Operations and Management Intern
Ecuadent Foundation
Address: 109 Old Padonia Road, Cockeysville, MD 21230
Site Supervisor: Savita Joshi, MPH - Program Coordinator
E-mail: Info@Ecuadent.org
Tel: 410-561-1800
Ecuadent Foundation
Ecuadent Foundation works to provide free comprehensive and preventative medical and dental care to impoverished children in Ecuador. Since it's founding in 1990, Ecuadent has served over 26,000 children in over 20 remote areas of the country.
Operations and Management Intern
Over my time at Ecuadent Foundation I was able to experience the inner workings of an International Nonprofit. I worked on everything from fundraising to social media, grant writing to soliciting and packing donations. In February 2016 I will be journeying to Ecuador with the Dental Team as Administrative Staff helping with logistical aspects of the mission. Ecuadent has provided me the opportunity to learn a lot about how a nonprofit functions.
Grant Research and Writing
One of my first tasks assigned when I started with Ecuadent was to weed through databases of foundations that give money to International organizations and Medical organizations. After researching and compiling a list of potential funders I started diving deeper to see if our organizations would be a good fit. I identified two foundations that had grant deadlines quickly approaching and with approval began researching and writing the grants. As of 12/1/2015 I submitted over $90,000 worth of funding requests to foundations for help with our upcoming missions to Ecuador.
What Have I Learned?
Grant Research and Writing
I knew in the beginning that the language barrier between the clients and myself was going to be a struggle. For the most part the clients have good enough English that eventually I can figure out what they are saying. However, I have needed to use an interpreter a few times. It is a different experience working with an interpreter and it can provide both benefits and challenges when working with the client. You don't get to build the typical relationship with the client because everything needs to be translated for them. It can also be difficult for the interpreter to get everything across to the client in a way they understand. You would be surprised how many people don't understand the term "Birth Certificate."
Newsletters
We use the online software program caleld Law Logix to keep track of all of our cases. It allows us to input the client's information and then, for the most part, it fills out the forms for us. There are a ton of glitches with the system and I am still working to figure them all out . It is a great tool to have, but you really need to practice with it to get the hang of what you are doing.
Mission Logistics/Nonprofit Operations
In the beginning I reviewed a lot of old case files and rewrote case notes so they could be officially closed. I spent a lot of time reading through the different files and learning about the diffferent applications and the potential mistakes that can mean the difference between and application taking six months and two years. Having this experience before starting on my own, I feel that I am extra aware of some of the simle and easy mistakes that can happen. I also, very quickly, became an expert at writing case notes.
Skills
Grant Writing
Grant Research
Mission Trip Planning
Fundraising
Marketing
Microsoft Publisher- promotional material
Spanish (I'm learning)
My home during my time with Ecuadent Foundation. The large white board on the left contains the Dental Team Members for our 2016 mission and the white board on the right contains the grants we have submitted this year or are going to submit. All the green labels are from when I labeled the office to help me learn Spanish.
I helped compile a list of people to send our holiday mailer to. The list comprised of past donors, medical and dental professionals, and local churches. By expanding our list we were hoping to reach more people and gain a wider audience for donors and volunteers.
Prior to every mission, Ecuadent sends a sea container full of donations and supplies to Ecuador. Heightened security since 9/11/2001 has made it difficult to take the necessary supplies on planes and therefore Ecuadent works hard to obtain the needed donations a month before the trip in order to send them on the sea container. The sea container also alows us to send donations of clothing, food, and toys to the children in need. One of my jobs was to go through donations and help pack and label the boxes. This is a picture of the basement on my last day in December. More to come of packing and loading the sea container in January!
Upcoming Dates for Ecuadent:
January 7th: Packing the Sea Container
February 18th: Medical Mission to Esmeraldas
February 25th: Dental Mission to Salinas!
2010 - present
2010 - present
