"The volunteer activities teaches you not to love people halfheartedly."

Tantaka-Tecnun is the Time Bank of the School of Engineering of the University of Navarra. In it, professors, employees and students put at the service of social entities what they have in common: their time.  

On the occasion of the launch of the new Tantaka website Tecnuncoordinator, Paula Berroa, takes stock of the past year and explains how you can be part of this project that "we all do together and in which we all fit".

Q. What is the new website like? 

It is a very visual website that has been designed to make visible the different ways of doing volunteer activities and in which testimonies, images and news of the people who are part of Tantaka appear. 

Q. What are Tantaka's objectives?

Tantaka responds to the needs of the environment by putting at the service of society the most valuable thing it has, which is the time and knowledge of its students, teachers and employees. Their goal is that everyone who wants to help knows how to do it.
Last Thursday, some people with cerebral palsy participated in the Tantaka stand at the activities fair. They came to tell about the volunteer activities activity that has been organized with them for more than 15 years. The reality was that the 1st grade students who came to the stand did not hear anything about Aspace. They simply saw that there were upperclassmen and teachers with them, just like any other day: commenting on the game, laughing... Tantaka, through example, has a transforming effect.

Q. What activities are promoted?

Many social organizations repeat it: presence is undervalued, but what is most needed are people who are willing to listen, to share, open to teach or learn from others, from their life stories, victories or sufferings. 

Q. Who can collaborate?

Anyone who has a little time and wants to can collaborate. It is a project in which we all fit and that, in fact, we all do together. The core topic is to think about what you want to do and how much time you are willing to give to complicate your life for something worthwhile. There are also employees who collaborate by talking about Tantaka to their clients, in a welcome session... It all adds up.

Q. What activities need more volunteers? 

Tantaka "financial aid al que financial aid" in the sense that from the University we do not invent activities, but we add to what the social organizations need.
What is most needed and is repeated every year are weekly volunteers (1 hour and average a week) to help children in status of exclusion (through school support or leisure activities); or people who have some sensitivity to be with the elderly or disabled: go for a walk, have a drink ... There are also campaigns that can be maintained or vary each year. 

 Q. What is the balance of the 23-24 course?

Tantaka is beginning to be a recognized and prestigious brand among the institutions and social entities of Gipuzkoa. This has been achieved thanks to the quality of the volunteers' time, whom I would like to take this opportunity to thank. There are NGOs that not only invite us to their events, but also want Tantaka volunteers to be part of the ideation, to give an example. Last year we were invited to a workshop of volunteer activities organized by the City Council of Irun to see what and how project worked, and they did it because a former student had told them about it. 

Q. What challenges does Tantaka face at Tecnun?

There are many students who start their studies with the illusion that the University will pass through them and that they will do more than just study. These students, sooner or later, not only sign up for an activity at volunteer activities, but they lead it and spread it to other people. They create a special atmosphere and it is amazing what they can achieve when they are enthusiastic. The contest of Sand Castles of La Concha - in benefit of ATECE Gipuzkoa - was promoted by a student and got more than 400 people to participate.  

The challenge of each year is to reach those who still do not know what they want to do volunteer activities, because they do not think about it or because they see it as something abstract, that they do not understand well and that, therefore, does not go with them.

Another great challenge is that of commitment, because volunteer activities is demanding, but it teaches you not to love people half-heartedly. To understand that if you say yes, there will be a boy or a girl waiting for you on a Thursday to give a math class or to ask how the problem he or she had went.