TABLE OF CONTENT
1. MOTIVATION LETTER 2.
PLAN OF ACTION
3.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Dedicated to Paula Escobedo and the Indigenous Muisca community in Colombia
MOTIVATION LETTER
It’s a great honor to present to you my candidature for SCORA Director for the 2016- 2017 term. Before I unveil my plans, I must confess that I used to consider myself a person lacking the specific characteristics that can lead up to becoming a logistical master in internal development. However, it has become my aspiration to grow into that person. I am ready now that I have acquired the skills I need thanks to my work through the years in SCORA and the support of many SCORAngels. Having said that, I come from a much simpler background and have clear yet simple proposals I believe can make a true change in restructuring SCORA. We can work together on bettering not only our activities but also our way of thinking about sexual and reproductive health rights including HIV and AIDS. I want to draw new horizons and question marks that inspire people to think deeper. I want to guide their actions to things invisible to our traditional focus areas. My name is Carlos Andrés Acosta Casas, and I am passionate about working in IFMSA, searching for more tolerant souls, addicted to smiles/coffee, and privileged to share with you the ideas that I believe can make SCORA have a new point of view. Apart from being the current IFMSA Regional Assistant for the Americas, I'm a fourth year medical student in the southernmost capital city of Brazil, Porto Alegre, and Coordinator for external relations of my NMO. I am grateful to have the opportunity to submit my application today because I acknowledge how difficult it is for people of my region to get here, candidating for TO, and having a leading role in our community. A candidature is more than just an application to me, it’s, a statement in a certain way. I am happy to be part of this statement for diversity and regional inclusion within the IFMSA. Like most people in IFMSA, I was looking for discussions and ideas that weren’t present in the books we were so enthusiast to read in the first year we entered medical school. I joined DENEM in 2013 because I needed a space where I can be myself and where I didn’t need to pretend to be something else. At the same time, I was looking for a space where I could learn more about how to advocate and be critical about all of human right violations that occur within a hospital, by doctors and sometimes professors. This motivated me to join my NMO and apply to represent Brazilian students from an international perspective building all of these discussions. Coming from a line of Colombian indigenous culture, one of the main topics I liked to (and still do) discuss in DENEM was indigenous rights. In 2015 the opportunity came to attend RM 2015 and see what voice I could give to these populations and of course
speak out my mind full of repressed ideas. It was love at first sight. And so, after a long process I chose to become the next NORA. Later that year, before I went to a General Assembly, I decided to write for the MSI 31. Publishing an article about transgender rights in Latin America was an incredible experience that channeled my motivation into starting other types of discussions that medical students were not that aware of. I wasn’t able to go to MM Turkey but I got an amazing present instead. An email from a member of the Asia pacific region wanting to know more about my experience working with the Trans population. We talked for days. It enlightened my days and showed me how we really connected, how we can really help each other despite our kilometers of stars in distance. Our fights and statements may be differently colored, but they all go in the same direction. Connections happened without trainings, webinars, etc. They happened way before thinking of becoming RA or having a network of amazing people to work with. Connections happen because we are all human and we discover empathy in each other despite not knowing the other backgrounds. That same empathy moves us to help, to think, to prosper and to grow. Who knows? Probably it's a challenge for us as doctors to keep empathy flowing despite the difficulties that will come in the future. I want to be SCORA Director to transmit empathy and to connect people so we can fight for multiple causes, but always together. If we fight alone we can probably get to our destination faster, but together we will reach further. This is the challenge I’m accepting by presenting to you my candidature. I am not afraid or doubt my capacities anymore. I know I can count on an army of Angels to get that step higher. I am ready to serve IFMSA, and I really hope you believe in me enough to do so. Thank you for taking the time to read my candidature. See you in Mexico! Love, Carlos
PLAN OF ACTION I wanted to base my plan of action on simple yet relevant proposals that are reachable and that really resonate with our members. Overall, I believe that SCORA works in five main areas. I can divide my effort as Director to accomplish them, but I’m aware that I can't get all of the work done without our Angels or our community. We need to build this together. The plan I will now present can be adapted at any time, and will take into account all the obstacles we face, in order to continue making the appropriate changes and improvements. So, going back to the 5 areas, I really want to be specific, but also stay broad. I want to innovate while maintaining SCORA’s and IFMSA’s values to a more tolerant and just society.
Together we can take a step forward... And you can join in!
5 SCORA Pillars
SCORA working as a team SCORA setting new grounds SCORA getting better from the inside SCORA actively advocating SCORA representing the best we can be
SCORA working as a Team Our team needs a strategy and all that comes with it, not because it is a way to organize ourselves, but planning with others and including everyone’s opinion in the process has clear benefits in team bonding.
Annual Working Plan
The main pillar of the IT is to set common goals that we can identify with so we can strive to reach them better. The building of these longitudinal goals will be shared with all Angels in order to encourage them to apply for International Team positions. Calendar o Events and international dates that are SCORA Related and are relevant to all the community will all be available in our SCORA calendars. o Members can also request to add other relevant international dates for our movement.
SCORA International Team
The significance of RAs and their empowerment o Internal capacity spaces for the IT to stay up to date with the new changes in the SRHR (Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights) world like the 2030 FastTrack approach from UNAIDS and to pass the information over to the NORAs o
Selection process must be transparent and coherent in forming an RA network that value teamwork, proactivity and competence and for this I must take the opinion based on regional needs and realities if elected. Aid of development and general assistants o Active involvement with activity development for members o Aid RAs with the sensitivity of transforming international campaigns into the regional needs
Cooperation with the LRA
I expect to work closest with the LRA the most of all the members of the team. Due to his/her high levels of expertise and arrangement of external impact I want to develop the following skills o Guidelines for RAs to better explore the external representation links found in their regions o Cooperate in developing internal needs and goals through IFMSA meetings. o Maintain active problem solving level attending external meetings (relevant for internal development in the case of being SCORA D) o Function as an active channel of communication between our members and the LRA
Cooperation with the Team of Officials
The responsibilities of the TO this term forecast a great mission in terms of internal development. Not only are we in process of formalizing a great reform but we are also carrying the task of preparing medical students for the sustainable development agenda. Keeping this in mind, I believe the following aspects might come in handy: o Represent SCORA’s interests for the TO and strive to accomplish them while actively channeling members with the internal discussions of the TO o Work collectively with other members of the TO in campaigns and projects and seek their advice. o Actively discuss bureaucracy procedures that may prevent internal development within the Standing Committee. o Design new marketing strategies together with VPCB that benefit SCORA and have worked this year. (Websites, online quizzes, etc.)
SCORA setting New Grounds Regional Empowerment Reaching a polifacetic view of everything that we discuss helps us understand the topics we debate in our committee. All discussions on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) intersect with diverse social determinants of health. Active reception of regional needs applied to my annual plan, guarantees attending NMOs necessities accurately while developing original strategies that embrace NMOs directly in the process of making the solution. Therefore, regional empowerment also means participation and collective construction.
Utilize regional channels of communication and make them understandable by making translations, cultural notes, etc. (regional Facebook groups, regional servers) Regional Primary Assessment with participation of RD and RAs for advocacy strategies Stimulate Interregional Collaborations with the support of the relevant RDs and RAs Regional inclusiveness on SWGs/ Calls for input/ Capacity Building Spaces/ Session’s team selection for GAs. Participate in regional productions like the Heart Beat and The Sting by orientating members in writing regional topics. Communicate pertinent international opportunities based on the regional assessment. Promote regional manuals for specific variants of SRHR topics. Regional discussion forums: discussed further on
SCORA as part of Generation 2030 The SRHR panorama changed a lot with sustainable development focusing on their Interaction with education, gender equality and even climate change. This new perspective opens a completely new horizon of topics that we need to prepare our members for. My goal if elected is to work with the other Directors on how we can work with these new fields and try to introduce the new factors of the sustainable development agenda in our events and capacity building spaces.
SCORA getting Better from the Inside SCORA Related Programs The opportunity to mentor the Program Coordinator (PC) on Maternal Health and Access to Safe abortion has been amazing in the past months. Not only I did I get a clearer understanding and purpose of the reform but I also gained experience in how a SC Director can work closely with programs Search for Assessment and planning of the NMOs’ projects and analyze together the activities held on certain topics to know how to approach them in meetings. Aid in the recognition of activities enclosed in the program but not explored by Angels and serve members with academic quality orientations to embrace these activities in SCORA Allow traditional communication channels like servers and social media groups to be used by PC to communicate enrollment forms Have a space for discussion with members to know how people can make project suitable for enrollment in SCORA in cooperation with VPA.
Capacity Building Creating new capacity building spaces for the angels is something I am passionate about and this year we are having more experiences with LACMA (Latin American Cooperation on Maternal Health and Access to Safe Abortion) in the Americas and the Youth SRHR Leaders’ Summit as a new training in the PreGA of AM-Mexico. Cooperating with the VPCB
I intend to give LACMA a continuity in the region trying to keep its values as stated originally and work together with the Americas RD and RA to write its regulations. Now with SECSE and NECSE (Southern and Northern European Cooperation on Sexual Education) regulations settled, I will work together with the European RD and RA to continue their high quality academic spaces IPET: this past year we inaugurated our IPET regulations that make it easier to reproduce in a worldwide scale. Keeping diversity of application topics for the IPET will be one of my main priorities as well as finding new methodologies. Online forums and distance spaces especially for the Angels that are not able to attend meetings. Thought manuals and toolkits are useful as well and they can become renewable over time.
SCORA Actively Advocating Communication channels
Database that we can complement with the new topics discussed in the world and also allocate not only our manuals or activities but also what people debated, what our angels are thinking in this current sociocultural context about SRHR Reports are a transparent communication channel with all of the members that don’t have contact with SCORA directly. My main goal is to let reports be more objective and associate PCs analysis to them under orientation of the VPA. Maintain other online channels (Facebook group and SCORA server)
Ideas & Motivation From my perspective, motivation comes when you are part of a team and you feel backed up with possibilities of action within our federation. No idea is too big or small to accomplish, we just need to define it to be plausible and verisimilar to achieve within our needs and capabilities. If we do not have the capacity, we will search for it.
Incentivize spaces of expression and critical thinking like the MSI and other types of spaces (congresses, forums) where we can show our work together with the help of the LRA I will pinpoint later. o Create publications workshop for SRHR issues with guidance of VPPRC o Medical Education and SRHR booklets/manuals in cooperation with SCOME D/ LME o Explore options of commute project development amongst angels being transnational or among SCs. o Provide information of participation of external spaces and always update on our internal development to do so under guidance of the LRA. Discussion Forums to introduce new hot topics that people want to discuss and brainstorm over it, create new TNPs (Trans National Projects) or other projects. They also serve as a filter of ideas that will let us focus on trends that guide our activities more to the current population needs.
Social minority inclusion Diversity is one of the main things that characterize our federation and this specific aspect I want to highlight in this candidature. I want to take specific action in making SCORA a plural and democratic space. Key fact is that most of our activities surround social minorities and generally, we do not stop and focus them during our projects or discussions. Pursue ideological webinars and debates. Problematizing how society works and how social/economic conditions mold realities that affect SRHR because it also determines how we approach sex education, peer education and other SCORA topics o o
Discuss representation in our Meetings/CB Spaces the participation of social minorities. Constant communication with social minority NGOs and gathering international advocacy skills to support the general population as well. I’m aware that approaching social minorities will require orientation of the LRA to know what type of relationship we are aiming as a team.
SCORA Representing the Best we can Be External Meetings and Representation In this section, I will focus on the relationship between my plans as SCORA D together with the external development that I will have with the LRA if elected. One of the things that our members get lost is not only lack of knowledge of the existing external spaces they can participate in but as well lack of orienting tools that make them a suitable candidate to write/expose/apply to these opportunities. This is when internal development comes in Prepare members to be suitable with the relevant knowledge for the position/space they want to attend/apply. In collaboration with the LRA, we can create manuals, online capacity building spaces for members to be enlightened of what to expect and how to develop the needed skills to represent the federation with excellence abroad. Constantly be aware of the important events we will have during the term and promote them together with the LRA either by allowing the LRA have constant access to internal communication channels and also seek guidance in the spacing of such events/opportunities for a better time management strategy, or adding them to the SCORA Calendar myself.
GAs and RMs When people arrive in IFMSA meetings, there is a great necessity and desire of learning different experiences from different countries. Therefore, if get elected as SCORA-D, I will make sure that SCORA Sessions are sensible to the needs of all regions taking into thought not only the call for input but complementing it with relevant current topics that might fall out of the Angels’ knowledge. For RMs, regional assistants are critical to filter the SCORA topics that are relevant for their region and the methodologies needed to achieve that. As SCORA Director I will make sure the construction of the RMs are in accordance with the federation’s pillars and SCORA’s mission and vision. Pre-Events: see capacity building sector Introduce new topics in the sessions by collecting input and mirroring the Sustainable Development Goals changes on SRHR. Take advantage of the location of the GAs to bring current topics by local people. Have at least one participant from each region facilitating sessions guaranteeing regional inclusiveness.
SCORA Xchange We need more Xchanges! Implementing exchanges on Sexual and Reproductive Health function as a bridge between international immersion in other health contexts and the building of new ideas. Unfortunately, many regions haven’t explored this method to grow in SCORA. As Director, I will aid not only in the agenda construction to add local relevance but also on the assessment in financial sustainability of an exchange. This will surely help the hosts and be done with the close guidance of the VPA, VPF, and VPCB.
CV Carlos Acosta Age 22 Date of Birth April 05, 1994 Adress Avenida Venâncio Aires 855, Bom Fim, Porto Alegre/RS, Brazil Phone (+55) 5198554123 E-mail charlieaacosta@gmail.com
EXPERIENCE SCORA Regional Assistant for the Americas – IFMSA 2015 – PRESENT
SKILLS Active Listener
National Officer on Sexual and Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS (Coordination of External Relations) – DENEM-Brazil 2014- PRESENT
Local Officer on Sexual and Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS – LC Porto Alegre- DENEM 2013- 2014
Local Exchange Officer – Incomings – LC Porto Alegre – DENEM 2013- PRESENT
Local Committee President – LC Porto Alegre – DENEM May 2014- May 2015
Regional Coordinator - First Southern Region - DENEM 2015
Support Division on Health Education - RA COES- DENEM 2013
Soft Skill Trained Leadership and Problem Solving experience Vast experience and knowledge on working with SRHR
LANGUAGES Castilian: Mother Language
English: Advanced Reading, Writing, Speaking
Portuguese: Advanced Reading, Writing, Speaking
French: Intermediate Reading Writing, Speaking
German: Beginner Reading, Writing Speaking
EDUCATION Medical Doctor Degree, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre — Porto Alegre, Brazil 2013 – PRESENT
High School, Colegio San Carlos — Bogotá, Colombia 2009 – 2012
Elementary School, Colegio Nueva Granada — Bogotá, Colombia 2006-2009
RELEVANT MEETINGS AND TRAININGS ATTENDED 2016 IFMSA General Assembly: March Meeting (Malta): March Ipas Workshop (Pre- March Meeting Malta): March National Peer Education Training (Catalonia): February America’s Regional Meeting 2016 (Uruguay): January Ipas Workshop (Pre- Regional Meeting Uruguay): January SCORA IT Meeting (Egypt): January
2015 Second Team of Officials Meeting (Barcelona): December IFMSA General Assembly: August Meeting (Macedonia): August National Training Forum (FEV) (Rio de Janeiro): August DENEM International NGA (ECEV) (Florianopolis): April America’s Regional Meeting 2015 (Colombia): January
2014 XXII First Southern Division Regional Meeting of Brazilian Medical Students (EREM Sul-1 Porto Alegre): October XXXXIV- ECEM National assembly (Brasilia): July
2013 XXI First Southern Division Regional Meeting of Brazilian Medical Students (EREM Sul-1 Porto Alegre): September
OTHER RELEVANT PERKS -SCORA Sessions Facilitated: AM2015, RM2016, MM2015 -NPETS facilitated: Rio de Janeiro (August/15), Brasilia (July 2014), Catalonia (February 2016) -SWGs: PS on comprehensive sexuality and gender identity, Obstetric Violence (AM2015), Indigenous SRHR (MM 2016) -Co-Coordinated/ Assisted campaigns: IDAHOT 2016, International Women’s Day 2016, BCAM 2015, WAD 2015. (To check out my work examples, please click on the following link)
SEE YOU IN MEXICO!