HR4RS stamp
Raul Garcia Hemonnet
Morocco, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are the destinations that the URJC offers within the International Volunteering program for students of the 6 public universities of the Community of Madrid. Those who wish to participate can find all the information and the registration form in the Electronic Office from the King Juan Carlos University. The Community of Madrid will finance the travel, accommodation and maintenance of the selected students.
The objective of the program, according to Luis Giménez Benavides, academic director of University Social Responsibility (RSU), is "to strengthen non-academic competences such as social skills, teamwork, cooperative work, social values, as well as to put into practice the knowledge acquired at the university.
The places are designed for specific profiles and the stay lasts, in all cases, 3 months. In the first one, bound for Tangier, the selected person will carry out work in support of the care of Functional Diversity. These tasks are carried out in collaboration with the NGO Ayuda en Acción. In this case, the required profile has to do with Social Work, Occupational Therapy and the like.
Three other people will go to El Salvador, specifically to the town of Suchitoto. There he will collaborate with an 'Art Center for Peace', in the construction and start-up of a media library to preserve the historical memory of the time of the 'Civil War of El Salvador' (1979-1992). “We have been collaborating with this center for some time and, in this case, the positions are oriented to profiles of Graphic Design, Communication, Business Administration, Fine Arts or Primary Education, among others”, says Giménez Benavides.
Finally, there will be 2 Health Sciences students who will be assigned to a pediatric hospital in the Dominican Republic. In the latter case, the activities are not closed and "are adapted to the profile of the students who arrive," says the academic director of RSU.
Good experiences
The three destinations of the 2023 edition are not new for the URJC, “we have been working with them for a while and the experience is very good. The students who participate in the program return with a very good opinion of what they have experienced, both personally and professionally. Some have even found job opportunities.” Students from first grade to master's and doctoral degrees can participate in the program, and "they must have flexibility and the ability to adapt to environments that are very different from those to which they are accustomed," he adds.
Although the registration period is short, there is a possibility that there will be vacancies. In this case, the rest of the universities can offer the places that remain empty.
An opportunity for URJC students to get to know other countries and other realities while applying what they have learned in the classroom.