Aleks' shares his fascinating security experience with UNODC Bangkok

Aleks, (4th from right), stands next to Jeremy Douglas, (4th from left)
Regional Representative for Southeast and the Pacific (UNODC) 

Aleks' shares his fascinating security experience with UNODC Bangkok

By: Aleks 

Wait, I actually get to leave the office?

I remember boarding the plane that February evening, it was a balmy minus thirty-something with the wind-chill at Pearson airport. There I was with my bags packed ready to fly to Thailand. I’d never even been to Asia and here I was boarding a plane to move there for six months.

I couldn’t wait to get there, I was so excited, I’d heard so many things about Thailand and Bangkok and couldn’t wait to experience them myself. The biggest unknown was my internship… What would I be doing there? What did the office look like? How would I be welcomed into such an organization? The crazy traffic, the sweltering heat and great unknowns of Southeast Asia almost seemed trivial in comparison. I still remember setting out from my apartment the first day, the -30 had turned into a solid +38 C without the heat index and by the time I’d walked to the office it looked more as if I’d swam there.

The first day was eventful, after meeting my supervisor and having a quick introduction with some of the program officers I sat down to work. There wasn’t much wasted time, by the second day I got an email from my boss… “Aleks I’m going to need you to put together a 30 minute presentation to teach our National Program Officers how to use our new United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) BLO Field Tablets tomorrow.” I showed up the next day unsure whom I was meeting and how formal this thing would be, but I was a confident public speaker and figured I’d just go for it. And that was that… pretty much a window into how the next six months would pan out. The 30 minutes became several hours, but real progress was made and those NPO’s became regular contact points week in and week out.

Aleks presenting at a security conference in Myanmar

Besides all the interesting things I got to work on in the office; from publishing papers on Alternative Development Strategies in Myanmar and Laos PDR to writing web stories and reports on conferences around Asia, the greatest highlight of my time as a Junior Professional Consultant (JPC) was being given the opportunity to travel and not only attend but present at trainings and conferences. I was honoured to speak at the Thailand National Steering Committee to a room of officers from the Thai Royal Police; I spoke alongside our Regional Director and fellow Canadian, Mr. Jeremy Douglas at a joint conference held with the Marshal School of Business from USC; and presented a full day of training to border officers in both Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

From the people I’ve met, to the confidence it’s given me in public speaking, and engaging people from completely different cultures and backgrounds, the United Nations Association in Canada's International Development & Diplomacy Internship Programme (IDDIP) has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve been privileged to be a part of. It’s enriched me personally, but more importantly, even as an intern I really felt like what I accomplished made a difference not just in the office, but on the ground.