Representatives from University of Caldas in Colombia visited EARTH to discuss a student exchange partnership with EARTH’s Entrepreneurial Program.

In EARTH’s entrepreneurship program, students learn about a specific field of environmental or agricultural study in their first year at EARTH.  In their second year, they implement what they’ve learned and run their own business.  For example, some students produced pineapple on EARTH’s Tropical Crops Farm.  Other students ran their own tree production company.

University of Caldas representatives tour EARTH's organic farms. University of Caldas would like for their students to take part in EARTH's entrepreneurship program.

EARTH believes that this program challenges and strengthens the business skills of our students and interns.  We are happy to share such an advantageous program with another university.

Learn more about University of Caldas (Spanish): http://www.ucaldas.edu.co/

Intern Ashley Asdal (MA)

Ashley, of the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, came to EARTH to help professors and students better understand the context and effects of rural underdevelopment in Costa Rica. She is exploring how to promote micro-enterprises and entrepreneurship and to learn about rural producers and markets with Professor Julieta Mazzola and Audy Vargas, of the Community Development Program (PDC).

So far, she has been working with a producer of coconut fiber, an association of farmers marketing an eco-agro-tourism business in Las Delicias, and the Asociación de Las Mujeres of La Florita, to find out what exactly each potential business needs and how to execute their goals.

She also will be studying the overall theory of sustainable agricultural development in rural communities and conducting personal interviews, in order to better engage with these micro businesses.

This bridge separates El Carmen Sur from El Carmen Norte. Interns Lulu Loquidis (CO) and Vanessa Ruiz (FL) believe that getting both neighborhoods involved in the beautification of the area can unite both sides of El Carmen.

Intern Lydia Vanderbilt (MI) is joined by Lulu Loquidis and Vanessa Ruiz,, architectural landscaping students from University of Florida, in assessing El Carmen, another town near EARTH, in order to better help the physical and social conditions of the community.

In preparation for the project, Dona Jenny, who has lived in El Carmen for almost thirty years, introduces Lydia, Vanessa, and Lulu to other members of the women’s group that meets to solve issues of El Carmen.

At the sight of unpaved roads, poorly built houses, and the men without work and youth skipping school wandering the streets, Vanessa and Lulu realize they can use their architectural talents to create a healthier, cleaner, and safer environment for this community.  They believe they can do this through the development of paved roads, a waste management system, and some sort of structure for community gatherings or activities.

“When a town doesn’t look well, it’s hard for people to feel well,” says EARTH intern Vanessa Ruiz, after chatting with some of Dona Jenny’s friends in El Carmen.

After their day of conducting interviews with Dona Jenny’s friends, Vanessa and Lulu return home thinking about the basics these people need and what they can do to help.

EARTH welcomes visitors from the Universidad de Caldas in Columbia, who are here to learn about EARTH’s entrepreneurship programs, as well as students from the Instituto Tecnologico Superior de Progresso in Mexico, who are here to explore all of EARTH.  We hope you enjoy your stay!