* Author: Encarna García-Ludeña *
It was like entering another world and feeling a different energy in the area. I’m going to tell you about a very sudden change in my working life and the huge impact it is currently having on my new career.
It’s been a year since I left Valencia, where I did a job that I couldn’t have imagined doing before, not even in my wildest dreams. I joined an elite sports team that was going to take part in one of the most important events worldwide, the America’s Cup. The Iberdrola sailing team worked hard against the odds to compete day after day, to be the best and to win victory after victory. We managed to do it and it was all thanks to team spirit that inspired us all to work together in an atmosphere of commitment, harmony, responsibility, enthusiasm and eagerness to collaborate.
However, I realised that my great challenge was starting all over again when I received confirmation that I would be moving back to Madrid to join the Fundación Iberdrola. I understood that this time I would be a member of a work team that would combine two areas I’m passionate about: Training & Research and Cooperation & Solidarity.
The first area gives you access to culture and education for young people, the best students that hold the country’s future in their hands. That is why Iberdrola aims to help them achieve the highest possible level of academic training.
The second area is no less interesting. It would enable me to take my first steps in a job that would help me grow as a person, learn about other realities and better still, to work with the commitment of meeting social demands and needs, while implementing criteria of efficiency. Social action is one of the main lines of work in the Fundación Iberdrola.
I would like to share one of the experiences I had in my visits to the associations supported by the Fundación and talk about some of the stories of daily struggle and perseverance facing a large number of vulnerable families and sectors of the population. The Fundación is very aware of their difficulties and together with other bodies, it is working to enhance their quality of life.
I recently had the opportunity of visiting a family that receives services from the APSA association in a programme funded by the Fundación Iberdrola, which allows Marta to receive home-based care twice a week, in two 45-minute sessions. Marta is a disabled girl that needs daily rehabilitation in order to improve her quality of life. Any outing entails considerable risk, both because of the instability that changes in her surroundings cause her, and in physical terms, because of how prone she is to lung problems. The daily care of the physiotherapist from the UVAD gives the young girl and her family a significant improvement in the quality of life of the entire family.
Moisés Jiménez, Marta’s father, told me how much of a change it had been for the family, compared to the outpatient care. The first thing he said was that the girl felt a lot more relaxed because she was in familiar, safe surroundings during the session. “It’s such a relief not to have to take our daughter out of the home, and to be able to talk to a professional about any doubts that crop up at home on a day-to-day basis”, Moisés explained.
Marta let us accompany her in an individual treatment session, supported by her mother, as a way of sharing and showing her gratitude for the economic support they receive from the Fundación Iberdrola as part of its home-based care programme for children with disabilities. Without the foundation’s support, this would not be possible, as it is not contemplated in the support policies provided by the public administrations.
The experience with Marta, and many others, mean that I have even more praise for the work carried out by APSA with the support of the Fundación Iberdrola. It has also been an opportunity to grow as a person.
