Last month, we were pleased to welcome Naiara Santillana at our Brussels Office, for a 6-month internship supported by the Global Training Programme by Fomento San Sebastian. We have asked Naiara to introduce herself to our readers in the article below.
Hello all,
My name is Naiara Santillana. I am from San Sebastián (Spain) and I recently moved to Brussels to start an internship program (Global Training Grant) at the European Network on Independent Living – ENIL for the next 6 months.
I am 22 years old and I have just finished my bachelor studies on Industrial Management Engineering at the University of Navarra-Tecnun, in San Sebastián.
Since I was very young I always wanted to travel and live abroad. Then I heard about this Global Training Grant offered by the Basque government and I decided to take up the challenge as ENIL intern.
My main personal objective for this enriching opportunity is to get in contact with different people from other cultures and find out how it is working in other countries. I also want to improve my English and, of course, French.
I do not have any prior experience in disability rights work. Before ENIL I always worked in much more technical jobs. So I am ready and eager to learn and contribute as best as I can. I will always try to do my best, share knowledge and provide new ideas and a different perspective for the projects that will be coming up.
During this time in ENIL, I will be assisting Marco, the ENIL Brussels Office Manger. We will be working on projects development and reporting, preparation of new projects, organization of events… such as the very exciting Freedom Drive 2019.
In the coming months, I am looking forward to learning about ENIL’s and other NGO’s contribution and work on the Independent Living rights. Moreover, I am looking forward to learning about challenges faced by disabled people, strategies and policies to tackle those challenges in order to build a stronger and more inclusive society.
