I’ve really loved working at Miracle and even after the internship has finished, I actually reflect quite often on a lot of what I learned throughout my internship. Many of the lessons weren’t formal instructions, but instead ideas and impressions I took away from the encounters I had during my time at Miracle.
In addition to interviewing Elizabeth for my Internship Transcript Notation program, I also interviewed Lisa and Caroline. Lisa is the Marketing Coordinator and one of my supervisors. She came from the museum world so she is somewhat new to the non-profit sector but she is seriously passionate about the kids she works to help in India and it shows in her work. I sent Lisa the questions so she could answer at her convenience and she responded with in depth answers that really explained her job and what marketing in a non-profit entails. She was very encouraging, yet very realistic at the same time…no sugar-coating! Hard work and often little pay is part of the gig, but if it’s truly what you’re passionate about, it can be totally satisfying. I want to share her last bit of advice as I think it’s something important for me to remember and is a variation of standard advice I tend to receive. Her advice was the following:
“Non-profit work can be truly fulfilling and the personal rewards great, but you should be aware that you will work hard, give a lot of yourself and not always be rewarded financially. For most non-profit workers, the knowledge they are making a difference is satisfaction enough. However, others burn out and move on. My best advice is to really listen to yourself, determine what you are truly passionate about (children, art, health issues, poverty, etc). Focus on one and then continue to do what you’ve already started doing (i.e., educating yourself, volunteering, interning). With your dedication, enthusiasm and talents, you will have no problem making a place for yourself and excelling in whichever area you choose. “
Pretty solid advice, huh?
Caroline is the Founder of The Miracle Foundation and she has, as Lisa told me, a ‘deep passion, experience, dedication, and drive are truly inspirational’. I scheduled a time to sit down and talk to her and it ended up being a fantastic experience. Although I don’t necessarily want a job like hers, being the face of the organization, I do want to be like her in that she puts her entire heart into what she does and does it well. When I went in to talk to her, we went and sat on two of the couches facing each other on the same level, which is something small that stuck out to me. Everyone in the office will sit down to be talking at the same level as you most of the time, which feels like a sign of respect and a move that eliminates power dynamics. We talked about my experience as an intern at TMF so far and she seemed genuinely interested in my experience and wanted both positive and negative feedback. I love that she truly listened to me and was sincere, passionate and so driven. This interview stands apart in my mind because the advice and answers she gave me were not the standard ones I had been hearing, but instead she spoke from her heart and a very personal perspective.
I mentioned something Turk Pipkin (the guy I mentioned in one of my early posts, Caroline knew him because one of Turk’s documentaries features The Miracle Foundation) had told me, which was that I must focus on one cause and do everything in my power to improve the lives of people in the way. Caroline thought Turk’s advice was great and responded with advice someone once told her, which was to be a laser beam not a shotgun. Basically, go straight towards your goal with all you have, because little scattered efforts are not going to be effective. Like others, she said there is no right path, as she found from personal experience. She was in marketing and sales before going on world trip and finding her call. The most important thing is getting experience; it’s the best teacher and preparation. Caroline has a burning passion and she said her faith is a source of motivation and dedication, and being dedicated and having discipline is of the upmost importance. The story of Caroline’s journey is incredible; it’s one of those bring-tears-to-your-eyes tales that makes The Miracle Foundation special. She’s always maintained that she will not get involved in dirty work and knows that no ends justify unethical means.
One of her friends explained that she could be the change agent that bridged the gap between the emotionally starving and the physically starving. She believes service fills a hole, whatever you call that hole (religion, common humanity, whatever). Although this all sounds somewhat mushy-gusy, it’s what sets her apart and brought her thus far. I really held on to that concept of being a change agent, as this is the first time I’ve hear that term, and it made me think about the possibilities of bridging the gap between first and third world countries and decreasing the disparities between the two. This would, of course, require global understanding and awareness. Therein lies the challenge, because as Caroline says, resistance is immense and it’s like pushing against inertia. Changing the ‘way things are’ (culture, norms, tradition, attitudes, etc) is difficult and almost impossible. It doesn’t help that many of the institutional/larger agents of change (grassroots orgs, non-profits, intl. orgs, government, etc) don’t necessarily work together and it would help if all the pieces were to be connected. Her advice to creating real change was to really get to know myself and to have a pretty stable foundation in my personal life in order to take risks. It’s important to know what I’m good at so that I can make the most difference possible. These are just a few of the points I remember, but I learned a lot from my discussion with Caroline!
A random encounter that ended up being a really cool incident was when an engineer came in to talk about building a playground at one of the orphanages. We got to look at the topography map and hear the engineer talk about the land and water movements, and it made me think about just how much there is to take into consideration when undertaking such huge projects. Not only do you need to find a place in need but you must find an area in which you can successfully implement projects with which the community agrees and wants to participate. In attempting to develop faster and faster, we often forget that it is of the upmost importance to use the land in its natural state as opposed to working against and trying to alter the environment. Another thing that I thought about while talking to the engineer was how someone can make a difference in the world by pursuing their strengths and interests without working in the traditional fields (non-profit, charity, policy, etc…). By contracting the work of this engineer, he was able to channel valuable work and skill towards a good cause. The implication of this is so exciting to me: anyone can be a change-agent.
Another thing I’ve been thinking about are the standards for transparency in a non-profit organization. During the conversations I had with Elizabeth and Lisa, I remember them both stressing the privacy issues Miracle deals with when working with children and the red tape they face with governments in both America and India. A group of auditors came in a couple days while I was working at Miracle and they meticulously went through the financial records. I think that’s one of the best things about Miracle is that all of their efforts are transparent and there are truly no ulterior motives. I know there are different rules for different kind of companies or organizations, but why aren’t these standards of transparency and ethics universal? Why don’t we pay closer attention to whose hands the money is in, whether it’s being handled ethically, whether it’s justly distributed? It’s crazy how security measures are implemented to prevent fraud and ensure donations go to their intended purposes. Every organization must go through this, and some organizations have extensive security measures while others do what they can. When he was explaining some of the auditing process to me, Jim told me about the different security systems he works with, including how a food bank he works with uses a lock box while Miracle uses computer systems like Convio and more. Unfortunately, time has proven there is a need for such measures.
During one of my babysitting gigs, I was discussing the mother’s past in NGO work and was somewhat surprised by what she said. She was working with a Catholic Church and I’m not sure whether it’s a generational issue or just a different viewpoint on how NGOs/philanthropic organizations (and in my opinion, all companies) should operate, but the fact that the concept of transparency and efficacy has become important in the past couple decades is incredible. To me, it’s unthinkable that those working for a better world would do anything to thwart their efforts, but apparently intentions are not always pure and humans are not perfect. For being such an idealist, I feel I’m becoming somewhat jaded already…and I’m only twenty years old.
I didn’t start out thinking this was a perfect fit, but it became increasingly more and more relevant for me. I had the chance to learn about structural issues, Miracle’s non-secular approach, and their focus on human rights and their application to the lives of children in India. Learning about everyone’s job made me think about what may or may not be right for me, which created more possibilities but also crossed off some ideas on the list. Getting to talk to Anna about her research on the concept of attachment and on methods and practices for the actual implementation of projects and evaluation of orphanages was SO exciting because it made me think of the kinds of innovative research I could be doing in the future. Looking at photos from Elizabeth and Caroline’s trip where they were evaluating potential orphanages to go through new program they’re starting and hearing how they were working with locals was fascinating. I’ve learned interesting tid-bits along the way….did you know there were three types of NGOs in India? There are Trusts, Societies and Section 25s (which are like the United States’ 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations). Overall, I would have to say this has been an incredible internship! I’ve come out of it with more confidence in myself, wonderful contacts and solid experience under my belt.
What a wonderful 8 weeks!
