Mexico City, June 26, 2024.- From May 27 to June 14, the Social Commitment of the Universidad Panamericana received 12 students and a coordinator from the Universidad de la Sabana Universidad de la SabanaColombia, as volunteers at the MAPFRE-UP Community CenterCommunity Center, as part of the Panther Volunteer program.
About Panther Volunteer
This program aims to provide Panamericana students with international volunteer experiences. But at the same time, it is designed to allow students from abroad to participate in projects organized by our university and learn about Mexico's social challenges.
This helps to contribute to the development of young people's skills as social leaders and to the professionalization of volunteering. This is the first year that we have had the participation of students from abroad in a volunteer project in Mexico City, although we began to work together with La Sabana in January of this year to concretize the strategic alliance.
Making a global footprint
Both the Sabana and Panamericana volunteers participated for three weeks in activities with the Santa Fe community, helping with classes in Colombian cooking, physical activity, Colombian culture, physiotherapy and oral expression with the elderly and children.
"The students have realized with this experience that they can professionalize volunteering in what they are studying," said Emilia Tovar, Solidarity Coordinator at Universidad de La Sabana.
María Andrea Mejía, a psychology student at the Universidad de la Sabana, said that what motivated her to come to volunteer was to learn about Mexican culture and the opportunity to serve, as well as "to get to places where we can really make an impact, to meet new people with the help of Universidad Panamericana," she said.
Likewise, this was an opportunity for the young people to put their academic knowledge into practice to serve the beneficiaries, as Manuela Borrás, Physiotherapy student, explains, "(...) I have been able to provide people with tools and strategies in their daily lives, to connect more with their bodies".
Meanwhile, Alejandro Mejía, Industrial Engineering student at Universidad de la Sabana, invites his classmates to live this experience: "I encourage you to do something very important as young people, to globalize, to get to know other cultures, other experiences and needs; to take into account everything we need for when we go out into the world".
" This experience has been great, Mexico and Universidad Panamericana have welcomed us with open arms and I have been surprised by the kindness of all the people here," concludes Mariana Ramos, a student of the Universidad de la Sabana.
Invaluable opportunity
Alejandra Sánchez Gutiérrez, Social Commitment's project coordinator, points out that this first edition of the project has been an invaluable opportunity. "This interaction facilitates the exchange of best practices between different cultures and the identification of replicable strategies that can be applied in diverse national and international contexts."
"We believe that strengthening collaboration in Latin America is fundamental to promote international projects that contribute to the development of countries facing similar problems. Personally, I have loved meeting all the volunteers from Colombia and appreciating how each one, from their unique experiences and knowledge, contributes significantly to the development of society," he says.
About UP Social Commitment
Social Commitment is the area that defines the hallmark of Universidad Panamericana, since it is responsible for generating in the university community (students, alumni, academics and collaborators) a true social awareness and responsibility, which favors the analysis and solution of specific social problems.
Its mission is to contribute to the common good, forming people who can influence and work in the construction of a much more just and humane world, through professional work and service to others.
Learn more about what Compromiso Social does at: https://compromisosocial.up.edu.mx/
