Interview with Intern in DSIK Armenia Katharina Bergholz
By: Kristine Malakyan, Project Assistant DSIK Armenia

How did your adventure begin?

Well, Deutsche Sparkassenstiftung gave me the opportunity for a 6-week internship in their project office in Armenia in September and October 2021. I knew since December 2020 that I was designated for an internship with one of DSIK’s projects in the Caucasus region. Honestly, I did not know much about Armenia before. Thanks to Google and social media, I got a first impression what might be waiting for me in the upcoming six weeks.

What can you say about Armenia?

Unique nature, lots of fountains, old churches and monasteries, impressive buildings and a visible connection between ancient culture and modernity.

What is your first impression of Yerevan?

The first impression of Yerevan might be the traffic without visible rules, the fast pace of life, sometimes the missing streetlamps and lots of restaurants and shops - but there are also different sides, like elderly people playing chess in the park, laughing kids on the many playgrounds, the willingness to help when you get stuck with your English in the supermarket or the many calm parks and the possibility to see the stars at night in a metropolis.

What can you tell about our project?

The current project in the Caucasus region addresses the agricultural business and rural household through different sub-projects, like energy-efficiency measures, a climate-adapted Savings game, or the implementation of the new Saving Games application. It was so great to develop a physical ‘energy-efficiency calculator’ in team with local partners, to have discussions about finding the perfect word, discover the new Savings Game application, or to organize and participate in an agricultural webinar. The last six weeks were sometimes challenging but I enjoyed them so much.

I gained insights into working and living abroad and a completely different perspective, collecting unique memories. I realized how people’s quality of life can be increased with little but effective measures and learned more about the strong dependency between the agricultural sector and climate change and the consequences of this connection for nature and humans. 

What are your impressions after these 6 weeks?

My conclusion after six weeks living and working in that until recently unknown country, with a completely different environment and unknown tasks: I was sometimes challenged, exposed to a completely different way of thinking, had to think out of the box, and be creative - but in the end, I had amazing and unique experiences.

How was it to work with DSIK Armenia team?

It was inspiring to work in an international team together with DSIK’s local professionals, seeing how they work and act as a team, experience the different workflows, having discussions in three different languages at the same time, solving challenges together, sharing experiences and learning a lot about the different personal motivations.

It’s almost impossible to find words which would describe the last 6 weeks: simply perfect.

I want to thank all the people who made the adventure possible, but in particular the Armenian team of Deutsche Sparkassenstiftung for letting me participate in their work, for giving me an insight into the project and the country they are working and living in.