The first lesson learned is that carry out a project of this magnitude without secure funds is a challenge. We faced the loss of a trained facilitator, the overburden of teamwork, and we start prematurely to compensate for shortened of time to implement the intervention. The latter bring out another lesson, an intervention to improve women knowledge and skills to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS takes more than one year to implement. The third lesson learned is that building trust and a common language between academic and community partners requires more time and sense of commitment of all partners. Each partner that took part in this collaboration gained a better understanding of the diverse realities of the low-income settings of the northeast coast of Puerto Rico, developed sensibility for disadvantaged communities, and increased their knowledge and research skills.
