IHE Delft 💧 Alumni interview | Natthalie Fonseca Acosta

Duration: 5:38 756 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Natalie Fonseca Acosta, a Colombian alumna of IHE Delft who graduated with a degree in water sanitation in 2022, is currently living and working in Malaysia as both an employee of the International Institute for Infrastructure (IIC) and a science communicator. She leads a significant project focused on smart water meters that aims to connect countries in the Global South without relying on intervention from the Global North. This initiative brings together four nations—Colombia, Kenya, Egypt, and Mexico—to foster direct collaboration where communication flows bidirectionally between peers rather than following a hierarchical structure of experts teaching others. The core philosophy behind her work is that scientific knowledge must be translated into accessible language so it can benefit real-world communities, particularly farmers, rather than remaining confined to academic papers or technical jargon. To achieve this, the project prioritizes connecting participants as humans first by overcoming initial barriers such as language differences through creative tools like games and video exchanges. These videos allow teams in different countries to share their realities before visiting each other's locations, ensuring that learning is an enjoyable experience grounded in cultural understanding rather than just technical data exchange. Natalie reflects on a period of uncertainty during her immigration process where she felt stuck but used the time for self-refinement and rediscovering her professional identity amidst peace and quiet. She overcame fears about executing what she had learned by realizing that knowledge is something to be enjoyed and shared, transforming herself from someone who feared their work would go unread into a "light post" of reliable information in an era of misinformation. Her journey has allowed her to see how women can develop vital roles in science, inspiring others including family members and fellow women to become more involved in the field while guiding those around them with confidence. Ultimately, Natalie's mission is driven by the belief that when knowledge flows freely across borders and cultures, it creates a positive change for the world. Having moved from her studies in the Netherlands to Malaysia, she now feels empowered to guide others without fear, proving that scientific expertise can be effectively communicated through social media to reach those who need it most. Her story highlights how personal resilience during transitional periods like immigration can lead to greater clarity and purpose, enabling individuals to share their insights broadly so that practical solutions for water issues can be implemented globally by the people directly affected by them.

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I'm Natalie Fonka. I'm from Colombia and I'm alumni from IHe [music] Del. I studied water sanitation in 2022 and now I'm living in Malaysia. [music] I'm working in a project with IICH which I'm very proud of is is [music] uh water meters and I'm a science communicator. Science should be communicated to everybody [music] not just that you speak a scientific language. So it should be done in a fun way. Uh and [music] I find out that that way I wanted to do it was through social media. H I don't think this process was uh too easy and [music] I think working in this project helped me a lot but also helped me to [music] be in Malaysia and feel stuck that I couldn't work on my field because of uh immigration process [music] um and waiting uh for the process to pass but meanwhile [music] I've been finding myself again like who I am uh professionally Ally in this new culture and in this moment of peace and quiet I found out that [music] uh through communicated what I've learned I can reach to the people that need it and [music] they could use it to in the real world not just in papers. Erh the water mirrors project uh has the idea to communicate countries in the global south uh without the intervention of the global north. So there are uh four countries that are connected in water uh issues um [music] in Colombia, Kenya, Egypt and Mexico. and I'm here uh in IIC during this week because they are meeting for the first time and they are >> [music] >> uh finalizing and this project and all the things they learn in this process of uh 3 years I'm a project assistance of this amazing project where communication flow in both directions there is not a hierarchy that who can uh do more and more important and but uh both reflect on each other that flies a water mirror [music] and they can learn by seeing how the other side of the world is also the world. To do uh this project we try to connect first as humans. We do need to exchange a lot of informations of technical issues but be behind all these uh fancy words of science. we are people and we should connect as people in the culture that we see ourselves in the other person. Uh so there were some barriers in the language. So what we did it was to explore different tools. I help them through guide them through [music] uh not only not only games but uh exchange of videos where they show where is the reality and then they go to visit those realities and see in person [music] what they experience through videos for for one year. So I find nowadays a social media as a sea of misinformation and I want to be that light post that has a little bit of knowledge that [music] you can find and apply in your life and it can be in terms that you remember that learning is something that you can [music] enjoy. uh during my master's uh in the thesis uh I learned and enjoy a lot the process [music] but I felt that all this knowledge was going to be on a paper that nobody would read I mean maybe my family uh people in science but will reach the farmers that it is the people I wanted to reach so I decide to take all this knowledge and translate it into words that we can [music] use uh every day so knowledge can be reach the people that need to learn. Uh so as a Colombian studying in the Netherlands and now [music] moving to Malaysia, I had a strong fear of not being able uh to uh execute what I've learned. And um I had the opportunity to be in peace and calm to refine myself and [music] uh before inspired others I find the inspiration in me to continue. Now that [music] I'm in Malaysia uh all those fears are gone. I can see how as a [music] woman I can develop my role in science and I'll be happy to guide uh my own family and inspire other women to be more involved in science and you can find me [music] in social media and I'll be happy to share everything I know because when knowledge flows the world changes. >> Yes. [music]