Complaint Letter #7 about AIESEC Kolkata!

To whomever this may concern,

Good day, my name is J, I am from AIESEC Adelaide, I am suppose to do my internship in Kolkata. However, I have been here for 2 weeks without a job. As a summary, this is what I’ve got to say about AIESEC Kolkata.

False TN form

Nonexistent internships: AIESEC Kolkata has advertise many intern forms on AIESEC.Net, some of them which are already events of the past or organisations that are mismanaged and thus, force to shut down. Here with me are some interns who have been here for almost a month. They have worked not more than 8 times and were told that the organisation doesn’t need them anymore. In my case, the organisation that I was suppose to help out with had their event on the day I arrived, thus, they didn’t need any more helpers. They didn’t tell me anything about the event or when it was held, all they told me was that I was accepted for the project although that position was no more vacant on my arrival date.

“Attractive” TN forms: On AIESEC. Net, TN forms published description of the job and the actual job is totally different. The descriptions of the jobs are really attractive and it sounds challenging, however, the actual job requires you to work no more than 2 hours a day and to do something different from the actual purpose of an intern being here. For example, an intern here named Tsiago Rosa (Sao Paolo, Brazil) was suppose to help out with the documentation and PR of New Light organisation, however, when we were there, the organisation seems like they need more teachers to help out with the students. The job description and the actual job are 2 different things.

Disorganised/ Mismanaged

Accommodation: AIESEC Kolkata has 2 run down 2 bedroom apartments to host 16 interns (8 in each apartment). As they have advertise many TN forms (and accepted many interns), they currently lack a place to host all interns. When I came to Kolkata, I had to stay with an AIESEC Kolkata member’s family as I have no place. They kept telling me the “new” place was being cleaned. The next day, an intern from the intern house named Lyesha (Sydney, Australia) came to pick me up, and she told me that I would be staying with them at the intern house for one night. I waited the next few days but no one picked me up. I was sleeping on a mattress belonging to another intern who went travelling. Until the time when she came back a week later, I was still ‘homeless’. Some of us had to share mattresses to accommodate for the new interns who were coming. After a week or so, I got so irritated, and finally I told them that I am not going to remain in ‘transit’, and that I would like to stay with the rest of the interns.

Some other interns also didn’t have a place to stay, AIESEC Kolkata made them stay in some temporary accommodations such as guest houses for a few days. These out of pocket cost are all made by the interns.

Also, on the side note, the accommodation provided is really run down and some interns have to pay for it. The place is dirty, we sleep on mattresses on the ground and lights and bathrooms are not functioning well. It is one of the least welcoming sight for new interns. One extreme example was this Morrocan girl named Binta. The moment I brought her into the apartment, she asked for a phone and called her home country’s AIESEC, requesting for an immediate return. She left the same evening to stay in a hotel. This is not the first case I’ve seen just short of 2 weeks before, a Mauritius girl named Sonam stayed in Kolkata for less than 5 days, then she left. Partly because of culture shock and the fact that AIESEC couldn’t even confirm if she had a job.

Communication: AIESEC Kolkata hardly ever reply to emails. I’ve asked for the preparation pack over and over. I’ve also asked for miscellaneous information but no one replied me. Once when you call, they make empty promises to send the information over, but it never happens.

Transport: AIESEC Kolkata hadn’t arranged to pick up some of the interns from the airport. So some interns were left stranded there.

Preparation pack: No preparation packs were provided to prepare the intern before coming. I’ve seen many interns who face problems when they first arrive. For some interns, this may be the first time they are going overseas, not much information was provided, so they come into Kolkata unprepared for winter.

Cover up excuses

AIESEC Kolkata is notorious for their excuses. Also, they are infamous for fake sympathy (and doing nothing about it) and apologising for all their mistakes and still do nothing about it.

As much as I would want compensation for the time wasted waiting and the money spend coming here (and doing nothing productive), I know it may be a little too late for me to hope and wish for the better if the committee is not doing much. However, I believe that something SHOULD be done to improve the condition, warn future interns or (in a more extreme case, such as Poland) stop any interns from going for an internship in Kolkata. After all that has happened to me and many of the interns here, I hope that this does not happen to any future intern ever again. So I really hope something can be done. Thank you for your time.

Regards,

J