Internships

Internships take place mainly during the

summer months June, July and August.

Applications are accepted during the months

of February and March each year and based

on requests made by Caribbean agencies; a

process of short-listing, contacting and

interviewing prior to selecting and recruiting

interns, is observed. Applications may be sent

to the following contact persons:

Mona

Mrs. Aldene Shillingford, MSW

Lecturer and CIP Coordinator

Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social

Work

Telephone: 876-970-4336, 876-970-3861

Email: aldene.shillingford@uwimona.edu.jm

St. Augustine

Mrs. Deborah Charles-Smythe, MSc.

Senior Assistant Registrar and CIP Liaison

Graduate Studies and Research

Telephone: 868-662-6002 Extension - 85018 or 84191

or 83064

Email: deborah.charles-smythe@sta.uwi.edu

Cave Hill

Ms. Don-Marie Holder, MSc.

Career Counsellor and CIP Liaison

Office of Student Services

Telephone: 246-417-4168 or 246-417-4165

Email: don-marie.holder@cavehill.uwi.edu

Interns Keelan Gill and Halcyon Reid with in-country

host Mrs. Ruth Fevrier in St. Lucia

Caribbean Internship Programme (CIP)

What it is

The Caribbean Internship Programme (CIP) is a

service-learning programme which provides a

unique opportunity for graduates and

graduate students to serve social service

agencies in the Caribbean. The programme,

with early funding from the Bernard van Leer

Foundation (BvLF), was first designed as a

project in 2003 to assist the then Caribbean

Support Initiative (CSI) in developing the care

environment for Caribbean children. Since

2011 and the departure of the BvLF, the CIP

evolved as a partnership between the three

campuses of the UWI, (Mona, St. Augustine

and Cave Hill), from which interns are selected

and assigned to social services agencies in 10

Caribbean countries.

CIP’S Vision

The shared vision of the CIP is that of a

regional community-based service-learning

programme serving human development

goals.

Model

The CIP operationalizes a “tripartite synergistic

model” articulated by Allen (2008), and which

includes:

Involved are Social Service agencies in the

following countries:

Antigua

Barbados

Belize

Dominica

Grenada

Jamaica

Montserrat

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

CIP Data

Between 2003 and 2016, two hundred and

sixty three (263) interns were assigned

Interns selected were graduate students

and graduates mainly from the disciplines

of Social Work, Psychology, Sociology, Early

Childhood Education and Media

Research by Shillingford (2013) identifies the

personal and professional development of

interns on the CIP

Main Benefits

Among the many benefits realized the

following are listed:

Agencies experienced improved service

delivery and capacity building

Interns gained the opportunity to consoli-

date classroom knowledge in a practice

setting and learned about the diverse cul-

tures of the region

UWI expanded its ability to strengthen the

curriculum of its students and to reinforce its

mission to serve underserved communities

Past social work lecturer Mrs. Lita Allen and Psychology

interns Gleniece Elder and Shoyea-Gaye Grant conducting

a post disaster workshop in Dominica.

Social Work interns Donna Marcelin Samuel and

Makeisha Bonner with in-country host Mrs. Glynis

Hay Rickards in St. Vincent.

Intern Cindy Hippolyte working with parents of the

Roving Caregivers Programme in Grenada