When dreams become true

After the ceremony we drove to one of the policlinics where Añece works as volunteer as part of there university education. This time, Sofía Seimur, another third year student, drove along.
Sofía’s dream was becoming a doctor. As she grew older she realized it would be almost impossible for a girl from San Carlos – a city located, 45 minutes by bus from Punta del Este – and from a low-income family to afford studying in Montevideo. But her fate changed. During the last high school year, her biology teacher informed the students that the municipality of Maldonado and CLAEH were offering a full grant to study medicine, which included education and transport. Sofía and three classmates applied, and Sofía got a grant.
From the first year of college, all students are sent to public health centres located in poor areas of Maldonado. For students coming from wealthy families, this is a confronting experience, which helps them to witness first hand what the social side of medicine should be. Students with a scholarship experience the satisfaction to give back to the community the benefit they have received.