. So if you are planning on coming down to help at NDM, practice your Spanish and be prepared to struggle a little with communication.
Finally we wanted to know some hints and tips for future interns. So here is a short list of hints and tips from REAL NDM interns:
1. Be with the kids as much as you can. It goes by way too fast.
2. Bring a laptop, you’ll want to talk to family and friends back home.
3. Go to Chilapa.
4. Don’t be afraid to talk to people, even if your Spanish isn’t that great.
5. Bring some good books to read.
6. Be flexible
7. Don’t think you’ll just “get over” your tummy ache. Tell someone.
8. Get to know the staff, they can teach you a lot.
9. Be a servant.
10. Practice your Spanish
11. Understand from the get go that we are not here to be best friends but to assist everyone at NDM in helping get stuff done and so at times to realize that we have to set aside being friends with the kids to and make them follow the rules.
12. Understand that the kids see a lot of people come and go and so at times that’s going to effect how they interact with you but to not let that bother you but to keep loving them and talking to them, and being the hands and feet of Christ in everyway possible.
13. Try EVERYTHING