Genís Pinart: “I couldn’t believe they gave me a Medal of Honor”

Genís received an award for attending numerous emergencies as a volunteer

Aina Ramos, Abril Castro, Iona, Víctor, Esther, Candela i Abel

Mr Genis, a teacher and a civil protector at the same time, has been in the emerging world since he was 16 years old. But currently, he has been working as a civil protector for 10 years. 

–How did you feel when you received the “Medalla d’honor” in the category of argent?

I received a call from an unknown number and I didn’t take it. Then, they sent me a message, telling me that they were calling me from the Generalitat, specifically from civil protection to communicate something.

When I received the news I couldn’t believe it, and afterwards, I felt very satisfied.

–What is it like to work as a teacher and being a civil agent at the same time?

I work as a volunteer, so I only can dedicate the hours that I don’t work as a teacher, like summers, weekends, holidays,… If there is a big emergency while I am working at school, I can’t help them. As I work as a volunteer, I can only work as a civil protector when I am not at school working as a professor. 

–Why did you decide to begin working on this?

I have always liked the world of emergencies, so when I was 16 years old, I did the forestry volunteer training. After some years, I did the formation of ADF, which means forest defense group, but as years passed we had to take part in more emergencies, so we created “civil protection”, that agrupates all the emergencies.

–How many years have you been working there?

At this moment, I have been working for 10 years as a civil protector, and I have been volunteering since I was 16 years old.