Hello, Friends!

We are more than excited to have started our course in partnership with the US Department of State 100K Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund, Partners of the Americas, Rio Pomba’s IFET (Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology), and The Center for Sustainable Communities of Muncie, Indiana. The aim of this program is bringing together different cultures, introducing conservation concepts and presenting possibilities of sustainable interactions between man and landscape.

Our first week’s team of students is composed of four highly diverse and motivated people – Haley, third year biologist at Washington State University,  Jen, biologist who graduated from Hood College, Frederick, Maryland, Mariana, agricultural economist from Bulgaria, and Caleb, who has just completed his first year of pre-veterinary medicine at Washington State. Next week this team will be joined by their colleagues from Rio Pomba.

On our first day we did everything to help our students feel comfortable with each other and in the new environment. Stories, smiles, hugs and even tears were shared in the process.

And to end this fruitful day, nothing like a long walk in the surroundings to get familiar with the landscape, get in touch with the local community and calmly clear doubts regarding the Portuguese language.