Which language do you dream in?

This is probably the question I get asked the most. As a Spaniard who moved to The Netherlands at the age of 4 and was educated at a British International School, I have always found it difficult to define my nationality in a simple word.

Rather than striving to find the answer to this question, I feel I am constantly looking for situations that will blur the lines even more.

Now I find myself — a Spaniard with a British partner and a Brazilian daughter living in Sao Paulo — completely and thoroughly confused but never happier.

Three years ago I moved to Brazil drawn by the promise of jungle, samba (and infectious diseases) and found myself pregnant in the middle of the Zika epidemic. I was lucky not to have been affected but felt compelled, having been through this unsettling experience, to contribute my expertise as a paediatrician to find answers to a plethora of questions about the effects of congenital Zika infection. So, with my 8 week old milk-thirsty baby and obliging husband/babysitter in tow, we did the 3-hour round trip on a 2-weekly basis to a clinic where a group of volunteers were setting up a cohort study following up pregnant women in a Zika- affected area of Sao Paulo state.

A year later, and the project (which is still fully run by volunteers) goes on. Still striving for answers but hopefully now having supported many families through tumultuous times.

Events like UNLEASH are so comforting to me. A chance to be around hundreds of other people who also find themselves reciting a 2-page account of how they came to be who they are.

However, the first UNLEASH Lab will be much more than just that. This event has been very carefully planned and put together to bring people with different skill sets but sometimes impressively similar insights together in order to crystallize and condense potentially world-changing ideas.

The act of bringing these people together is the most inspired of all. It is clear from reading all the UNLEASH participants’ stories that this planet is not lacking intelligent, devoted and altruistic young leaders with innovative ideas and a thirst for developing start-ups. However — it probably doesn’t make sense to develop 100 different health apps when one well-designed, field-tested robust tool might suffice.

I am truly impressed by the feat of UNLEASH and beyond excited to be embarking on this adventure in a matter of weeks.

As for the answer to my original question — as I sit here working on my PhD on Congenital Zika Syndrome — the language I currently dream in is statistical software script… sigh…

With my little helper — Jundiai Zika Cohort Clinic, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

UNLEASH Lab

Global innovation lab creating disruptive solutions for the UN's SDGs

NURIA SANCHEZ CLEMENTE

Written by

UNLEASH Lab

Global innovation lab creating disruptive solutions for the UN's SDGs

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