Sustaining Collaboration Across Borders, Languages, and Cultures
As faculty and administrators of programs that involve teenagers and young adults in collaborative community-based participatory research and outreach (CBPRO) programs in Ambos Nogales, a region that encompasses the municipality of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and the cities of Nogales and Rio Rico, Arizona, we recognize that our communities face tremendous challenges which require creative and innovative approaches. These range from serious environmental and health problems to educational systems that fail to prepare students to diagnose and address the root causes of such problems. With a persistent shortage of resources directed toward these issues, we must find ways to address multiple concerns at once. The University of Arizona in Tucson lies about fifty miles north of Nogales and draws students from this region, throughout the state, and beyond its borders. Working within a CBPRO model, we recognize that the problems faced by communities, educational institutions, and young people are intertwined and that in addressing them we are all pushed to be more and do more than we might have thought possible. By involving young people in CBPRO programs, we bring energy and resources to problems that otherwise receive little attention and provide students with integrated educational opportunities.