Testimonies of the Volunteers

2018 academic year:

Through this initiative promoted by Erli Margarita Marín, a research professor of FIGRI, our students contribute their knowledge to organizations recognized by civil society while developing a research project that allows them to broaden their horizons and capabilities.

A project designed to learn collaboratively, contribute from their knowledge to an organization of civil society and acquire practical experience in the field on the topics that impact our country on a daily basis. This is the volunteer program, promoted by the Faculty of Finance, Government and International Relations, open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at our university.

Political communication, digital activism, follow-up on the peace agreements and the design of evaluation and follow-up flow charts are only a few of the topics that students participating in this program work on. What is interesting about this project is that it allows for the students to work on issues that take them outside their comfort zones, and that go beyond what is learned in the classroom, and it provides them with a broader vision of the environment in which they find themselves, all this without leaving their academic studies to one side.

Nicolas Escobar is one of the FIGRI students that contributes his time and knowledge to the SeamOs organization, a platform which has the aim of going beyond passive “click-tivism” and strengthening the processes of citizen participation and advocacy in the decision-making processes. Escobar, despite having very limited knowledge of technology, has the analytical capacity that allows him to extrapolate the results and draw conclusions based on similar situations. In fact, Andrea Mora, a researcher on this very platform, points out that Nicolas has demonstrated a series of skills that have allowed him to participate actively in the work of social listening that he performs as a volunteer. This has been a challenge that has brought with it its academic and professional rewards, says the student.

The Volunteer program has also allowed students to work on issues related to their professional interests, if they prefer. This is the case of the student Stephania Maldonado, a student in the Specialization in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Rights of the Faculty of Law, who is currently developing a project with the Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris (New Rainbow Corporation) in the construction of a spreadsheet for the follow up on the agreements signed in La Habana regarding the guarantees of security and the dismantling of the successive structures of paramilitarism, covered in point 3.4 and in the consolidation of an Observatory on Post conflict. For Stephanie, being a part of this program has allowed the volunteers to gain critical analysis skills regarding the evolution of the peace building process and the armed conflict, analyze the adaptation of the political class to the new realities and the influence of this in the context of Colombian society.

The invitation that professor Marin extends to the Externadista students is that they get involved in a project in which they can contribute with their knowledge to an organization and in which they will also have experiences that will help them to effectively build and develop their professional future and their personal projects.

Soon, we will be sending out the calls for students who wish to participate in the volunteer program for the second semester of 2018. We advise you to be aware of the webpage of the Faculty of Finance, Government and International Relations, our social networks and the Civil Society Podcast that is directed by Erli Margarita Marin.

In case you wish to get more information regarding the program, you can contact professor Marin at her email: erli.marin@uexternado.edu.co

2017 Academic Year:

There have been more than 30 students of the University who have decided to dedicate part of their time to “Conocer dejando huella” (know leaving your mark), this academic year of 2017. This is the catch-phrase of the Professional Volunteer Program that the Faculty of Finance, Government and International Relations has been promoting for the last four years.

The program began as a response to the initiatives of the students who arrive here in the exchange program and who wish to get to know the city from another perspective and who wish to support the vulnerable persons and those who are vulnerable in distinct sectors of Bogotá. It is for this reason that, from FIGRI, contacts were made with various Not-for-profit entities that operate in different sectors of the city. The objective was to have a broad range of issues so that all volunteers would have the possibility to share and contribute in accordance with the knowledge of each.

This year, 21 students were involved in the volunteer program in the first semester in organizations such as Fundacion cerros de Bogotá, Servidores del servidor, Corporacion Nuevo Arco Iris, Colombian Red Cross, Fundación Vive Bailando, Reingeniería de Corazones-Redcuna, Rotaract, Laudes Infantis, Proyecto Casa B and the intervention project of the University in the Egipto neighborhood, that carries the volunteer slogan: know leaving your mark.

In the second semester of this year, 11 volunteer students are working at the Asociacion Nacional de Zonas de Reserva Campesinas—ANZORC, AIESEC, Fundación Palabras Sociales, Reingeniería de Corazones-Redcuna, Proyecto Casa B, Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, which is the network of 8 social organizations that are led by the Observatory for the implementation of point 3.4 in the La Habana Peace Agreements and of course the “Know Leave your Mark”, that is being carried out in the Egipto neighborhood, as a part of the intervention plan of the University.

This is the first time that students from other faculties have joined the initiative to donate time and have become interested in the voluntary program. In fact, initiatives from the postgraduate programs and the alumni association have appeared to join ranks to these social initiatives through which FIGRI, in particular and the University in general, break with traditional models of teaching and training.

The professional volunteer program offered by FIGRI is without a doubt an immersion in real life so that students, through collaborative work, are able to really make an effective transformation in society. For this reason, the slogan to understand and act in the world begins with the local and has dimensions that go far beyond its borders.

And the students are not alone. The program offers permanent accompaniment with the support of the Cultural Area of the Library and the Faculty of Education in the didactics, in the development of soft skills and in the management of research topics, as is the case of the projects where students participate in issues of large-scale advocacy in national and international life. Topics such as peace, the environment, in the accompaniment for the formulation of social projects and the methodologies to make observations.

2015 Academic Year

Since a year and a half ago, the visiting students have the opportunity to get involved in social organizations to do field work and come to know the Colombian reality more clearly. In the second semester of 2014, the students were in organizations such as TECHO, , Casa B, la red del Programa de Desarrollo y Paz (RedProdepaz), Populus Proyectos Comunitarios and the Parroquia Egipto.

The 11 exchange students who participated came from the following universities: Sciences Po Paris, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Rennes, Université de Dauphine, Université de Nantes and el Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux, in France. There were also students from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Additionally, some national students from the Faculty of Finance, Government and International Relations joined in.

During the volunteer program, various cultural activities were done that included film, theater and gastronomy to broaden the horizons of the boys and girls. Furthermore, horticulture and other skills were taught that allowed them to take advantage of their free time developing local projects integrated into a community life plan for comprehensively improving the neighborhood.

2014 Academic Year:

Marie Alexandra Bernier, who joined the project that involved four faculties of the University (Business Administration, Economics, Social Sciences and Finances, Government and International Relations), carried out in the above-mentioned neighborhood that borders the campus, to contribute to the development of the population of children, and they view this as a possibility that “allows for overcoming the spatial and mental borders that exist between the people from high socio-economic levels and those from low socio-economic levels, which is fundamental. This type of experience allows one to become aware of the reality of the contrasts and the inequalities that exist in the city of Bogotá. Furthermore, catching the attention of the children, transmitting knowledge and sensing their appreciation in their words and smiles is particularly rewarding”.

Claire Bucher, stated of her work in the Non-profit Foundation for the Freedom of the Press: “I learned to work autonomously. I prioritized and organized the information that I found. Additionally, this experience allowed me to improve my Spanish through reading and my oral expression because I had to communicate with the kids every day and with the foundation team. I learned a lot about professional life and professional demands.”

Louise Aschard describes her time with the Fundacion Egipto con Futuro: “at times it was a little bit difficult, but sharing with the children made my time enjoyable and a great learning experience. I have been able to apply everything I’ve learned in my university studies and furthermore, I have been able to share my cultural knowledge and propose some ideas. It is surprising the relation that has been established with the children that attend the scholastic refresher courses or who simply come to have fun in the Fundación instead of being in the streets where they can be vulnerable. I appreciate and owe a lot of this experience to Laura Moreno and the Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Nicolas Tena and Nohossat Traore contributed their work to the Fundacion Reingenieria de Corazones where with more than 40 boys and girls in the Santa Barbara Neighborhood, they did scholastic refresher courses and a series of ludic-pedagogical activities that brought joy to the small children that live in situations of vulnerability. For example, they organized guided visits to the main museums in the center of the city and were able to organize networks with other organizations of neighboring areas, which was the situation of the Fundación Egipto con Futuro.

“Natalia Rojas Mateus, a Colombian student in the Faculty of Finance, Government and International Relations in tenth semester, participated in the Volunteer Program that is offered for students of the University and students doing student exchanges here in Colombia. She provided her social services in Redprodepaz, that is a coordination system of civil society, plural and autonomous that joins the Regional Programs of Integral Development and Peace, in different regions of the country. Through the task of constructing a Nation in Peace, she become a part of the Regional Encounters for Peace that were carried out the previous year in Sincelejo, Department of Sucre. In the photos you can see the student Rojas with the inhabitants that received a workshop during the sessions for peace”.