View Annual Review - IAESTE
View Annual Review - IAESTE
View Annual Review - IAESTE
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
I A E S T E — A N N U A L R E V I E W 2 0 0 6<br />
THE STUDENT who benefi ts …<br />
JOSE MIGUEL PARLONA – A GREAT <strong>IAESTE</strong> EXPERIENCE!<br />
This story began when a couple of friends<br />
told me to register for the <strong>IAESTE</strong> Selection<br />
Process 2004-2005 and since that moment<br />
my goals were focused through one<br />
horizon: not only being a good student<br />
but also growing as a human being and<br />
professionally!<br />
Along with other students I took<br />
different examinations and participated<br />
in many interesting Conferences given by<br />
Professionals who worked in one of the most<br />
prestigious Master Business Schools in Peru.<br />
After being evaluated, I was selected by the<br />
National Committee. My dream was coming<br />
true but ironically I could not go because<br />
the traineeship I was given clashed with my<br />
University exams so I decided not to go but<br />
to fi nish my Mechanical Engineering Studies<br />
by the fi rst semester of 2006 and to prepare<br />
myself again to be part of this group and<br />
fi nally I achieved it.<br />
<strong>IAESTE</strong> Process 2005-2006,<br />
People Government Conference<br />
The process 2005-2006 demanded hard<br />
work. Because I had already been through<br />
the selection process I wanted to help and<br />
participate in the activities of the National<br />
Committee. I was asked to give some<br />
Informative Conferences in my University<br />
and did it with a lot of excitement and<br />
responsibility.<br />
Furthermore, I had the chance to visit The<br />
Lima Children’s Hospital every Sunday and<br />
did some social work there with other<br />
candidates. It was spectacular and shocking<br />
at the same time talking to the parents or<br />
relatives of the children who told us how<br />
hard is for them, not only to afford medicine,<br />
but also to leave their work from the<br />
countryside to be with their children in the<br />
capital of Peru. This is when I realised how<br />
important <strong>IAESTE</strong> is in my community: not<br />
only getting skilled in technical experience but<br />
also promoting international understanding<br />
and goodwill between people and trying to<br />
create better life conditions.<br />
Many candidates applied for <strong>IAESTE</strong><br />
placements but in the end only seventeen<br />
succeeded in getting a traineeship. Since<br />
2001 when <strong>IAESTE</strong> in Peru was established<br />
twenty fi ve students have benefi ted from an<br />
<strong>IAESTE</strong> placement so each year we manage<br />
to increase the number of traineeships.<br />
The ruins of Macchu Picchu,<br />
“The Lost City from the Incas”<br />
discovered by Hiram Bingham<br />
in 1911<br />
By August 2005 the selection process was<br />
already completed. Now it was time to<br />
prepare the International Students Reception<br />
Committee which welcomed students<br />
from Finland, Serbia and Montenegro and<br />
Colombia. We spent a beautiful one-week<br />
trip to Cusco, the main archeological city in<br />
South America and the capital of the Inca<br />
Empire. We were able to appreciate a lot of<br />
historical walls and ruins, green landscapes<br />
full of the history of the Incas, the white<br />
splendour and magic from La Cordillera de<br />
los Andes and the spectacular Lost City of<br />
Macchu Picchu.<br />
One of the most memorable times during<br />
this seven day trip happened in a Children’s<br />
Shelter called “La Esperanza” where young<br />
La Esperanza Children’s Shelter,<br />
Cusco 2005<br />
children showed us that hope is not a utopia<br />
but is living with kindness and tenderness.<br />
We spent the best morning ever sharing,<br />
dancing, singing and playing games with<br />
them. While there we participated in a<br />
birthday party for a seventeen year-old girl<br />
so the chocolate cake and sodas we got<br />
were special for this lovely and impressive<br />
day. It was really touching when all of us sang<br />
the Happy Birthday song and this cute girl<br />
expressed her emotion by dropping innocent<br />
tears. It was the fi rst time in years that she<br />
had had a party and we were lucky to be<br />
there with all of them.<br />
Back in the city, a Swiss trainee had arrived<br />
and he with the other trainees continued<br />
their placements at Telefónica del Peru, a<br />
Communications Company in my country<br />
and during their time there were working on<br />
IP systems. At the end of their traineeships<br />
all of them were glad to have worked in this<br />
big Company.<br />
Andrés, Eric, Antti, Marko and<br />
Jose at the Cusco Main Square, Perú<br />
Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to the<br />
<strong>IAESTE</strong> Peru National Committee. They<br />
were the ones who allowed me to meet<br />
not only good friends but also helped me to<br />
focus on the goals I have in life. My next step<br />
is Austria, a great country where I am going<br />
to work in August 2006 and I think this will<br />
be another “Great <strong>IAESTE</strong> Experience”.<br />
José Miguel Pariona Lártiga<br />
PERSPECTIVES<br />
21