Reflections of A U.S. Embassy Summer Intern in Kigali, Rwanda

This is part one of a CPD Blog series by USC Master of Public Diplomacy alum Janika Berridge, recounting her ten-week assignment as a management intern in the U.S. Embassy in Kigali. In Part Two, Janika presented a selection of stunning 35mm film photographs capturing daily life in and around Kigali.  

After graduating from USC’s Master of Public Diplomacy in May 2025, I spent ten weeks as a management intern in the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda. I worked with U.S. and Rwandan colleagues who trusted me with their projects, included me in important meetings, and helped me navigate daily life in Kigali. Overall, I gained valuable insight into the functions of a U.S. embassy and diplomatic life. My most meaningful experiences were beyond my work and often outside of the embassy. I capture some of these experiences in the following vignettes, grouped into the four themes I felt most appropriate for describing them: the familiar, the serendipitous, the personal, and the outdoors. The through line of these stories is people.

The first theme, the familiar, identifies the people with whom I shared a temporary home and the activities I enjoyed in the United States, like weekly church service and social dancing, that I continued in Rwanda. I found communities in the familiar, the first of which included the two other diplomatic fellows at the embassy that summer. We lived together in a spacious house, yet often found ourselves seated in the living room in comfortable silence or in discussion about the day’s events or new learnings. At the embassy, we could count on each other to be a familiar presence at the breakfast and lunch tables, alongside new colleagues.

Church was my second community. Although in a foreign place, I sang familiar worship songs under the same roof as my colleagues, Indian missionaries, Pakistani refugees, and the majority Rwandan congregation. The faith-filled worship and timely messages countered any negativity from my week. Similarly, my kizomba and salsa dance classes boosted my mood. I would yawn on my way down the dirt path to dance class, only to return home energized. As in church, it did not matter that I was amongst strangers (initially) in class; it only mattered that we came for the same purpose.

Diplomatic fellows, Janika (left), Michael (center), and Courtney (right) at the embassy’s Independence Day Celebration. Photo by U.S. Embassy in Rwanda photographer, Christian Rutwaza.

My daily lunch at the embassy’s cafeteria included rice, red beans, beef, potatoes, vegetables, and salad.

Dance teacher Oscar (right) teaching our class the Angolan partner dance, kizomba.

The second theme, the personal, involved moments when people opened up to me about what was on their hearts and minds. In the office, I wrote daily “Big Talk” questions on the whiteboard outside my cubicle and invited colleagues to answer. Not even the Ambassador nor the Deputy Chief of Mission were spared from my questioning. What I thought would be simple answers at times resulted in minutes-long confessions.

Outside the office, on my first hike with a local hiking group, a connection over psychology evolved into a conversation about childhood trauma. This fellow hiker shared that her advocacy for mental health resources for children was directly related to her childhood experiences. When I opened my mouth to pose a question, then paused to consider if it was wise to continue, she gave me permission to “ask her anything.” It was the first of a few times someone would be so open to share with me their personal experiences with the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, heavy yet honest accounts of a complex history. (In Rwanda, it is impolite to ask about people’s experiences with the genocide, a topic the speaker should initiate.)

The third theme, the serendipitous, captures the unexpected encounters that occurred during my internship. The encounters started when a friend whom I had last spoken to in October 2024 stumbled upon and responded to our old email thread from 2019. After I messaged him to catch up, he shared he would soon travel to Kigali. “No way. NO WAY” was my response.

On another occasion, I met a 2014 graduate of USC’s Master of Public Diplomacy program when I went to greet a local friend at the embassy's American Center (a space in the embassy that engages the Rwandan public through various educational, cultural, and professional programs). This alum was preparing to host a presentation on telling impactful stories in one-minute videos.

Finally, I also had the privilege of welcoming to the embassy Managing Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, Glenn Osaki, during his short trip to Rwanda. Glenn reached out to me two weeks before he arrived, and we met on the penultimate day of my internship. In a building where I could feel distant from the world outside, the world felt small and lighthearted in these encounters.

Glenn Osaki gifted me my first ever USC Annenberg hat.

The final theme, the outdoors, reveals time in nature as the most personally rewarding part of my summer. I spent every weekend enjoying Rwanda's outdoors, logging over 100km of hiking in the mountains. The local hikes brought together people from over a dozen countries and all walks of life—a young man from Chicago starting a blockchain business in Rwanda, employees from the French and Dutch embassies, a Utah college student completing a summer internship, a Rwandan woman launching a nonprofit focused on childhood mental health, Canadians on year-long projects, and a young Tunisian woman who moved to Rwanda for school and stayed to start her own business. Although I missed some local hikes, I still enjoyed the outdoors by going on a safari, hiking three days in the rainforest, and visiting the mountain gorillas. The outdoors provided movement, freedom, silence, connection, and awe (have you ever beheld the wonder of a gorilla family, up close?). These adventures also highlighted Rwanda’s focus on sustainable development and part of the country’s allure to global audiences (like me!).

A detour to Kamiranzovu Waterfall on day three of the three-day, two-night Cyinzobe Trail hike in Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park.

The Susa gorilla family resting in Volcanoes National Park. After a guided hike in dense rainforest, we observed these unbothered mountain gorillas for an hour.

At the end of my internship, colleagues asked why I was leaving so soon. One taxi driver quipped, “You look Rwandan. This is your country. Where are you going?” I considered their questions proof of an enriching summer. I arrived in Rwanda mostly expecting the safety, cleanliness, and greenery that online diplomatic reviews promised (Rwanda delivered). However, I left Rwanda with professional insights, new connections, and the meaningful experiences I shared with people in familiar, personal, serendipitous, and outdoor spaces.