Online Conversation (in Spanish) with French Adventurer Dimitri Poffé
– Written by the Moving Forward team on August 1st, 2022
Last June, our Project Coordinator in Russia, Zaynab Umakhanova, had the opportunity to interview Dimitri Poffé and learn everything about his project “Explore for Huntington”. You can find this interview here
Because of this project, which got him cycling all over Latin America for the last 6 months, Dimitri has also learned to speak Spanish. Thus, we saw this as a fantastic opportunity to promote an online conversation in Spanish, in collaboration with the IHA – International Huntington Association. This initiative would allow the whole Spanish speaking HD community to know his story and interact with him directly in their own language.
Photo 1.
Dimitri’s adventure in Ecuador, and the serious problems he had to get Internet during his visit to the 5897 meters high Cotopaxi volcano, meant that we had to postpone the conversation one day later, to July 15th. And it was worth waiting for. (Photo 1)
It was the first time Dimitri had a meeting entirely in Spanish and surprised us with his perfect Spanish skills. He was extremely friendly and talkative and gave us the opportunity to learn a lot about his adventure and the lessons that this project has taught him.
In addition, this conversation helped us to understand much better the reality of HD families in Latin America, the difficulties, and serious needs they have according to the country where they live, and the relevance of having organizations that can provide information, support and resources to this community. Dimitri also gave us his first-hand impressions about the important work that is being done by the organization Factor-H in Latin America. This organization was founded by Ignacio Muñoz Sanjuán, a Valencian living in the USA who is dedicated to helping the most deprived and vulnerable HD families in Latin America.
Photo 2.
All those attending the conversation, which lasted one hour, were grateful for being able to participate in this online meeting and ponder together on very interesting aspects of this experience. We were able to understand the value of finding and building a family within the HD community, and we learned about the value of pursuing your dreams and of having rich and diverse experiences. We were also able to reflect on the importance of breaking down the prejudice and stigma towards other cultures, countries, or people. (Photo 2)
