2018_09_27_FAR_solidariun

The School of Pharmacy and Nutrition of the University of Navarra received the award Soli dariun from Tantaka to the School most supportive for its involvement in the university volunteer activities and its availability by offering internships to people with disabilities. During the workshop, associations, students and professors were able to learn and share experiences of volunteering carried out last year and discover new projects for this year.

The main projects that have been carried out in recent years from the School of Pharmacy were, in Pamplona, with the Food Bank, CORE, Red Cross and CEAR Navarra. These projects were led by professors from the School who, giving of their time, have collaborated with these institutions.

This was the case of Susana Santiago, who has participated along with some students in a Service Learning project in the subject of Community Nutrition. "It is a real satisfaction to see how the social responsibility of the students and their involvement in these activities grows year after year," says the teacher.

Diana Ansorena, Professor of Nutrition and Bromatology, explains that School has worked with the Food Bank to distribute its stock among the entities that receive financial aid "in a way that is as nutritionally balanced as possible. We have also suggested to them which foods they should be encouraged to buy on the days of the big collections. With CORE, on the other hand, we have given sessions of training on nutritional aspects of food and diets, with the invaluable financial aid of students from Degree". "The department of Food Science and Physiology has also participated in the reception of people with intellectual disabilities and Down Syndrome, who have been doing internships, especially in the area of Bromatology, for several years." "For us," concludes Professor Ansorena, " award Solidariun 2018 serves as an incentive for these initiatives to consolidate and for more professors and students to get involved."

On the other hand, the department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health has participated in hosting people with intellectual disabilities for internships. "The idea came from the course given by Tantaka"Empowering to understand Disability". We were able to see how many wonderful people surround us and with what little we can do to make their disability and their integration into society easier", explains Silvia Carlos, teacher at School.

For Carmen Sanmartín, director of department de Tecnología y Chemistry Farmacéuticas, "The people who have come through Tantaka have collaborated in the department in administrative tasks and making analytical measurements with equipment that is very easy to handle. For me the award has been the presence of these people with special difficulties who have felt useful and the illusion of having been integrated in a group of work. It has also been great financial aid for the younger people of laboratory since they have collaborated in the inclusion and in the teachings and it has helped them to value the importance of the abilities they have".

Solidarity crosses borders

But the projects carried out with Tantaka during these years have not remained in Navarra. Some students have been able to travel to international schools and hospitals to do their bit. An example of this is Belén García (5th year of Degree in Pharmacy) who in the summer was doing humanitarian work at the Santa Teresa Clinic in Peru. "I would encourage all students to do a similar volunteer activities as it is a way of learning and putting into internship the knowledge you have acquired at university while helping people who really need it," explains Belén.

In addition to learning professionally, for her "it has been a very enriching experience: "I have had the opportunity to learn from a different culture. It meant a month of self-improvement and an experience that has made me grow and I hope to be able to repeat it".

The celebration of the Patroness

The Patroness of the School was also celebrated with the participation of more than 150 people. The event included different activities: from a culinary contest to a zumba class . The main activity of the workshop was the lunch at sports center where attendees gathered for a paella. The event was also an opportunity to sell the new School sweatshirts.