INTERNS & VOLUNTEERS

Setting

We provide a beautiful setting both for studio internships and development internships, both at the Swetcharnik barn/studio in the Maryland countryside about an hour north of Washington, DC, and at our place in Honduras, fifteen kilometers up in the mountains from the capital city Tegucigalpa, at the foot of a protected cloud forest. It is quiet, beautiful, campesino country, has a lovely climate (moderate rainfall, with temperatures normally hovering between 60 and 80 degrees F), is surrounded by hiking trails, and is an excellent point of departure for Mayan ruins, tropical rain forests, and coral reef islands. Oftentimes, interns are interested in vacationing after their period of internship, since Central America is such a beautiful and fascinating region, and travel, food, and lodging are relatively inexpensive. So far as local travel is concerned, we have two cars, and there is an hourly bus that passes our house going down to the city, where there is a large international community and a few cultural attractions of interest, including several museums. Periodically, we take off as a team to do research or conduct workshops in different parts of Central America: interns are welcome to come along on these excursions – which sometimes allow for a day or two of pure vacation along the way – but they should be prepared, on occasions when the host institution is unable to contribute, to pay their own way. Following the hurricane, access has been reestablished to most parts of the country, although in some places it is slow and difficult going. The spot where we live emerged relatively unscathed, but everyone has suffered from the impact.