Saffia Sage
Saffia Sage, as a student at York University, had just finished her second year of a degree in Writing, Directing and Performance when she joined us as a summer intern. Outside the realm of Performing Arts, Saffia is passionate about education, social development, renewable energy and gender equality so working with PFP appealed to her on many levels. During her time with us Saffia created and managed PFP’s social media platform and outreach, co-ordinated the design and content of the PFP website, organised and ran the PFP booth at our official Launch event (Global Infrastructure Summit, Barcelona), and researched and supported our funding campaign. She tells of her experience with us.
My internship with PfP was my first experience of working in the charity sector. I have wanted to work in the third sector for a long time, and I was drawn to PfP in particular because of the roundedness of their approach to aid: PfP’s ethos and their skill in understanding the
particularities of each of their communities, I believe, enables them to deliver charitable aid that works towards long-term, sustainable transformation of these communities. Working with a new charity that has an innovative, integrated approach to tackling poverty helped me to understand the complexities and the multitude of factors that contribute to the challenges facing poor, remote, rural communities every day. I could see how it is possible that the various issues can ALL be addressed, in order to make a real transformative difference.
Developing PfP’s social media was a rollercoaster: I was reading reports on the communities and selecting images from field trips, trying to match facts and photos in a way that would make the communities and the charity easily accessible to wider audiences. I was at once learning about the shocking, urgent situations that PfP is working to resolve, and witnessing the strength, ambition, and determination of the people that they encounter.
My time with PfP was an unforgettable and inspiring experience. I have walked away with new skills to my name, but also a greater understanding of how to view a “whole picture” in order to substantially change lives. I can only hope that the social media outreach and website touch viewers, donors, and patrons, and instill in them the same faith and support for PfP that I have!
Thank you Saffia, for your amazing work and for being so cool under pressure! We’ve loved working with you!If you are interested in volunteering with us then do contact us here. We would love to hear from you.