Since August 2007 I have been working as an intern for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Dadaab refugee camps of North Eastern Kenya 80 km from the Somali border.

My duties include receiving donor and journalist missions in the camps and writing reports. I have also assisted with the filming of a television documentary, been stoned by angry refugees and misquoted by Reuters! The job itself isn't particularly interesting but the experience as a whole has been invaluable.

The position has given me an insight into all aspects of this massive operation and an understanding of how an organisation of this size manoeuvres. The tough conditions have certainly tested me on a personal level and have helped shape my decisions regarding the next steps in my career. Whether these experiences and what I have learned from them make me employable is yet to be seen, but I will never regret my decision to spend eight months here. Having arrived with a vague notion of 'helping people', I will leave with a much clearer focus of what I would like to do and how I might be able to do it.