Madrid, Jul 16 (EFE).- The educational and adventurous project Around the World started this Sunday in Madrid, at the headquarters of the Autonomous University, where the 39 selected young Ibero-Americans arrived who received a full scholarship for a trip that will take them through Spain and Portugal for 21 days.
The second edition of this project will pay homage to the Balmis expedition that led to the first global vaccination between 1803 and 1810, led by the Spanish doctors Francisco Javier Balmis and José Salvany and the nurse Isabel Zendal.
In 2022, in the first edition of this project, another 39 young Ibero-Americans paid homage to the first world circumnavigation carried out by the sailors Juan Sebastián Elcano and Fernando de Magallanes (1519-1522).
The Balmis expedition managed to keep the vaccine active during transoceanic voyages through 22 orphaned children who carried the antidote in their bodies, the only way then known. The reason the carriers were children was because they, being younger, would have been less exposed to the virus.
39 YOUNG PEOPLE FROM 11 COUNTRIES
The young people began to meet today in the Spanish capital and have already received the kit they will wear during this trip in which they will visit various Spanish cities and towns such as Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, A Coruña, Córdoba or Ceuta as well as the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
39 young people from Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Uruguay, Paraguay and Spain will learn about this feat, the characters who carried it out and the places in Spain and Portugal where they were.
Among them is Trinidad Ochea, a 19-year-old Chilean from the capital Santiago, Chile, who shared with EFE her excitement at starting this adventure.
“It is my first time in Spain, I am very excited, I hope it will be an unforgettable experience, sharing with all these young people from these countries, sharing culture and making great friends,” she said.
Estrella Altamirano, a 19-year-old Mexican, also wants this trip to change her life: “we’ve only been there for a short time but for now we’re doing very well, the people are super cool, they received us incredible, it looks like the experience is going to get much better”.
Estrella hopes to take “learning, many memories in the heart and friendships for a lifetime.”
The person in charge of the project, the Spaniard Jesús Luna, told EFE for his part that what he wants from this group of young people is that they become “an active part of the change we need” in the world.
“Just like the children of the Balmis Expedition carried the vaccine against smallpox in their arms, why not us carry one against intolerance”, he reflected.
The project is sponsored by the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID), supported by the Ibero-American General Secretariat, the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities and the Autonomous University of Madrid.
It also has the sponsorship of the Spanish Senate and the Fifth Centenary of the first Tour of the World; the Panama Jack equipment and the collaboration of Iberdrola, Renfe, LG and Pilot. EFE
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2023-07-16 18:06:09
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