A trip by train towards history and identity

With an entertaining activity the British Hospital celebrated its 160 anniversary together with employees and their children. On the occasion of the celebration of the Hospital´s 160 anniversary, the general direction, the management body and employees of the British Hospital, together with their children, went through a train tour to the history and identity of the institution, from its origins to the present days. The initiative came from the British Hospital General Direction, which brought together all the employees and their children to celebrate in family the 160 anniversary of the institution, as a way of recognizing their commitment with the institution sharing a playful activity through which children knew more about the place where their parents work. Parents and children completed two groups of 200 passengers each, which left from the new terminal of AFE to the Peñarol station, source of the railway heritage of the country and a living trace of the arrival of the English to our country, closely linked to the story that they would share once the train of that time set in motion. In the wagons and in Peñarol neighborhood actors and animators brought to life some of the personalities of the rich history of the British Community in Uruguay and, in that context, the emergence and development of the British Hospital. The railroads were a clear example of the commercial and business British influence in Uruguay in the second half of the XIX century. An actor characterized as a train inspector was the host. Another represented a Charles Chaplin, who wanted to get on the train and was surprised by the inspector. According to verbal stories, the actor Charles Chaplin, when was not yet known, was operated at the British Hospital of Montevideo, during a visit to the city with a troupe of British comedians. Relates Federico García Capurro, son of Dr. Horacio García Lagos, who would have surgically intervened him, that prominent personalities of the time such as Joaquín Serratosa and Mario Real de Azúa, found Chaplin at a congress in London who related himself the episode. Playing to “did you know”, parents and children knew the actual institution of the British Hospital was occupied by Manuel José de Sainz`s farm, where Artigas set his residency and camp to resume the site to Montevideo. The site hosted the meetings of the Congress of the Representatives of the Eastern Peoples, in which the bases of the republican, democratic and federal thoughts were established. The “Palomar of Cavia” is the only visible trace of the farm and with time was integrated to the visual identity of the British Hospital. Doctor Federico García Capurro was other character characterized during the trip. Hospital´s Technical Director from 1941 to 1978, he was mentor of the "spirit of medicine" that characterizes the hospital to the present day. The "spirit of the British Hospital", which has characterized and distinguished it throughout its 160 years of experience, translates into the integration of the professional and technical excellence with the treatment given to the patient, based on the basic premise of the respect for the patient´s human dignity. Its employees are the main asset of the British Hospital and its staff that keeps alive the "spirit" of the institution, which has characterized and distinguished it throughout its160 years of experience.