A new edition of the Elecnor Foundation Volunteers programme
The 2015 edition of the Elecnor Foundation Volunteer programme will get underway in September. Once again, the volunteers will be heading for the community of Totoral in Chile's Atacama desert, where the Foundation launched the Synergy water and energy project almost two years ago.
The three volunteers, who will travel to Chile on 31 August, are currently preparing ahead of the big day. When packing their bags they will have to take into account the weather conditions in the Atacama at this time of year. For these kinds of details and many other tips the volunteers can turn to the three volunteers in 2014, who are advising María Carreira, Rubén López and Ana Jurado, the employees chosen for this second adventure in Chile.
As part of the preparations an information session was held this week attended by the volunteers and the two highly experienced tutors who will be accompanying them at all times in Totoral: Agustín Suárez, from the PPC department of our solar PV subsidiary Atersa, and Tomás Enfedaque, now retired after a fifteen-year stint with our construction subsidiary EHISA, where he specialised in infrastructure and water management.
Here are some details about the volunteers and tutors in 2015
María Carreira: an operations and production engineer at Celeo. She has already visited Chile for professional reasons, using the opportunity on several occasions to take in some of the country's tourist attractions. She followed the 2014 edition with particular interest due to her fondness for the country, which prompted her to apply for the 2015 edition. In fact, she has always liked volunteering and has taken part in sports and social activities. She is excited and very much looking forward to the challenge.
Rubén López: the oldest of the trio, with eight years under his belt at the Group. He started out at the Madrid Office of the Central Division, where he worked chiefly on public lighting projects. He then moved on to the Business Development Division, where he was involved with energy efficiency activities, before recently returning to the Madrid Office and the field of public lighting as Works Manager. Rubén had applied on a previous occasion to become a volunteer. When he found out that he had been chosen for this year's edition he was first surprised and then very excited. He is attracted by all aspects of the challenge: the technical element, the opportunity it affords him to discover Chile, the day-to-day experience of the tangible benefits of engineering in social environments that need stronger infrastructure… But above all else he has a sense of anticipation he can barely contain.
Ana Jurado: works at the Astexol-2 solar thermal plant in Badajoz, where she has progressed in recent years to the position of Shift Supervisor. She thought about becoming a volunteer in 2014 but missed the application deadline. This year she was more attentive, among other reasons because she followed the adventures of the 2014 volunteers with interest and was attracted by the technical challenge, the exciting and selfless spirit of togetherness in the team and the environment of the Atacama. Above all, she feels excited and happy.
Agustín Suárez: Agustín was involved with the 2014 edition, from which he learned many lessons that will be useful come September. He thinks the training element will be most important this year since most of the technical issues were dealt in 2014. Mulling over his potential involvement in a third edition, he says that his choice would be a destination in Africa.
Tomás Enfedaque: another veteran of the Elecnor Foundation Volunteer programme, and not just because of his status as a retiree able to continue contributing his know-how beyond his professional duties but also because he mentored the first three volunteers. He would also prefer a stint in Africa if he could choose the destination for 2016.
