Fall 2024 Intern Projects

Fall 2024 Intern Projects

With the semester almost halfway over, our interns have been hard at work! Each semester, our interns get the opportunity to create and lead a Peacebuilding project in an area they are passionate about! We love empowering our interns to create peace in meaningful ways. Enjoy this little snapshot of what they have been working on!

Talia Nilsson - Senior 

This semester, I’m excited to develop a workbook (and a soon-to-come course), specifically for couples. In my last job, I hosted a retreat for newly married couples, teaching them conflict transformation tools to help build a solid foundation in their relationships. I fell in love with this work at that retreat, which inspired me to create a workbook that makes these tools accessible to all couples.

My workbook explores essential areas such as building a strong foundation, establishing trust, navigating conflicts, and maintaining connection. As a young married individual, this topic is particularly personal to me. We enter relationships filled with optimism, but without the right tools and support, success can be hard to find. This is why I am so passionate about this project!

While there are various resources available for couples, I believe we need a centralized space to gather these tools. That’s where my workbook comes in. I draw from the expertise of leaders like Brené Brown, the Gottman Institute, and the Arbinger Institute—which are all leading experts in fostering authentic relationships. This workbook is meaningful to me, as it aims to provide a space where couples can learn principles and tools to create and maintain a strong relationship. I’ve shared it for feedback and am currently making final revisions before it becomes available to everyone, so stay tuned!

Annie Jones - Senior 

I grew up in a musical family and have played the violin for 16 years. Music has always been a central part of my life, and I’ve had the privilege of experiencing many different types of music education, all of which have deeply influenced me. I believe music has the power to connect people, promote healing, bring joy, and create peace, and I have seen this in my own life. This semester, I’m combining my love for music with my passion for peacebuilding through my project with PonoPono.

My aim is to introduce peacebuilding principles to elementary-aged children through engaging and interactive music lessons. Music education can boost confidence, enhance learning, and inspire creativity, making it a powerful tool for teaching important skills like conflict resolution and interpersonal peace. By integrating peacebuilding concepts into music, I hope to help students develop skills to handle conflict and build positive relationships.

I’m reaching out to local elementary schools with hopes of bringing these lessons into their classrooms. I believe this project can improve school culture by reducing bullying, addressing racism, and encouraging stronger connections among students. Ultimately, I hope to make a lasting impact on the community through this project, combining two of my deepest passions to promote peace and understanding within my community. 

Kamilah Pedersen - Junior 

My projects for the Ponopono peace initiative internship are creating a workshop that creates awareness around sexual assault, provides students with opportunities to make changes at their school, and gives survivors resources to get the help and support needed. I’ve been able to help provide survivors or friends of survivors with resources and support through the information gathered for this project and will be hosting the workshop with a friend at which we hope to have around 100 people present.

Our workshop will be super interactive and hands-on, providing students with multiple opportunities to deepen their knowledge, extend their network, and learn new skills that will help prevent and deal with sexual assault. 

This semester I am also working to help video edit content that provides youth and young adults with access to peacebuilding principles in a theater space within the town of Cardston, Alberta Canada. I’ll be working under Rebecca Burnham and she will be creating the content and teaching the principals and then I will compile them all, making sure it’s engaging and insightful. The hope is to broaden the reach of peacebuilding principles with youth and teach them in a way that feels relevant and applicable. The goal is to create a video series of about 15 videos that Rebecca will teach to her students and sell to those who are interested.

Cantalise Ferreira - Senior

The vision for my personal peace project this semester is centered around a rising interest in Culinary Learning Centers for University and Public Libraries. This project aims to increase culinary/health literacy, host cooking programs for those who do not have access to kitchens, and offer opportunities for tie-ins to cultural celebrations, cookbooks, and more.

In collaboration with the BYUH Food & Culture Club, “Food for Thought” would help students find an outlet for the love of the culinary world. By combining a love for food and culture this club celebrates the many healthy and delicious dishes of the world and brings people together in order to cook and connect.

Students on various types of meal plans can learn how to cook their favorite dishes and the secrets behind having fun while cooking healthy meals through the “Food for Thought” program. This program will serve to help the students through educating them on how cooking can be easy, healthy, and fun. With the busy lifestyle college students live, eating healthy can often be undervalued and overlooked.

It can seem so much easier to just eat snacks and pre-packaged food as opposed to sitting down to a good healthy meal but those foods do little to provide the energy and nourishment needed for long days full of classes, work, and other responsibilities. The classic narrative of a Ramen-fed student conjures images of pre-packaged noodles with simple seasoning packets. Besides being flavorless and lacking essential fibers and proteins, this method of eating to survive takes the fun and creativity out of culinary delights. They need more enrichment including healthy portions of fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy, we must teach students to eat healthier and that is what this program will aim to accomplish.