Is certainly what most of the world needs for this 2021. Although I’m afraid Covid-19 won’t go away anytime soon, I’m sort of relieved to see that we’ve finally left behind this awful year for humankind. Thankfully, I’m among the lucky ones who haven’t lost anyone nor have fallen ill over the course of the pandemic. Moreover, my professional life hasn’t been turned upside down, as I’ve just suffered minor detours which have not severely derailed my career path. I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who’s been kind to me in 2020 and acknowledge the critical role of health care professionals around the world.
I was in Denmark when I experienced my very first nation-wide lockdown. Like everyone else around me, I thought that the novel coronavirus would soon be under control, and that we would be able to carry on with our lives without significant changes. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’ll never forget the surreal silence I experienced at Copenhagen Airport in late June and the endless line of grounded planes waiting to resume operations. Never in my wildest dreams could I’ve imagined that one day I would be walking through an empty terminal hearing only my own footsteps because of a virus.
A lot has happened since then. As of today, mass vaccination campaigns are underway, which, hopefully, will end the pandemic. I believe, and I’m confident, that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. However, I’m quite distressed by the way in which some people have behaved and continue to act with no regard whatsoever for anyone but themselves. I have the feeling that schools across Europe are failing to teach the fundamental value of empathy, which is leading to a worrying lack of solidarity and camaraderie within our communities. People need to understand there’s no US without OTHERS and individualism is not the right approach when dealing with a global health threat such as COVID-19. We must look after each other, and we need to fight together.
While 2020 has been challenging in many ways, it has also brought joy into my life. From August to December, I had the chance to do an internship in Brussels at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which is an international NGO that works to give voice to indigenous communities, national minorities, territories and unrecognized states who are not adequately represented both domestically and internationally. At the UNPO I learned a lot about the right to self-determination and I found myself surrounded by a kind-hearted team of professionals to whom I’ll be eternally grateful for teaching me along the way.
I’m currently at home in Sabadell getting some rest, gaining weight and organizing my new experience abroad. On January 20, I’ll be traveling to Mexico, where I’ll do a research stay at the Intercultural University of Chiapas (UNICH) in order to develop my master’s thesis. Traveling during these tough times is anything but pleasant, but I’m convinced that it will be a life-changing experience, since I’ll be able to get to know first-hand Mexican indigenous communities and understand their ancestral knowledge. It goes without saying that I’ll be extremely Covid-19 conscious and I’ll try to protect myself and others from the virus as I’ve been doing since it was first identified.