It’s hard to believe that we are a couple days away from departure! It is finally time to place things in motion and begin our journey in Trinidad. Since the program has started, our team has taken the time to get to know each other individually and craft a comfortable and valuable group. The stressors, excitement, and nervousness are starting to creep in as I am eager to pack effectively and be prepared for everything as humanly possible. Along with completing the following week’s assignments, studying for midterms, and trying to get quality sleep to be alert and focused for our upcoming flights, it is all worth wild for this once in a lifetime opportunity. This will be my first study abroad experience and my first time in the Caribbean islands. Although I have traveled outside the United States before, traveling to Trinidad will be an entirely brand new cultural experience for me. Prior to the start of this program, I knew very little about Trinidad and Tobago, but now that I have spent the last two months researching Trinidad’s history and learning about Trinidadian culture, I have become completely fascinated and all the more excited to make our way there.
The logistics of the global service learning are invaluable for my professional development, as I wish to pursue an international career similar to the works of this program. Learning how to navigate new cultures, successfully communicating with international partners, and embracing the challenges and experiences to contribute to personal growth. Already, I feel that I have learned so many new concepts and skills for consulting in our classroom. Discussing the importance of patience, open mindedness, as well as reflecting on our normal actions and behaviors in different areas of the world. I am anticipating practicing the hands on learning experience that will be foundational for our business endeavors.
For our project, we will be partnering with the nonprofit NatureSeekers in Matura, Trinidad. An organization that protects and conserves wild flora and fauna and provides community resources and activities that support environmental integrity. Their organization has had a huge impact on Trinidad’s community for almost four decades now and were a big part of ending the poaching and harming of leatherback sea turtles in Trinidad. When we first met the staff of NatureSeekers virtually, I was immediately drawn to their genuine passion for community driven values and admired their mission to protecting sea turtles. Although turtle poaching has decreased, marine life overall as been highly endangered in many ways through human activity such as overfishing, pollution, climate change, and oil spills. Leatherback sea turtles still get caught in fish nets and coastlines are eroding where mother turtles struggle to nest. Currently, NatureSeekers continues to protect leatherback sea turtles and implements education on environmental awareness and ecotourism locally and to tourists all around the world. Some of the ways they protect the animals are through turtle tagging and tracking. They also hold an array of activities such as turtle watching, crafting, kayaking, nature walks, etc. I am excited to meet our clients, learning more about the organization in action and their effects on the communities surrounding.
Our project will focus on supporting NatureSeekers by advancing their online booking system and payment processes that will hopefully allow a seamless experience for tourists and locals, and an effective system for the clients to utilize longterm. At the moment, their website is best used as an informative platform for marketing but most bookings are being done over the phone, and cash payments are being made during arrival in person. Our goal is to collaborate with NatureSeekers to implement a friendly, accessible online booking system that allows digital transactions and exchanges foreign currencies. Also, looking into possibly integrating advancements within their general website. We hope to learn more about how NatureSeekers operates their business, understand their technological resources, and prioritizations. Through this project, we aspire to generate increased bookings from locals and tourists into the organization’s offerings, expanding the missions of NatureSeekers and their incredible work.
Throughout the weeks of researching Trinidad, we learned about Trinidadian relationship culture. They value long lasting, loyal, and transparent relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. As I immerse myself into this professional experience, I feel that the biggest challenge will be adapting our communication and relationship culture within business to theirs. Different from the United States norm, where brief interaction and solely business intended networking is common. Because they value strong relationships, we will be focusing on individualism and getting to know our clients on an interpersonal level initially before initiating professional discussions. In that way we will be able to develop trust and a positive space for engagement to work on this project together.
Our team has made great progress towards the preparation of deliverables and overall have accomplished so much already. Our class discussions and readings have opened new perspectives for me to think about in contribution to our travels. Throughout the last few weeks, I have become more knowledgeable towards the contexts of Global Service Learning. The reading that impacted me the most was “Points of Discomfort: Reflections on Power and Partnerships in International Service-Learning”, that emphasized the idea that points of discomfort provide personal and professional growth, similar to stepping out of your comfort zone. As I encounter our project with NatureSeekers clients, I will be able to challenge myself working around unfamiliar sectors of communication styles and normalities.
What has stuck with me the most is the idea of a ‘Savior Complex’. Serving as a definitive word reflecting on the kinds of limited mindsets that can be enabled through volunteering and service projects. That being the idea of power dynamics between different groups of people traveling and invoking needs of credibility or a ‘saving’ persona while traveling vs. traveling with the motive of supporting and immersing equally within a new environment, ensuring all parties demonstrate an impact on one another, and building lasting connections. This highlights the importance of recognizing that we are going to be working with real people and real communities that are welcoming us to their country in equality and prioritizing the notion that we are guests in their home.
It is important for me to enter this journey with respect to the clients and locals, their cultures, and their beliefs, showing humbleness through and through. I am grateful that this opportunity will push me to reflect on these ‘discomforts’, supplementing on new valuable perspectives and learning how to use those experiences to build advanced critical thinking skills.
I am ready to embrace all that Trinidad will bring. Trying new foods, immersing in Trinidadian culture, creating new relationships, and the best part, being able to work towards a positive impact on their community that will also greatly impact myself. The experiences that we will be embarking on soon will be forever memorable.