Giving your time and energy to Alsama on the ground is a wonderful way to engage with our students and support our work. Joining the Alsama team in Lebanon is also a great way to gain valuable experience and develop your CV.
Our core principles – commitment, collaboration and ambition – are at the heart of our work. Whether you are a volunteer, an intern or a full-time employee, everyone here is responsible for their tasks and are encouraged to drive their own projects.
There are two main ways to get involved with Alsama: volunteer as a project lead or intern in our HQ.
At Alsama, I am constantly immersed in a challenging, but highly motivating environment and a lot of that motivation comes from my students. Working with them is not only about teaching. It's also about establishing connection with them and being inspired by their desire to invest in a life outside the camp.
LUDOVICA RADICI, ON-GROUND INTERN, ITALY, 2021
Volunteer at Alsama
Volunteering at Alsama is a the best way to enrich our students’ education by helping Alsama expand its extracurricular offering. We warmly encourage volunteers to propose a project that allows them to share their passion for a subject/activity with our students. Past projects have included chess, musical theatre, opera, public speaking and more!
At Alsama, we always strive for excellence and delivering clear and identifiable changes to our students’ lives. All our work is underpinned by our three values: Commitment, Collaboration and Ambition. We ask that projects have a specific and ambitious – but achievable – goal that encourages our students to strive for excellence throughout the project.
We ask that you dedicate some time and thought to your project proposal.
To give you an idea of what to expect on the ground, please read our volunteering guidelines and look over an example of a project that was completed successfully in 2022-23; Tales of Art.
For any questions, please email intern@alsamaproject.com
Intern at Alsama HQ
Twice per year, Alsama hires Strategy and Development interns to work as paid employees in our HQ in Shatila Refugee Camp, Beirut. With this internship, we offer dedicated and competent people an opportunity to join a professional, community-oriented, and motivated team in supporting and growing Alsama. Interns will also be given the chance to teach a project you they passionate about to our students.
With two ex-McKinsey consultants amongst its C-suite and a board involving senior members from firms such as Ernst & Young and Skadden, Alsama is an exciting organisation for prospective interns to be a part of.
The role:
A 5 month paid internship working in the Strategy and Development team at our HQ based in Shatila Refugee Camp in Beirut.
Responsibilities:
Your tasks will depend on your skills and the needs of the organisation at the time. This will likely include:
- Fundraising: Expanding our donor base and submitting grant applications to generate extra funds for Alsama.
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint to organise student data, and produce donor reports.
- Creation or updating of policies: Making sure that Alsama’s policies are up to date and fulfil the requirements of third-party organisations.
- Communications: Collaborating with our social media officer to create and deliver an effective content strategy.
- Financial Assistant: Using Microsoft Excel tools to ensure Alsama’s financial records are regularly updated.
- HR: Managing Alsama’s recruitment pipeline to ensure its future workforce is compatible with its expected growth.
- Academic teaching: Providing support in Maths, English, IT, and professional skills classes to our students.
- Extra-curricular: Teaching an incredibly ambitious and hard-working set of children a subject you are passionate about.
Qualifications:
- A proven record of academic excellence.
- Experience with Office tools, in particular proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
- Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing.
- Ability to work collaboratively in a team and deliver outcomes for specific deadlines.
- Must be flexible, detail-oriented, and a fast learner.
- Desire to go outside your comfort zone and a tolerance for working in a challenging environment.
- Proficiency in Arabic is encouraged but not essential.
Benefits:
- You will adopt key skills that will serve you for the rest of your careers, whether in finance, consulting, marketing, and law, by managing projects that deliver a significant impact on our organisation.
- You will get to work across various functions within the NGO making this experience very diverse.
- The work has proven to be extremely fulfilling. You will be surrounded by an incredibly ambitious, kind, and hard-working set of children and will have the opportunity to teach them a project which you are passionate about.
- You will be working for a dynamic and highly experienced team on a day-to-day basis, including two former McKinsey consultants and a former publishing entrepreneur.
- Well-networked founders who can assist with future job recommendations and career advancement.
- Opportunity to live in Beirut, a vibrant and culturally diverse city.
- Opportunity to receive Arabic lessons provided by the students.
Dates:
We are looking to recruit volunteers for two recruitment cycles:
- February to June 2024 (application deadline in November). Applications now closed.
- September 2024 to January 2025 (application deadline in May). Applications will open in July 2024.
Even if you cannot do the full dates, we would still love to hear from you.
How to apply
Our application process is highly competitive and comprises of two main stages:
- Application Form & CV submission.
- Two-hour virtual interview in which we will be evaluating your soft skills, excel capabilities, and verbal and written competencies.
For any questions please email intern@alsamaproject.com.
