RM in Lima, part II

Hi everyone,

Today is the third day of the congress. I can’t believe I’m already halfway through! Three days might not seem like a lot but with all the activities we have, it feels enormous. The schedule is pretty much from 9am to 8pm every day. In the morning, we have sessions with our standing committees. In my case, it is with SCORE, the research exchanges. We learned theoretical and practical knowledge on the program ie: we learned how to start a SCORE program in a country or university where it doesn’t exist yet. I probably won’t ever have to do that, but it allowed me to gain a better understanding of how the program works and to know all the contracts my NMO had to sign at some point. In the afternoon, we have activities with the other committees. One of my favourite so far is the Activity Fair. Basically, countries are invited to share with the rest of the delegation what projects they have been working on during the year. It’s great to see how everyone is so motivated and creative, but it especially allowed me to realize health issues vary quite greatly between countries. Per example, Brazil had a campaign for LGBT rights and one of the main issues is the murder of transsexuals, which is pretty unheard of in Quebec. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by the quantity of events happening every day, but I am having a good time and I feel like I learned a lot. Also, meeting nice people from around the world and enjoying warm weather is a plus. Finally, tomorrow I’m presenting the UAT (upon arrival training) in front of around 200 people.

Wish me luck!
Philippe