On April 27, the “Back to Home” process began, led by the Office of the Vice President for Culture and Welfare with the support of a group of student leaders from the University of Cauca, with the transfer of a student to the Vereda La Primavera from the municipality of Caldono, Cauca. Similarly, the plan continued on April 28 with the first group outing.

In this exit 34 students from the University of Cauca who were in the city of Popayán and Santander de Quilichao returned to their places of origin in the department of Nariño. The departure occurred from the facilities of the Transport area of ​​the Universidad del Cauca in the morning hours of last Tuesday and to date they are already at home, complying with the biosafety protocol designated by the municipal mayors.

For approximately four weeks, the Office of the Vice President for Culture and Welfare of the University of Cauca, in coordination with the student representatives, developed a database that allowed determining the number of students from other municipalities that were still in Popayán. Once this information was collected, officials from this Vice-Rectory were in charge of calling each person and confirming whether they were willing to travel to their municipalities, complying with the corresponding biosafety protocols.

"The first thing we did was talk to the mayors and the government secretaries of the different municipalities, because it was important to make an adequate articulation, since we could commit ourselves to take them to the city of Pasto, but we had to guarantee their arrival in their municipalities of origin, however, as several of them have their borders closed, the mayors were in charge of carrying out the transfer from Pasto to their places of origin, ”said Francisco Valencia, head of the Culture Management Division, attached to the Vice-Rectory of Culture and Well-being.

The trip took place on April 28. The students were summoned at five in the morning at the service facilities of the University of Cauca, where each one was provided with the respective biosafety elements such as face masks, gloves and antibacterial, and the corresponding biosafety instructions were also given.

In the same way, the drivers of the two buses from the University of Cauca carried out the disinfection of the vehicles before the transfer and carried out the respective marking of chairs so that within them more than a meter of distance was kept between each passenger, making use only of seats with windows. Likewise, the two buses designated to carry out this journey were duly disinfected, not only prior to the trip, but during it, at the controls carried out by the Colombian Red Cross in the municipalities of Mojarras, Chachagüí and Pasto.

Currently each of the students are in their respective territories, where they comply with the biosafety protocol, which specifies that for 16 days they will be isolated in their homes while confirming that none is infected by COVID -19.

For next Friday, May 1, it is planned to continue with the “Return Home” plan, in which 100 students, whose destinations are the departments of Huila and Caquetá, will be able to travel to their homes. It is noteworthy that, for the success of this return of the students, the Vice-Rectory for Culture and Well-being of the University of Cauca has taken the necessary steps to obtain the corresponding permits from the governments and mayors.

More Info:

Vice-Rectory for Culture and Well-being

Email: vicecb@unicauca.edu.co