It is hard to believe that very shortly my team will present to our client Kyle from NatureSeekers and finish this semester-long project. I have really enjoyed working with my team and will miss seeing them virtually every Wednesday and Friday. As my team moves into preparation for our final project, I find it is important to reflect on COVID’s impact on Trinidad. The leaders at NatureSeekers have told us that Trinidad and Tobago has been horribly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. This small island depends on tourism to support itself. Depending on tourism is usually never an issue for the country because the beautiful beaches, delicious food, and kind people draw crowds from across the world. The country has been forced to rely on its other main economic drivers, such as energy and manufacturing. From doing my own research, I found that Trinidad’s GDP growth was -5.6% in 2020. Another major part of Trinidad’s economy is oil. However, anyone following the news knows that at the beginning of the pandemic, the oil industry took a giant hit. Thankfully for Trinidad, currently it has recovered.  The government has stepped in with restrictions to keep its people safe and also has provided policy and stimulus to support its people. Additionally, the country has not been able to hold Carnival, which holds huge cultural significance for the country. This tradition started in the late 18th century with French plantation owners organizing masquerades and balls before enduring the fasting of Lent. The slaves, who could not take part in Carnival, formed their own, parallel celebration called “CanboulayI. Now, everyone in Trinidad and Tobago celebrates in unison through the day and night with lots of music and dancing in the streets. I can only imagine how devastating it must have been to cancel an event that the entire population looks forward to throughout the year. Carnival doesn’t just hold cultural significance, however. It also provides the island with an influx of tourism that it so badly needs right now.

Due to Trinidad’s small size it has likely felt the negative economic impact more heavily than that of the United States. When speaking with Kyle, our client from NatureSeekers, he expressed that COVID has negatively impacted all of their streams of revenue. For example, NatureSeekers typically runs nature hikes for tourists. For a small fee, hikers are led on a trail through the forest and to a beautiful waterfall that they can swim in. This money goes directly to the turtles. However, government leaders have closed down all public access to these waterfalls. This legislative action has completely eliminated that source of revenue. Additionally, typically NatureSeekers allows tourists to help release the baby turtles into the oceans for a small fee as well.  This money would go towards their conservation work. However, a current COVID restriction closes beaches to the public after dark. The turtle releases must happen at dark to keep the baby turtles safe from predators. This restriction has completely eliminated this stream of revenue as well. Finally, NatureSeekers typically sells handmade bracelets to raise money for the turtles. An excellent place to sell the bracelets is locally at Christmas markets or other craft fairs. These events draw a large crowd and the bracelets perform very well. However, due to COVID, these large markets have not been taking place. NatureSeekers have been struggling to sell these bracelets without markets. 

Working virtually with our client has been very difficult. Connectivity has been our largest issue. We have only spoken with our client two times, but the second meeting we had was not very productive. The connection was so horrible that we could only hear some of what Abigail, the accountant at NatureSeekers, was saying. This was very frustrating because we really needed more information on the project. After the meeting, my group emailed her to confirm that we understood what she was saying. Overall, I think my group handled it very well. My team has been meeting together twice weekly to work on our project together. It has also been difficult having team meetings in a virtual setting. Things move very slowly on Zoom/Microsoft Teams and glitches come very often. It is difficult communicating with people without being able to see subtleties in their expressions. Additionally, I feel that group work is a lot less social in a virtual setting. There is very little small talk, whereas usually in the Certificate Program of Leadership and Ethics I find that I become very close to my group and we know each other very well by the end of the semester. Due to the need to unmute to speak on Zoom, I find that people are much less likely to speak up during a meeting. It is also very easy to get distracted during virtual work. When I am in a meeting with my team, many things in my home that I need to do distract me, such as washing dishes or folding clothes. The one solid positive of remote work is that I save a lot of time not having to pack up and go to a meeting somewhere on campus. I feel that meetings are much more brief than usual so I save a lot of time and can be productive in multitasking. It is nice to stay in my pajamas or comfy clothes and have my meeting. Being forced into a virtual space has made me become a more flexible, open-minded individual. I feel that these vital soft skills will transfer well into whatever industry I find myself in after graduation from the University of Pittsburgh. This project will certainly be a great topic to discuss in any future interviews I may have. 

As we near the end of our project, my fingers are crossed that our presentation will run smoothly with no connectivity issues. However, I know that whatever issues do come for our group, we will be able to manage it with the lessons we have learned from this experience thus far.