By: Camila Martínez and Mariana Suárez
Andrés Morales (34 years old) is a Venezuelan who traveled to Colombia to make his dreams come true, carry out his career, position himself and find the stability that he could not have in his native country. Like many Venezuelan citizens, he went through many adversities, needs and bad times when emigrating.
How do you define yourself?
I am a persevering person, I consider myself a dreamer, a fighter and a person who faces all the challenges and adversities that life represents. I am a person who works for his purposes and is capable of achieving them. I love to eat, I exercise, I am a Pisces sign and I am too realistic.
We know she was also a model…
I was a model in 2015, I was Mr. Venezuela, but that was it, I wanted to focus more on my studies on medicine.
Why did you study medicine?
I had previously graduated as a graphic designer, I did not want to practice, because in reality it was not my thing and I was not passionate about it, I always liked dentistry very much. When I graduated from school I had the opportunity to study it, but due to family problems I couldn’t enter.
Later, the opportunity to study medicine came to me and that is what I did, knowing that I had always leaned towards the area of health.
What made you come to Colombia?
They sent me many reasons to Colombia. The situation in Venezuela helped me a lot, that was the reason I left, in addition to the fact that I had Colombian nationality, since my father is from Cali and my mother is paisa. When my siblings and I were born, we were documented here in Colombia, that’s why it was easy for me to come here.
Tell us an anecdote from when you first arrived in the country.
(Laughs) The first time I arrived I got lost. I didn’t know Cali at that time, I got on a bus and that bus took me to the center, it was around twelve at night and I was still in the center, they helped me transfer to a MIO, I arrived at two in the morning to my home.
At that time I lived with my uncles and they were scared, I arrived completely dirty and it was more noticeable because the uniform was white, at that time I worked in a beauty salon in Unicentro, (laughs) it was desperate, a lot of stress, I was scared, but Well, it is something that I will never forget and that I always tell.
What was the hardest part of arriving and positioning yourself as a surgeon in Colombia?
The hardest thing was to make myself known, to give confidence to the patients. As much as I had everything in order in a matter of papers, many people, because of the issue of being Venezuelan, feel some fear and mistrust, they made comments like “I don’t want you to attend to me, but I want a Colombian to attend to me.” Then I started working and demonstrating my good work, which made people trust me more.
Why did you choose Colombia?
Colombia was not my destination country, I was thinking of Brazil, since I wanted to study aesthetic medicine there, but due to lack of money, it did not give me the chance to get there.
So I opted for Colombia, taking advantage of my dual nationality. Colombia gave me much more than I expected and I am very happy and grateful for this beautiful country.
What is your daily routine like and what do your patients tell you?
During the day I attend up to ten people, doing aesthetic medicine and surgery. He carried out work on stains, bichectomy, hyaluronic acid and many more processes on facial, surgical and non-surgical aesthetic medicine.
Many say that I work very well, that I am a wonderful person, they say that I am very handsome because of my physique, that I am what I sell. And that I transmit a lot of confidence.
What’s next in your professional life?
The next step is to continue studying and have more experience in bodily processes, since it is something that is in demand. I’m going to do a master’s degree to specialize in them and to be able to teach what I like. In the middle of this year I already received my diploma as a body surgeon from the University of Brazil Sola Face.
What advice would you give to those who are going through difficulties right now?
Fight for your dreams, work hard and never give up. We are capable of doing everything we set our mind to with a lot of dedication and effort; Life puts obstacles for some that are bigger than others, but keep in mind that we are more than that and we can go a long way without anyone’s support and do what we like.
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