BSFI 2014

Field coordinators: Deborah Forster and Kyle Haines 

The Blum Summer Field Internship Program was piloted in summer 2014. In its first year, eight students from UCSD participated in a two-month paid internship in the San Diego–Tijuana border region. The interns worked closely with staff to develop a “needs and assets analysis” in San Ysidro and Los Laureles, the sites of the new Cross-Border Community Station. Teams rotated between the two community-based organizations—Casa Familiar in San Ysidro, California and Alter Terra in Los Laureles canyon in Tijuana, Mexico.

Analysis of the needs and assets in San Ysidro and Los Laureles was done through visits to the sites several times a week, in which the students conducted interviews among community members and community leaders, observations and measurements using state of the art technology.

The internship was structured to meet three day per week, over a span of ten weeks. Each day started at 9 am, and lasted until 4 pm. The interns spent Mondays and Wednesdays in the field, either in San Ysidro or in Los Laureles Canyon. Fridays were dedicated for meetings at UCSD, during which we discussed and analyzed the work done that week in the field. Finally, the students worked on packaging and delivering a final presentation that utilizes multimedia technology and the PIP methodology.