The Newsletter team has created a new section on the “side of here”, in an attempt to talk about the people who work behind the scenes, who give soul to the Faculty, who make routines run normally, without any recognition. Everything that happens is planned and prepared and takes time, involves commitment and almost always discretion.

During the month in which we talk about Solidarity and the initiatives that the Faculty of Aid continues to develop, we decided to talk to one of its drivers. Despite being on the way out of the solidarity project, those who remain know that they can continue to rely on her, in fact, she never completely fails to follow a project no matter how it develops. It’s a question of determination, as if she was a feline, an animal species that she loves. If we associated her with an animal, she would certainly be a cat.

With an expressive look that mixes green and yellow, independent and attentive, Isabel Aguiar is not too keen on physical affections, but expresses them to those she likes. And when she likes someone, her feelings are true, without any layers. She is frontal and direct, her voice never gets stuck in the debate of ideas, she likes rules and method, but the respect that she gets from others is not due to her role as Head of Services, but due to her charisma and constant effort to maintain it.

Working at the Faculty of Medicine for 31 years, this is often her main home. She is a determined woman who is accustomed to working in a predominantly masculine environment. However, she has a delicate signature in the way she dresses and arranges all the little boxes that match by colour. Delicate, as someone who is passionate about the soft tones and laces of the British Laura Ashley, she knows how to decide the best options for a job, and how to choose the best materials, which does not mean she does not consult her entire team.

She does not like being the protagonist, but she does her best to get things right. To get a project running, everyone knows they can count on her to get things going.

Since she barely allowed us to photograph her, her photograph lies in the words she shared.

The starting point for this conversation was related to a solidarity day that was held last April 6th at the University Stadium. Throughout this time and in the words of some of the colleagues involved in the project, Isabel Aguiar was the mastermind, someone who commands the operations, always stays at the forefront of the battle and who carries a battalion of people behind her. Now that you have left the Faculty of Aid, do you want to tell us a little about how it was to conduct a project like this, which only and always happens due to the goodwill of those who take part in it?

It’s important to contextualize the Faculty of Aid Project. The first major social responsibility initiative that we had at the Faculty was the Food Bank. In 2008, a group of people from this house came together and decided to apply for a space where the Food Bank Campaign was held that year. It was the start!

This initiative, curiously, coincided with another project, a training session, which involved a great number of collaborators with a focus on social responsibility in public institutions. From the CAF (Common Assessment Framework) Project came several ideas about what could be done to improve the Faculty and it was understood that a social responsibility project would work as a factor of motivation. From there, a team was created which began to mobilise the work and ultimately created the Faculty of Aid. It was in 2011, the logo was voted on, and ideas and wishes began to emerge.

The Solidarity Day, like the one that took place this year, is integrated in the Faculty of Aid because some outdoor and team building training sessions were already being done with the previous direction. An activity was designed with AMI that would bring team building together with an action of social solidarity. I still have a photograph of a very dedicated group of colleagues retrieving AMI’s collection crates. That’s when I realised that this was the spirit, this is what people expect. This day has to be a little different and that’s where we started with more supportive activities. Other initiatives were born aimed at the employees, because the Faculty must also take care of those who work here and are a part of it.

During some editions we had the support of Entreajuda who gave us information about groups, the elderly or children, with whom we could collaborate and put our social responsibility action into practice. At one opportunity we were in Bairro 6 de Maio, with children, where we came across very particular situations that developed us as a group and as people.

Then there were other activities in a different scope, we went to the Faculty of Agronomy to clean a nature reserve. We were very well received, we had training in beekeeping, for example. In a different opportunity we went to the Botanical Garden to clear it and we went to the Museum of Science and Natural History to clean the items from the Museum of Medicine that meanwhile were placed in a room and remain in a permanent exhibition today.

I am leaving the project, but it will continue and of this I have no doubt.

With a commitment this great why leave the project?

I feel I cannot be available for it. In my opinion, projects require a lot from us and I feel that at this moment the Faculty needs me in other areas. Either I’m 100% dedicated to a project or I move away. But I have already told my colleagues that they can continue, of course, to count on me, but I cannot be as active as necessary for such a project. Of the initial group, it’s just me and João Godinho and it’s time to renew the team, to see new people and that’s what makes sense. But of course I’m going to miss it! But everyone knows they can count on me.

The project has also developed, has it not?

Yes, that’s right. The project is no longer a start-up but a spin-off. (smiles) Social responsibility is a subject I value, not just inside the faculty but outside of it, in my personal life. But in the last year I had to move away and limit my participation a little, because I am very committed to what I do and then I do not have time for everything. I take on a big commitment, but I cannot sacrifice other things in my life. Time goes by so fast and we have to focus on our priorities.

About this year’s edition, how did the idea to invite “the wise” come about? Are they our azimuth?

It happened because one member of the Faculty of Aid group knows about this Association and this group of people and we thought it was interesting to invite them. We always bear in mind the moment in which the Olympics take place at the Faculty, to not interfere with the teaching activities, and that coincided also with the week in which the University Stadium would do a series of activities in its grounds.

It was the second activity including senior people. Considering that the first edition, with senior citizens, was a great success, we thought that we could repeat the subject in a different activity.

Why was it important for Isabel personally to participate in such a project? How can it complete or enrich a person?

In this project I have an equal footing with all my colleagues, which is a very good feeling. I’ve been here for a few years, and people have gotten used to seeing Isabel as the person who manages. I’ve been here since 1987. I grew up in this Faculty. I don’t feel that I stagnated here, I understand that every day I grow a little bit more. I believe that the Faculty is part of my personal, professional growth.

This peer-to-peer view is very interesting. Isabel coordinates a huge team. Can you tell me a little about your current role at the faculty?

I am passionate about the Faculty (gets emotional), anyone who knows me knows that the Faculty is very important to me. I learned a lot at this house and I hope to continue learning. Managing people is very difficult, especially in differentiated areas. In the area of facilities and maintenance we deal with many people, with many external companies that change, that have their own particularities. We have to approach the cleaning lady as we approach the engineer. I am very proud of the respect that is created. The companies with which we have already worked continue to maintain contact, and a strong connection to the Faculty. I sometimes stop to look back at the past with some of the people I work with now, once again. An example: in the cleaning team, after several processes, we have ladies working here for 15 years, who do not feel related to the company they work for, but to the Faculty. I think that’s very positive.

A particularity about Isabel is that she works with many men. She is able to play her role of decision maker and director very naturally, but without losing her feminine side. How do you play this role?

I really enjoy working with men. I am a very practical person, my biggest difficulty is the red tape, the paperwork. Remembering the legislation is terrible for me! Give me a situation to manage, to organise and I know I do it well! But bureaucracy is a complement to my work. Working with men is fantastic, because they accept it well when it is necessary to “be hard”, and they are more practical, like me.

I also feel that in the area of facilities we need to build a more multidisciplinary team. The people we have are fantastic and extraordinary, but we have to adapt and be more differentiated internally. The buildings have many peculiarities and we cannot depend solely on external companies. We must have internally specialised professional knowledge that allows us to act technically.

The Egas Moniz Building, for example, has great particularities for the research areas of the IMM. But this management is very challenging, and I really enjoy doing it! If I had to choose only one area, I would choose Facilities, without a doubt, even though I know it is the most exhausting area, it is an area that works 24 hours a day.

It is a work in progress, permanently. We recently inaugurated the Library and two years ago we renewed the Morphological Sciences Campus. At the time, the space was 20 years old and I presented an idea to Dr. Susana and Professor Vaz Carneiro to make some improvements within the space, which became much more modern and with better conditions. The employees who work there were very satisfied with these improvements and the students are very fond of the Campus, a space that was born from a deposit located below an amphitheatre, but now has more suitable conditions for both our target audience, the students, and the collaborators.

The Faculty lobby was another task that gave me immense pleasure. I have already told Mr. Costa: “we collaborated while taking care of the Faculty lobby, now we are going to bring Aula Magna back to life and afterwards we can retire”. The Faculty lobby was very cold, and I remember that during its inauguration, my counterpart at the hospital, someone who is very knowledgeable of hospital facilities, renowned on a national level, and who has lived in this house up to his retirement, told me “now you can be proud because you finally have a Lobby”. But I should also mention that, rather than focusing on technical issues, we must pay attention to the security issues, which are fundamental.

The Aula Magna and the Reynaldo dos Santos Building are our next challenges.

Caricatura

Palestra “Pela nossa Segurança”

Desenhos que decoram a sua sala

Dia Solidário, 2011

Ana Raquel Moreira

Joana Sousa

Editorial Team