My name is Sarah Matthews and I study anthropology, sociology, and Spanish at Centre College. While in Merida I have had the opportunity to work with an NGO called Cero Basura. A normal day for me with Cero Basura begins at 10 in the morning at the office where I work on my laptop for most of the day. At the start of my internship, I was working on modules/informational campaigns to share with the general public of Merida.
The goal in the end for my job was to have local stands at puntos verdes (recycling stops) for the purpose of talking to the public about sustainable living and individual choices people can make to limit the amount of waste they produce. While at work I researched for that and also looked at what materials they needed and planned for those materials. Most of my physical products that I made while working here were graphics for social media and organizing a park clean-up. I’ve also been working with their website.
One of the most helpful things I learned while working with Cero Basura was communication skills because it has been a learning process to figure out how to balance by asking questions but also being independent in working, which is another added layer to communication that I’ve learned here. Overall, my time here has developed me as a person as well. It has reinvigorated me personally on sustainability in general because I have always been passionate about this.
However, in past instances, it has been focused on structural problems with sustainability for example how the government handles it, but this experience with Cero Basura has brought me back to how individual changes and life changes can make a difference and are also very important.
I would highly recommend this internship program to future students because it is a really unique opportunity to get involved in an area of work in a professional capacity that you're interested in while also developing in other capacities.
My favorite part about being in Merida is the ability to live independently in a different environment which is another reason I would highly recommend this internship program to other students. For a student coming here for the first time, I would say to be aware and mindful of cultural differences but don't let any nerves hold you back from interacting with people.