2022-May-24
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Celebrating World Turtle Day from Oaxaca
BY BRENDA MARQUEZ · TECHNICAL CONSULTING ENGINEER · MEXICO
WITH KRYSTAL CHENG
3 MINUTE READ · 4 MINUTE LISTEN
This post isn’t a technical story about my day-to-day experiences as a Mexico City-based Technical Consulting Engineer (TCE) at Cisco Global CX Centers.
Today, I’m going to share my Time2Give story.
Cisco is an amazing company and I’m so proud to be a part of an organization that makes giving back an integral part of our culture.
In March 2022, I used seven of my 10 paid Time2Give days to support one of my passions: Conservation of endangered sea turtles.
After some online research, I found a non-governmental organization, called Vivemar, dedicated to this cause. It’s based in Puerto Escondido on Mexico’s Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca.
Volunteering with Vivemar
Vivemar volunteers are busiest from October through May each year during nesting season. This is when female sea turtles swim ashore to build their nests and lay eggs.
On average, sea turtles can lay 110 eggs in a nest, though some species can lay over 200. Once the eggs are laid, female turtles leave their nests and return to the sea. The eggs and hatchlings are left to fend for themselves and eventually find their way to the water.
That’s why they need a bit of help from humans to improve their odds of survival. For me, it was a seven-day commitment.
During the day, we taught tourists about the importance of sea turtle conservation and helped them release baby turtles into the ocean. We also cleaned nests, evaluated eggs on the verge of hatching, and helped baby turtles find their way to the water.
At night, we toured along the beach to rescue nests from predators and collect data for researchers. Because sea turtles are sensitive to bright light, we always made sure to use headlamps with red lights so we wouldn’t disturb or deter them from nesting.
Making a difference, no matter how small
As a volunteer, I learned that sea turtles play a very important role in the ecological balance of the ocean. For instance, they regulate jellyfish populations by feeding on them — which, in turn, ensures a healthy population of jellyfish.
I believe that the most rewarding thing about my weeklong experience was seeing that your “grain of sand,” no matter how small, really makes a difference.
For me, it was helping to ensure the survival of sea turtles by supporting the amazing Vivemar to continue with this beautiful work and inspiring future volunteers to join the cause.
I encourage all Cisco employees to follow your passion. Use your Time2Give days as an opportunity to contribute your time and talent to make a difference in your community to a cause that matters to you.
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