Chhorn Kakada: Internship experience and impressions at ODC

Kakada at Cambodia ICT Camp 2026

I began my internship at Open Development Cambodia Organization (ODC) on 09 March 2026 as an Editorial-Research Intern. I was genuinely thrilled to receive this opportunity. I am a recent honors graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy, Royal University of Phnom Penh, with a strong interest in social affairs and research. Previously, I gained some experience through volunteering and interning at various institutions. My involvement in social work started at the age of 15, beginning as a volunteer English teacher for over five years at a remote association in Kampot province, my birthplace. Later, I worked with other youth in the association to implement projects that raised community awareness of the environment, hygiene, and waste management, and, in particular, to advocate for education for children and youth and encourage higher education so children and youth in the community would have broader educational opportunities.

Securing an internship opportunity at ODC was the best path and experience for me. As a young person who enjoys social work and wishes to contribute to society, during my six months at ODC, I gained extensive practical experience. In my role, my daily tasks involved reading and searching for news and announcements to publish on ODC’s website. Although this work was routine and repetitive, I never found it boring because reading the news and searching for announcements kept me constantly updated with the latest events in society.

In addition, I authored a topic page on “Women in government and politics“. Writing this topic helped me gain experience in topic-focused writing and maintaining original data integrity without introducing additional analysis or personal views. I learned significantly more regarding data collection, extracting data from clear sources, preserving the original meaning from source materials, and utilizing open data. One major aspect I deeply appreciate is that ODC provides open data while strictly maintaining data neutrality.

Beyond my primary tasks and article writing, I also contributed to other units within the organization, such as proofreading, editing, translation, data entry, and photography. I also participated in workshops and community training sessions in several provinces, including Kratie, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri, where I helped prepare materials, provided on-site facilitation, and took workshop minutes. After the training sessions concluded, I wrote a blog post titled “Strengthening community forest protection through open data,” which was published on ODC’s website. Additionally, I participated in various training workshops organized by ODC in Phnom Penh anda technical mapping meet-up, which allowed me to gain knowledge and expand my social network beyond daily work duties.

Most notably, I received another wonderful opportunity. ODC allowed me to participate in the Cambodia ICT Camp 2026, where I contributed as a notetaker/blogpost volunteer to the successful organization of the event. On the day of the event, I wrote a blog post titled “Inside our first day back at Cambodia ICT Camp 2026“, which was published on the Cambodia ICT Camp website. Before and during the event, my role was strictly focused on taking notes and recording minutes, carefully capturing, archiving, and maintaining the key details, information, and data shared by the speakers throughout the event. Through this opportunity, I gained further experience in active listening, minute-taking, and acquiring knowledge regarding artificial intelligence, digital safety, rights, and access to information. The program also gave me the chance to meet and listen to insights shared by expert speakers.