For this project, our team is working with Caras Con Causa, a non-profit organization based in Cataño and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. What I love about this organization is their dedication to serving and strengthening their local community while advocating for sustainability. As an environmental studies major I especially appreciate their focus on local environmental research, sustainable development, and education. Cataño is home to a deeply diverse ecology known as the Cataño wetlands. Las Cucharillas Natural Reserve specifically, located just west of San Juan, is the largest wetland ecosystem in Puerto Rico. As such, it’s an incredibly important resource for the community. For example, it serves as a natural barrier against storms and flooding, a habitat for many native species, and acts as a sink for CO2. Overall, local communities rely on this marsh for flood protection and water quality improvement.

Caras Con Causa has taken the initiative to design and implement a community laboratory dedicated to the conservation of Las Cucharilas Natural Reserve. Unfortunately, as of 2023, only some/specific wetlands are protected by the Clean Water Act in the US, so it’s really important that organizations like Caras are dedicated to preserving the value of their local wetlands. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to provide to the needs of their local communities as they are now. Beyond the wetland conservation, the facilities provided by this lab creates unique educational opportunities for teachers and students in the area.

The goal of our project is to create marketing materials for LabCom, in hopes of obtaining at least one new university partner to pilot a study abroad program for environmental researchers. Once we get back, we will be the ones to distribute the materials we collect to potential University partners. One aspect of the study abroad experience we hope to emphasize is fair-trade learning. Caras has taken a fair-trade learning approach to this project, prioritizing equal opportunity and benefit for both parties within the partnership. Similarly to our (University of Pittsburgh) partnership with Caras, both the prospective student researchers and the community of Cataño will benefit from the study abroad program. In short, the students will gain research and professional experience by conducting research in a lab located in such an ecologically rich area and in doing so provide data to support the rehabilitation of the Reserve by Yaguazo y Caras. All in all, it’s very exciting to be working with an environmentally motivated organization. I can’t wait to be in country and see the full scope of work that Caras does for their community!

Speaking of, during the international component of our program, our group aims to collect the hard data (pictures, videos, interviews, etc.) for our deliverables. We also of course want to immerse ourselves as much as is possible in a one-week period into the cultures of Guaynabo and Cataño. This first-hand experience will help us better market the study abroad program to potential university partners. We’re specifically looking to note aspects of the program that separate it from its competitors, like it’s location and community focus for example. Again, this understanding of the local community will serve to improve the quality of our deliverables. We’re also looking forward to the in-person communication we’ll be able to have with our partners at Caras Con Causa. I personally am looking forward to seeing our team work hands on to reach our project goals and to be able to further investigate the work Caras does. I plan to take notes daily of what we do so that I have a record to look back and reflect on when working on the latter half of our project. With our main goal being to collect media marketing materials, it’ll be important for us to keep organized and open communication with one another so that we get everything we need.

One extra challenge to conducting our in-country business will be the excitement of traveling to someplace new. I don’t anticipate this being too distracting as we all have discussed how we will stay focused and keep the project prioritized. I also can say with confidence that a lot of our excitement is in working with Caras and all that we’ll learn along the way, which is motivating enough in itself for us to stay loyal to our to-do list. Along with the excitement of traveling is also the exhaustion of it. We’ve talked about making sure to take care of ourselves and support one another so that we can all put our best foot forward for the project.

Another more specific challenge to conducting our business will be the language barrier. Translating might be difficult at times, but luckily, we have one project member, Barb, who is fluent in Spanish and has stepped up to be our translator.

Lastly, the physical environment we’ll be in will be drastically different to where we are now. Going from 30-degree days in Pittsburgh to upwards of 80-degrees in San Juan, though a nice change, will require some adjusting. We’ll also need to be prepared for our experiences out in the intense sun and with more bugs.

The past two readings we did in class, Developing Intercultural Competence and Points of Discomfort were both very impactful to my perspective on our prospective in country work with Caras and the Catańo and Guaynabo communities. There were three specific notes that I’m taking with me to remember throughout my time in country:

1. Awareness of my privilege and position as an American college student and the level of wealth that such an experience requires is imperative.
2. Prioritize being more humble and curious and less judgmental.
3. Approach with solidarity instead of serving.

I feel like these three points we discussed help me to have a more intentional and grounded mindset towards the experience I’ll be having.
I also really liked the mention of sustainability/conservation in the Ethics in Project Management reading. You don’t always see these values brought up in business centered settings, so it was both refreshing and exciting to see. (and also helpful in understanding what areas my skill set can contribute to for our project!)