– The company and the university came together to benefit the San Vicente community with a health program.

San Vicente, December 12, 2023. “Speech therapy and Blumar at the service of the community” was the name of the agreement with which the fishing and salmon company joined the San Sebastián University (USS) to carry out speech therapy operations. Thus, fourth-year students from the Concepción headquarters of the school carried out campaigns in the community surrounding the company’s San Vicente plant. 

The initiative considered the promotion and prevention of communication disorders in the beneficiary population, in addition to actions to enhance their skills, also establishing support networks with the healthcare network. The program benefited more than 150 people.

Blumar’s Fishing Operations Manager, José Ocares, pointed out that “about 60 students and professionals from the university supported us for 1 year since this project began, which sought to bring Blumar and the university closer to the community in a different way, in which we could contribute to the physical health of our neighbors.” Along these lines, he explained that “this is an instance to continue advancing in the long-term relationship that we have with our neighbors, which goes beyond being a neighbor that contributes goods, but also allows access to services that improve their quality of life.” 

Rayén Dosque, a fourth-year Speech Therapy student at USS, said that “it was a super enriching experience to be part of this project, to meet the community, to participate by giving a small grain of sand. We started knowing the real needs of older adults, it was very gratifying to be of help in identifying the difficulties and seeing how to solve the aspects that they had in mind.”

He added that “working in the children’s area, at Colegio San Vicente, was an even more enriching experience, because we saw the bonds that were generated with the children by evaluating them and being a support, trying to motivate them with a word of encouragement or with small gifts.” In that sense, he expressed that “it was very gratifying to provide them with this support and the necessary tools so that they can perform well tomorrow.” 

The secretary of USS Speech Therapy studies and in charge of coordinating the project, Tamara Pierart, defined the project as very successful. “We managed to serve and provide health benefits to a large number of users within the community, we were able to reach many users who did not have access to these services within the health system and provide solutions to their difficulties.”

The secretary of the San Vicente Norte Neighborhood Council, Selina Danyau, is one of the beneficiaries of the program. He pointed out that “first they gave me a personal interview, then an initial ear examination, and then they referred me to the university to have audiometry done. I was blessed, because they were able to find me some diminished hearing in one ear.”