Nevisian Pursues Internship at Caribbean Health Research Centre
By Claudia Liburd
Trinidad Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| 24 year old Fountain Village native Shenel Nisbett |
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Shenel Nisbett, a 24 year-old from Fountain Village, Nevis travelled to Trinidad late last year to pursue internship at the Caribbean Health Research Council which is located on Warner Street, St. Augustine.
Nisbett began her education at the Charlestown Secondary School and after graduating in 2001 she was employed by the Nevis Island Administration as a Data Entry Clerk in the Health Information Unit. This experience, she said, opened her eyes to how HIV/AIDS was affecting her community, her countrymen and her country.
“While working at the Health Information Unit I assisted the HIV/AIDS Coordinator at times as the unit was short staffed. It opened my eyes as to how important the Unit was and that fact that the epidemic is on the rise in our little island.
“From then on I’ve always had an interest in working in the unit and when the opportunity arose I was motivated by co workers, family and friends to take up the internship,” said Nisbett during an exclusive interview with SKNVibes.com.
She continued, “I have the privilege of working with an incredibly devoted team and I am learning so much. I have learnt that monitoring and evaluating are crucial to the survival and advancement of any development program and I had to push myself to learn about concepts and monitoring models in order to successfully fulfill my internship, and I am thriving in that challenge.”
Nisbett noted that since her arrival in Trinidad she spent much of her time in culture shock. She went on to explain how she eventually overcame her initial discomfort.
“Although I spent a good part of my time feeling culturally uncomfortable, I actually enjoyed the feeling! Getting to know the Trinidadians and their customs and way of life was fascinating and I was so touched at how my supervisors and friends tried to integrate me and teach me all they could about their country. And even though I still do not understand it all I fell in love with Trinidad.”
Upon completion of the internship Nisbett touched on her ambition to remain within the Health Information Unit upon completion of the internship and expressed a desire to further her studies in Health Information Management Systems.
Through this avenue she hopes to effect change in levels of accountability through monitoring and evaluation. ~~Adz:Right~~
“There are lots of benefits for organizations, funders and members of staff. I hope with my knowledge and experience I would be able to help build a strong Monitoring and Evaluation system in Nevis that will be reliable and effective. Ongoing monitoring should provide early information on progress (or lack thereof) toward achieving the intended objectives, outcomes, and impacts,” noted Nisbett.
The young philanthropist urged other young persons within the wider society of St. Kitts/Nevis to advance themselves through avenues such as internship, tertiary education and work experience.
“Coming together is a beginning. Staying together is progress. Working together is success. Knowledge and skills are nice to have on hand for life's ups and downs. This will definitely help in our Nation’s social progress and reform.”
