“If you want an authentic experience that goes deeper than travelling, an internship is the way to go. It offers immense personal growth and opportunities you never thought possible.” — Naomi
When Naomi arrived in Siem Reap, she was midway through a backpacking trip and looking for something more. What she found was a cause she couldn’t walk away from. Two months into her NGO Management internship with Volunteer Building Cambodia, she had gained skills, found her purpose, and built connections that would bring her back, mot as a traveller, nor as an intern, but as a member of the team.
Follow Naomi’s journey from first-time intern to full-time Marketing and Communications professional, and discover what it really looks like when an internship changes the direction of your life.
Key Facts about this NGO Management Internship in Cambodia
Location: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Academic Focus: NGO Management
Length: Min. 8 weeks
The Internship
The NGO Management Internship with Volunteer Building Cambodia offers a genuinely varied experience within a small, locally-founded team. Rather than being siloed into one function, interns engage across multiple areas of the organization, from marketing and communications to fundraising, grant research, project coordination, and impact reporting.
It is precisely this breadth that makes the internship so valuable. Interns gain a behind-the-scenes understanding of how a grassroots NGO actually operates, and develop a skillset that is as transferable as it is meaningful. For the right person, it can be the foundation for something far bigger than two months abroad.
The Organization
Volunteer Building Cambodia was founded in 2014 by locals in Siem Reap, with a clear and urgent mission: to break the cycle of poverty by addressing the most basic unmet needs of rural communities. VBC provides families with secure housing, clean water, WASH systems, and solar energy, as well as running a community center where English language and computer classes take place daily.
As Naomi puts it, the gap VBC is working to close is real and visible: “While Cambodia is in a period of huge economic development, the disparity between urban centres and rural villages is stark; many families still live in structures which provide no shelter from the elements.”
The team’s commitment to the communities they serve is something Naomi noticed immediately. “The team’s infectious passion and dedication is truly inspiring.” That energy, it turns out, is hard to leave behind.
About Naomi
Naomi is from England. When she came to VBC as a Roots intern, she was partway through an eight-month backpacking trip and looking for an experience with more depth. She chose a two-month NGO Management internship not just for the professional opportunity, but for the chance to discover her own strengths in a real-world setting.
Check out more Internships with Nonprofits in Cambodia
More Than a Detour
Choosing Meaning Over Movement
Naomi was already well into an extended travel adventure when she decided to pause and take on a structured internship. It was a deliberate choice.
“I wanted to do something meaningful and gain a behind-the-scenes look at how an NGO operates, while discovering my own professional strengths,” she explains. That decision, to trade weeks of travel for weeks of real work, set the tone for everything that followed.
Learning How an NGO Really Works
Upon leaving her initial internship, Naomi shared that her “time in Cambodia was the perfect blend of culture, hard work, learning and developing.” Working within VBC’s small team, Naomi was given genuine responsibility across multiple functions. The internship gave her direct exposure to the communications and operational work that keeps a grassroots organization running, offering a level of insight that many entry-level roles simply do not provide.
A Mission That Stayed With Her
Beyond the day-to-day tasks, Naomi found herself moved by VBC’s work and the communities it serves. She saw first-hand the difference that secure housing and access to education can make for families in rural Cambodia, and she understood the stakes involved.
“Extra education providing employable skills is so important if the younger generation wish to achieve more and keep up with the changing economy,” she reflects. It is one thing to read about development work. It is another to be part of it, even briefly.
When Two Months Becomes a Year
The Transition No One Planned
Naomi’s internship was always meant to be a chapter in a longer story. And then it became the story.
“My internship provided a foundational understanding of VBC’s operations, which made my transition into a permanent role seamless,” she says. The knowledge she had built across marketing, communications, and daily operations meant that when the opportunity arose to stay on, she was already equipped for it.
She did not hesitate. “I couldn’t stay away.”
Back in Siem Reap, For Real This Time
Naomi is now back in Siem Reap, working in a Marketing and Communications role with VBC. She is enjoying deepening her relationship with the city, the team, and the mission she connected with during her internship.
“Building a life here and continuing my support for this mission has been incredibly rewarding,” she says. It is the kind of outcome that is difficult to plan for and impossible to manufacture. It simply grows, naturally, from the right experience with the right organisation.
Naomi’s Advice to Future Interns
For anyone considering whether an internship is worth it, Naomi’s answer is unequivocal.
“If you want an authentic experience that goes deeper than travelling, an internship is the way to go. It offers immense personal growth and opportunities you never thought possible.”
And for those already on their way? “Get involved in everything, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and savour every minute.”
A Story Worth Starting
Naomi came to Cambodia looking for meaning. She found it, built on it, and stayed. Her journey is a reminder that the right internship is not just a line on a CV. It can be the beginning of a career, a community, and a life shaped by purpose.
Your own story could start the same way. Explore NGO Management Internship opportunities with Roots Interns and take the first step.
