Teresa Roark ’09: Peru

Teresa Roark ’09  |  Home: Salem, Oregon Major: International studies and political science; minor in economics

Study abroad experience: I was looking for a way to improve my Spanish, and that’s how I got interested in the IE3 [global internships] program. They have a list of internships in Latin America. I am particularly interested in trade and development issues, but specifically in women’s issues, and how they all relate. My internship with FINCA [Foundation for International Community Assistance] really covered the intersection of those issues because they’re a microfinance bank that works predominantly with women.

During my five months in Peru, I worked on two different projects with FINCA. The first one was with kiva.org, a website that’s run out of San Francisco. They work with a variety of microfinance banks internationally, and through the site, allow for anyone to become a microlender. On the website you see profiles of people who need small loans, usually a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, in order to build and promote their small businesses. You can offer to loan an amount to a participant, and within a few days the whole loan amount is filled. These loans are repaid to the lenders about 98 percent of the time. I would interview women who were applying for loans and then post their profiles on the website.

Then I worked with FINCA exports, a program that’s almost entirely volunteer-run. We worked with a group of about 25 artisans who get loans from FINCA. We did everything for them that you would do for a business—marketing, coordination of shipping, everything.

Earning academic credit: I spent four months in Chile, and I earned academic credit for the classes I took while I was there. I studied Chilean culture, U.S.-Latin American relations, writing and environmental biology, all taught in Spanish. Class sizes range between four and 20 students—smaller than most classes here.

Career goals: I’ll go to grad school eventually. Right now I’m thinking of going into urban and regional planning and I’m particularly interested in community development and natural resource planning. My Spanish skills will be useful for communicating with a large population within the United States.

Advice to students who want to study abroad: Don’t be put off by the application process for internships. Some of the job “requirements” may sound intimidating, but I think they are more like ideals. Just apply anyway. And I strongly encourage the internship component! I was able to fully experience the culture, while developing business and practical skills beyond the Spanish language skills that I was building.