About the Program:

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We offer remote internship programs for high school and university students each semester. Our past interns joined our team to aid in research, content development, and outreach.

Our ongoing relationship with the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh has connected us with interns who have first-hand experience with the local refugee crisis. The majority of the interns have an interest in public health, education programming, and women’s health.

Our past interns are from:

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Afghanistan | Australia | Bangladesh | Myanmar | Singapore | Syria | USA

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Thoughts from our interns

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Molly Proctor: Media & Web Design Intern

Content creator of “Our Inspiration” blog series

Working for Books Unbound as their Media and Web Design Intern has been an incredible experience on both a professional and personal level. Over the past three months I have gained a small insight into the amazing work that this organisation does in the refugee education sector, the impact it has and the attention to detail that is given to every facet of every project. Sophie and Carolyn gave me challenging assignments that allowed me to gain valuable experience and improve on skills I will use throughout my career. 

Through this experience I have learnt about graphic design, social media scheduling and blog writing. But more importantly I learnt about the rewards and challenges of humanitarian work, the importance of contextualisation in education and how a team can function effectively across countries and cultures to complete huge projects. I enjoyed being trusted to work independently (with support when needed) and being part of a start-up that still has so much on the horizon. 

I loved working with the Books Unbound cartoons, which are completely contextualised to each refugee community, because they always made me smile. I imagine it would be a very special thing to see your culture and language represented in that way when you may be feeling disconnected from it, as many refugees would. One thing I learnt through student testimonials that I had never considered is how boredom can often be one of the most dangerous things in a refugee camp, which is why these resources and programs are so helpful. They can give these children a creative outlet, something productive to do and something positive to talk about with friends and family. 

My favourite assignment was writing the Storytelling blog series about different inspiring individuals. It was such a privilege to read Samuda’s story in her own words and gain a better understanding of the Rohingya situation. I didn’t know that Rohingya born in Bangladesh are denied citizenship and basic rights like education and government support. It really puts into perspective how complex and difficult their situation is and it made me want to do more to help. When talking about these issues with my family and friends I realised how overlooked this is as a global issue. Even though Kutupalong is the largest refugee camp in the world, many people I talked to had never even heard of the Rohingya. I think the Australian mainstream media don’t focus on these issues enough and maybe if it were better known, Australians could do more to help. 

I enjoyed writing the blog post about Iranian women and their ongoing protests. I was so moved reading about the injustices they are fighting against, and it made me realise how many rights I take for granted as an Australian woman. It reminded me of Audre Lord’s quote “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” I believe if we have the privilege to speak out without punishment, we should use that voice to advocate for those that can’t. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to intern with Books Unbound and work with such an amazing team of young creators and advocates. The change they are creating for Ukrainian, Rohingya and Afghan refugees is so impactful and is achieved only through hard work, dedication and resilience.