Pedro Gonzalez Caraballo, Manager of AECC Málaga (Spanish Association against Cancer) thanked the students of Les Roches Marbella for their effort and spirit of volunteerism during the ceremony of diplomas on May 12th on the campus.
It is a pleasure to share his words below:
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. – Rabindranath Tagore
“Following my first lunch at Les Roches Marbella, I was accompanied by friends whose aim it was to facilitate the difficult. It was four in the afternoon, after a magnificent assortment of paellas and salads, and having enjoyed the splendid sun in a peaceful and inspiring environment, someone interrupted this blissful moment to tell me that the workshops were about to begin. I walked through the corridors to the classroom that I had been given. I was walking “towards five-star volunteering”, taught masterfully by Lecturer, Mr. Roberto Rodríguez. The room is already full, so I sit on one of the benches at the end. Having arrived here I already feel like five stars, and not because I have done something to deserve it, but because the whole environment, students, and teachers of Les Roches, make you feel this way. You have managed to turn the concept around and make the assessment that how a person feels about himself does not depend on his personal situation, but by the treatment he or she has received, for the environment that surrounds him and, above all, for the people who have guided us through the school.
“What a wonderful school you have! In just one day I learned the value of being a student of Les Roches. For us at the AECC, this is an unbeatable lesson. As Professor Rodríguez said in his workshop, the work of volunteering is intimately linked to your profession. In both cases, the goal is to make other people feel better about themselves.
“Last Wednesday I had the good fortune to listen to the Baritone Carlos Álvarez during his inaugural speech as Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Málaga. When he began his singing career, his goal, not at all trivial, was to be happy. Years later he realized that there was a nuance in that goal: what made him really happy was to make others happy. The fact that, with his work, he managed to tear a smile from others. That is the satisfaction that has brought you the most benefits. In your case, you are preparing yourself with an advantage over our dear Carlos, and that is that your goal is to direct companies whose primary purpose is to make people happy.
“Last May 12 you gave us your house as one who invites your best friend. You opened your doors and your heart to solidarity. ‘Come by here, the bathrooms are more in the background, Ma’am, that door is that of gentlemen! Please, you can go to the other door. Do you want your coffee decaffeinated? Are you going to eat those seven cakes? Try our vegetarian rice. The salads are the most creative. Do you want me to serve you a little more?’ And little by little, through your kindness, you carpeted the corridors of Les Roches, so much so that they seemed like real runways of an airport from where thousands of illusions took off. Illusions that are now treating patients in hospitals, making a child laugh with cancer, attending to a family in our residence floors or supporting the work of our information tables. All the strength of Les Roches now accompanies us after having been students for a day at this prestigious school.
“I hope that the future will bring you many successes. Well … I do not expect it, I’m sure of it. What I do want is that you always keep that spirit of solidarity that you demonstrated with the volunteers of the Spanish Association Against Cancer. That you remember, as Antoine Sant-Exupery said, that love is the only wealth that grows when it is distributed, and that with your action you have increased the GDP of love in our Association.
Thank you very much.”
