Singapore 2010 - Hummayun Javed

I started on an AIESEC traineeship with UBS in Singapore in June 2010. The last 4 months have been truly exciting in terms of living in a completely different part of the world and working with a really good organization.

Singapore's a different world altogether - safe, clean and culturally diverse. Not many people might know this but 15% of Singapore's population is Muslim and Eid is actually a public holiday here. In a country where half the population is expatriates, you can see and meet people from all around the world living at the heart of Asia. The LC here has been really supportive in helping me settle in and finding a place and the intern community is quite strong. We have 10-15 interns from different places (mostly Asia) and we meet regularly for lunch etc - it's great to have people you can instantly connect with and rely on for help. Adeel Naeem (AIESEC Lahore) and Jawad Latif (AIESEC Islamabad) now work here in permanent roles and have been a great support. I also met some people I have met in other countries at conferences or know through friends - quite interesting how small and accessible the AIESEC world is :)

Other than that, Malaysia's nearby so there is a lot of scope for tourism to serene beaches and jungles and highlands - have just had one trip so far but plan to do many more in the coming year. Work's great - really enjoying it. The best part about working for UBS are the people you work with - smart, friendly and supportive - even though an AIESEC intern is seen as an intern, I have over time been given good learning opportunities and a fair amount of responsibility. Even my team's quite diverse: my boss is Australian and then we have Malaysian, Korean, English and Singaporean and well, Pakistani nationalities represented in a team of around 8 people. 

The role's quite interesting too - Legal and Compliance - upcoming thing in the financial sector with all the regulators putting their foot down to better regulate the financial institutions - there's a lot happening and changing and it's all quite interesting to see things develop from UBS' perspective. And since Singapore's a hub of sorts, we also look at other countries in the region which makes things even more interesting.... 

Well, other than that, I'll say what I tell everyone, the stay in Singapore has almost been all about work, which is something I wanted and have enjoyed. 

Hummayun Javed

Kenya 2009 - Saba Azeem

The whole prospect of going abroad for a DT seemed very exciting. When I was finally matched in Kenya, I was even more excited since I had never been to Africa. But soon I came to realize that it isn’t as glamorous as it sounds. Not only did I have to adjust to an entire new culture and way of life, I also had other perils to deal with like travelling on unreliable public transport (which I had never experienced in Pakistan), getting used to the food (which I did not find to be very appetizing), and getting used to the lack of running water! 

Life seemed hard and when it finally hit me that this was a permanent situation for the time being in Kenya, I began to feel home sick. But soon enough I made friends from all over the world. My friends included not only Kenyans and my host family, but Austrians, Germans, Brazilians, Colombians, British, Kiwis, Somalis, Chinese and Japanese. It truly was a global experience and I began to look forward to Tuesdays where all the interns would meet at Comfort and we would go out to eat and party on our meager finances. Work had always been amazing since I was researching with the African Mental Health Foundation and it was a great honor to work with such a reputable institution which was doing so well despite being in its early years. 

I made amazing friends with the people there and am already beginning to miss them. Kenya was an amazing experience now that I think about it since I got to live life as an average Kenyan and got to see the country through a different lens and not from a tourist point of view. The safari was absolutely breath taking, the Savannah with its majestic glory was more than I could ever imagine. It was the real life version of the Lion King! Now than I am back, I can’t help but feel nostalgic and I can’t wait to go on another exchange program to experience another culture from this close.   

Saba Azeem