Last Thursday, the 18th of June, we participated in a Solidarity Conference with a Spanish School called “Colegio Alarcón”. More than 30 students from ages 10-17 joined this online meeting to talk about two important issues: Childhood Pneumonia and COVID-19.
Upon starting, our fellow partners from Campus89 URJC (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos), UNSA Spain and Generations for Health conducted a 40-talk in which they explained the concerning reality of Childhood Pneumonia: “the biggest infectious killer of children worldwide”. Did you know that Pneumonia “kills a child every 39 seconds, of which almost all of these deaths are preventable”? **
This informative session ended with a meaningful empowering message and invitation to these young leaders not to be afraid to raise their voice when things are not the way they should, to not believe that because of their age, they are powerless. It is in fact the contrary. They are capable of being part of the change. Their voice deserves to be heard, there are no limits to what they can accomplish, and there are many institutions interested in this, one of them being UNICEF.
Afterwards, the children were divided in groups according to their class. A dynamic workshop then took place. Students were encouraged to develop creative material, from posters to videos, poems, drawings and songs about Childhood Pneumonia and COVID-19. The purpose of such activity was to consolidate their knowledge on both the talk and the current pandemic the world is facing and to raise awareness of these two pressing health realities, leading to such high mortalities.
From our side, it was very enriching to talk to the children and see these pressing issues from their perspectives. They reminded us of their infinite capable potential and their never ending hope.
Thank you students from Colegio Alarcón for inspiring us, and fellow partners of Campus89 URJC, UNSA Spain, Generations for Health and UNICEF Spain for letting us be part of this Solidarity Conference.
Below are some of the student’s creations!
