Enivronmental Protection in the Caribbean

Placement organization

Name of organization: Enivronmental Protection in the Caribbean
Town/city: Philipsburg
Country: Nederlandse Antillen
Website: http://www.epicislands.org

Student

Name of student: Chantee Mahulette

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: non-profit organization
Organization’s activities: The main goal for the organization is protecting the Caribbean environment through research and community-based action. The kind of activities that the organization does is for example beach cleaning, the implementation of two eco-labels (Green Key and Blue Flag), educating schools about the environment and how they can help. Furthermore also send a lot of emails because of meetings with companies/hotels.
Target group of the organization: Everyone who is linked with tourism
Company culture: The company culture of the organization is very informal. I only work with my supervisor Rueben Thompson who is the project manager of the organization.
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? There are no departments
Brief description of your daily activities: Since I am working for the Environmental Protection in the Caribbean and also the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association I am a joint EPIC/SHTA intern. So my daily activities are:
• Answering phone calls
• Work on management of EPIC (Blue Flag + Green Key)
• Water sampling (at beaches and marina’s)
• Read the newspapers
• Making appointments for meetings
• Sending emails
• Do research on Blue Flag and Green Key
• Fieldtrips and attending meetings

Brief description of your company assignment: • Assisting in and advising on the implementation of the national/ St. Maarten Green Key Criteria
• Working with two proposed Green Key Pilot Phase locations and making preparations necessary for the launching of the Pilot phase. (e.g. advising and guiding pilot locations with implementation, preparation of brochures).
• Assisting with the inspection of existing Blue Flag locations for compliance with Blue Flag Criteria.
• Advising Blue Flag locations on effective means of meeting criteria.

Aside from the aforementioned Green Key and Blue Flag program related tasks, Interns are expected to assist in EPIC’s outreach program and water quality testing when necessary.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Most of the time you work independently on your assignments. I was working at the office of the SHTA, since the office of EPIC is basically an office in an apartment. Rueben Thompson was checking in with me I think two times in the week. He is always very busy with meetings for the other organizations he is working for, but he will always make time for you when you need it. He is also very helpful with my school assignments.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, team player, flexible, creative
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company
How did you go to work every day? bus

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? no
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? no

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200
Accommodation (monthly): € –
Local transport (monthly): € 60
General costs of living (monthly): € 250
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? The company arranged the accommodation for me.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare for the country’s culture at all. But to be honest what I would say is just go with the flow, you will get used to it.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? no

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: chantee_mah@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: To Do:
– take the dollar bus (it will take you almost everywhere)
– when you want to buy something in the store you can bargain about the price
– when you have a driving license you should definitely rent a car, because it is the most common transport on the island
– after nine o clock there are no buses driving, so you have to take a taxi. There are different rates after nine so when you take a taxi alone after nine and before twelve never pay more than 10 dollars and after twelve never pay more than 20 dollars.

Not To Do:
– don’t walk alone in the evening

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: When you are here in st. maarten you should definitely visit all the 37 beaches. Also go to the French side and visit Marigot (the capital city of St. Martin) and Grand Case. Furthermore visit the neighboring islands of St. Maarten: Saba, Anguilla, St. Barths. Furthermore there are a lot of other activities that can be done in St. Maarten.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link