Internship Experience at a Plastic Recycling Social Enterprise in Uganda.
Hello, I am Mads, a 25-year old man from Denmark, who has taken a bachelor degree in Urban-, Environmental- and Energy Planning from Aalborg University in Denmark. In between the Bachelor and Masters I was determined to get some practical experience on working as an engineer and gain some new perspectives on life and development work. On that note, I approached Peter (COO Takataka Plastics) for an internship, and around four months later, at the start of 2022, I stepped, a bit anxious, inside the office of Takataka Plastics for the first time.
Mads standing infront of the plastic waste storage facility at Takataka Plastics
In the four months in between, I made the deal with Peter and until I stepped into the Takataka Plastic office, a lot of questions had accumulated in my mind… Which kind of Company is this?, Can I contribute anything at all? Which kind of role will I be given here? Is it difficult to work with colleagues from another country? with another background?, How will the work environment be? What about social life? Will I get any friends? … A lot of questions that obviously were answered in the following weeks. This post seeks to give an insight into those answers and provide the reader with further reflections on my experiences as an intern at Takataka Plastics.
So what happened after I stepped in? I was welcomed, given an introduction, a desk, and then… I started. The first couple of hours I tried to soak it all in, get some knowledge about the work areas and practices, so we could find the right place for me to start. The Takataka Plastics factory is a place full of people doing a lot of activities and very different practices, so it is not easy to get the full overview. That is actually one of the characteristics of Takataka Plastics and Ugandan factories, that a bigger number of product-oriented processes are handled within the factories than you usually see in Europe. It makes the product chains more local and simple, but creates a way bigger number of practices and activities under the same roof or at nearby sites. Therefore it also takes some time and some thoughts to get the full overview of a factory-like that - also more than a couple of hours… or days.
Luckily, a factory with a lot of activities and practices under the same roof is a playground for an environmental engineer like me. Two hours after I got to my desk, I started my first project - modeling different options for the expansion of the company. Since then, I have been working with various problems and tasks, which have been suitable for my competencies but also challenging to accomplish. The types of work and analyses I have been doing are for example Waste Management, Life Cycle Management, GIS, Logistics optimization, Energy analysis, Craft Work. The work has been a great mix of being able to contribute directly with my competencies and being in need to cooperate with my colleagues or learn some practical or site-specific skills to get the desired results. There is thus a basis for assisting the company and at the same time developing competencies or learning new skills as an intern at Takataka Plastics.
The production team separating plastics collected from around Gulu City.
The professional learning was, however, only a part of the learning I have achieved being at Takataka Plastics. The everyday life at the office and generally in Gulu City is very different from what I have been used to. Gulu, which is one of the biggest cities in Northern Uganda, is a very authentic city with a lot of students, several marketplaces, and busy traffic. There are obviously a lot of cultural elements, which are widely different from Europe like clothing, music, wealth, transportation, and food. Gulu city can feel chaotic and confusing due to busy and unlogical roads - sometimes it can even feel frustrating due to infrastructure (for example when the power suddenly goes off for a couple of days). In the beginning, all of these differences and especially the busyness in the city center could make me a bit exhausted. But little by little I was adapting to the environment and giving myself time to get to know Gulu and its people. Generally, it has struck me that the population in Gulu is more concerned about the local community than I have been used to in Denmark. It was especially illustrated to me, on a Friday morning, when we (Takataka Plastics) were hosting a community event to collect waste on a specific route. All kinds of citizens flocked to help and we ended up being a “collection army” of around 100 people. What made the experience extra special was the vibe and the teamwork that I was a part of. A truck was blasting music all over the area, and people were collecting, enjoying, dancing and helping each other - even the people working in the surrounding businesses were supportive and contributed to this extraordinary community feeling. Actually, this also characterizes most people living in northern Uganda pretty well; they are helpful, hardworking, welcoming and they are always interested in having a good time.
Gulu City Council Deputy Resident City Commissioner Speaking at the community cleanup event
This leads me to my perspectives on the community of Takataka Plastics. As I previously described, there are a lot more practices and different types of work than I was used to. A fact that I believe in some cases can cause some issues due to teamwork and prioritizing of work. In addition to this, one of Takataka Plastics’ core values is to include people in the company, who are stranded in a poor life on the streets. That is, for me, an absolutely admirable thought, but at the same time, I was curious to see how it worked out in practice - If the teamwork of different disciplines would be critical and the integration of vulnerable citizens would affect the team or hierarchy in a bad way. What I found was that the division of roles in the company is very clear and that the company has accomplished establishing a quite flat hierarchy. All the employees know each other and the exact role for themselves and their co-workers in the company. This creates a notable platform for teamwork, where I always felt a helping hand available. But even more remarkable for me, is that the work environment is based on a mutual and fundamental understanding and respect for the particular employee's life, limitations, and abilities. This particular environment tells a lot about how Takataka Plastics is managed, and how it is to be working here. It feels a bit like a family, where people are working as a unit aiming to achieve the company's bigger goals, but at the same time a place where individuals are allowed to bring their personal and private sphere if needed.
The setup in the main reception room at Takataka Plastics
The good relationship at the workplace is also translating into different social activities and friendships. Already in the first week, I was requested to join some of my co-workers on the weekends’ activities. This social life is further supported by the company, which arranges a non-work-related meet-up every Friday at the nearby foodpoint, where all employees are welcome and are offered a beer or soda to start the weekend. Other than that, there are several places to meet up with interesting or like-minded people. So overall, I believe there are several platforms and people, which can provide a good and special social life in Gulu - at least they did to me!
I hope that these perspectives and thoughts have given insight and some answers on life as an intern at Takataka Plastics and as a visitor in Gulu. There is a lot more to tell, but I will recommend that people experience the rest themselves.
A group photo with some members of Takataka Plastics.
