2019_09_27_voluntariado-internacional

A total of 152 students from the University of Navarra have volunteered internationally this past summer in 15 countries around the world. On this occasion, the countries with the highest number of students were Tanzania and Peru, with 56 and 41 volunteers, respectively.

As for the Schools from which the students come, the majority are from the School of Medicine, with 50 volunteers. Also noteworthy are the School of Law and the School of Education and Psychology, with 15 students each. Also noteworthy is the increase in volunteers from School Communication (from 2% to 8%), Nursing (from 3% to 7%) and the incorporation of student body from ISSA School of Management Assistants.

Most medical students opt for destinations more closely linked to the field of health, such as Honduras or Peru, as do those from Education, who opt for volunteering in schools or orphanages in the Philippines and Tanzania. In fact, one of the objectives of Tantaka, the solidarity time bank, is to professionalize university volunteering and to ensure that the months spent in the country are used to achieve professional and effective cooperation with development.

The selection process for these projects is complicated, especially due to the limited number of places available at each destination issue . Paula Salvador, coordinator of the international volunteer activities at the University of Navarra, ensures that "students, people with great potential, carefully select the project in which they want to collaborate, so that it is profitable for both parties. To achieve this, along with the conversation and advice staff, we organize conference and courses at training to guide the student in this decision".

"This experience has helped me to get to know myself better."

Alberto Esparza is from San Adrián and student 5th year of Philology and Journalism. Last summer he spent a month in Equatorial Guinea at educational. He also had the opportunity to stay with a local family which allowed him to learn about the culture and traditions of the country. "Although the idea of volunteer activities is that you help, in the end they are the ones who help you, because from them I learned everything I take with me, especially knowledge about teaching and teaching that I apply today. It's something I would recommend a thousand times over.

Esther Suescun, a 4th year medical student from Pamplona, spent the summer in Guatemala. Thanks to her health training , she was able to collaborate in the child nutritional recoveryproject : "I have learned a lot about attention with people because, although the theory is fine, an essential part of medicine is to accompany and know how to communicate. This experience has also helped me to know myself better: what things to improve and the tools to manage different situations".

Jon Yoldi, Javier Sanado and Miguel Ortego, all three from Pamplona and medical students, tell of their experience in Honduras, specifically in San Lorenzo, a city on the way to development located in the south of the country. "The operation of the hospital was commendable considering the resources available and the issue excessive number of patients it treated. The entire staff healthcare team dressed up as superheroes to meet all the needs and care required by the patients throughout the day," they report. The three students were in charge of helping the doctors and accompanying the patients to provide the best possible care. "Without even being medical graduates, we felt we were able to do our bit, and the grateful looks and smiles of people in need were proof of that.