Follow me to the barrio of Barracas, Buenos Aires. Here the amazing women of the Community Center and Soupkitchen prepare food for the children of the nearby kindergarten and the people in the neighbourhood. It is a place where people can have lunch together and receive some extra food to take home.

These ladies you see in the video are amazing, doing great work for the community. I had a wonderful time, helping where I could and trying to speak some Spanish. Seeing a different part of Buenos Aires is something to never forget.

This is my goodbye present for them, they all love to sing and dance to 'cumbia' music, which you hear in the video.

Prashanth, Sam, Patrick, and Alex, are four Australian medical center volunteers who account the ups and downs they experienced during their time in Buenos Aires. They shared their insight on topics such as, the professional impact of their decision to come here, some obstacles they came across in placement, observations about the industry, and advice for future volunteers.

 Language Barrier

The presence of a language barrier is the most common apprehension about coming to Buenos Aires. Prashanth explained how the language barrier influenced his experience.

 “It was tough. We did study Spanish before we came here, but it’s one thing to study Spanish than actually be in the heat of the moment. Dr. Navarro does speak a little bit of English, and because it’s medicine, the words are quite similar. The first day, he had all these bones in his office, and we were comparing the names in English in Spanish with the different landmarks in the bones. It’s like a parallel language. You can kind of understand. Drugs often have the same names.”

Regardless of how technical your language use may be in Argentina, finding a common linguistic ground is an exciting learning experience. Additionally, as Prashant leads to before, being among natives is significantly more useful towards learning a language than sitting in a classroom. Consider every conversation with a native to be like a private Spanish lesson.

Building Professional Relationships

During this experience, the guys shadowed Dr. Navarro in the clinic. He was their local coordinator, mentor, and the lead Doctor in the medical facility. Sam explained his relationship with his mentor:

 “It was good. The first time we got there he was quite open and friendly, he made us some mate which was nice. Mate was good! We’ve been making mate at home.”

 Local coordinators are a great resource of volunteer placement, in this case Dr. Navarro was not only open and friendly a professional manner, but he also made sure the volunteers where settling well into the culture as a whole. Dr. Navarro is none for making volunteers feel comfortable throughout their experience.

Daily Tasks

While everyday can pose different obstacles and opportunities in a volunteer experience, some typical daily tasks remained the same. Patrick explained:

 “We would shadow Dr. Navaro and see patients with him. The patient would come in he’d talk a bit to the patient, talk to us a little bit. If we wanted to have a talk with the patient we could try. We would look through the charts. If they had X Rays or stuff like that we could look through. There were different procedures that we could perform.” 

So, daily tasks usually involve presence and engagement with the mentor. Observation hours are crucial in the medical field as you can note not only how diagnoses are made and carried out, but you can also learn about how the Doctor conducts his practice as a whole, including his relationships with his patients and colleagues.

 Career Exploration/ Professional Development

Volunteering abroad can give you experience in your industry that both looks good on your resume, and helps with future decisions regarding your career. When asked if his time in Buenos Aires had provided any insight on his career path, Alex stated:

 “Dr. Navaro is a Traumatologist and I think I want to be a Traumatologist now. Just like him. So he’s an inspiration to me.”

 Clearly, an experience like this is rather professionally insightful.

The four Australians seemed to have had an amazing time in Buenos Aires and in their placement. They got to explore a new city while still furthering their career. Prashanth gave parting words to future volunteers….

“I would tell them go for it. You can have a great time in Buenos Aires or wherever you go, and you can always learn. It is possible to balance those interests. You don’t have to just lock yourself in a library and study the whole time.”

Founded by a group of locals, the independent sala de auxilio is located in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, only 40 minutes away from the city center. Its institution arose from the necessity, in the indigent neighborhood, of quick and efficient health care. The impossibility to undertake private health care, the unaffordable prices, and the extenuating times of Argentine public health were taken over by the independent organization.  During the last economical crisis, the health center made it through thanks to the locals’ dedication and commitment. Today, the sala de auxilio offers small fees, devolving 70% to the doctor in charge and 30% to staff and maintenance. It provides its patients with a wide range of specialized medical services, spreading from pediatrics, to gynecology, dentistry, orthopedics, kinesiology, orthopedics, cardiology, clinical medicine, psychiatry and psychology. The center aims at improving professionally, possibly acquiring surgery and research facilities.

Like in a cooperative, the hierarchy within the members of staff, doctors, nurses and volunteers, is far from being rigid. The vibe of the center is welcoming and friendly, the Peruvian nurse, Ayde cooks lunch for everyone, and the doctor complains when she doesn’t cook and buys pizza instead. Rosario and Tina, two young psychologists, speak about the service provided as a very convenient option for the locals. Ayde confesses that she enjoys working with volunteers, getting to know their languages and cultures, and points out how they all contribute to the warm environment of the center.

One of the sources of the sustainability of the sala de auxilio is constituted by the work of Voluntario Global. The Voluntario Global team in fact helps, by means of its international channels, to furnish the center with qualified volunteers. Among these Arthur, 22, from Belgium, is a young medicine student that has chosen to embark on this project. Having departed over his summer break, Arthur left willing to gain professional work experience and improve his Spanish. Moreover, he states how this format of medical experience allowed him to be of help for a community, to undergo cultural confrontations and, doubtlessly, to travel.

His merging in the job, he explains, has been smooth and gradual. He started by simply listening and following the doctor, and has been progressively given responsibilities, never without the guide of a professional. By the end of the placement, he was proficient with the instruments provided in the center, such as X rays, electrocardiograms, and ultrasounds. His tasks also entailed cleaning and draining wounds, make and remove sutures, removing casts and bandages, apply injections, make suitable auscultations and physical exams.

The center offers the opportunity of trying several different medical fields, which is a great opportunity for a non-specialized student to try himself in different tasks and grasp his own areas of interest. Furthermore, Arthur mentioned how the placement has been very motivational towards the prosecution of his university career, which is completely detached from the professional practice.

Arthur tells of the center as a place where you are very much helped and welcomed. He explains how his colleagues with an elementary Spanish are also helped and never fail to communicate. He jokes with the members of staff, drinks mate in the kitchen in his breaks, and is by now fluent in Spanish. He tells about the relationship with his patients, who are curious to know about his nationality, his origin, and always want to chat.

The focus on the medical formation and interchange is successfully met by the project, as the volunteer acknowledges. The message Arthur left to future volunteers is to leave with an open mind, ready to embrace what they are offered to learn. As a matter of fact, the encounter with community members, the establishment of professional relationships and human boundaries contribute to shape an experience which is comprehensively professional, cultural, and personal.

Last week, twenty-three high schoolers and their three teachers from Portsmouth grammar school came from the United Kingdom to Buenos Aires to enjoy a week of responsible tourism and cultural exchange. This visit was one of many professor Steve has done. This time rather than being presented filtered culture, they explored the real Buenos Aires by visiting different Voluntario Global projects and non-touristy locations that became hidden treasures to the open mind responsible traveler.

            Their first stop was a full day discovering La Boca, one of the most antique neighborhoods known for it’s fervor for tango and it famous football team, Boca Junior. This time they did not go to Caminito, the typical colorful housing that is seen in all the tourism brochures. They decided to walk along Isla Maciel with the new tour guides in town, a tourism cooperatives run by locals that works in the area helping residents to show the world how beautiful simplicity can be. Isla Maciel is a real residential neighborhood crossing the river that surrounds La Boca and it is just as beautiful, if not more than what is offered in the tourist zone of La Boca.

            The tour starts by crossing the river through the Nicolas Avellaneda Bridge, constructed after 8 years of intense fighting between the government and the neighbors who asserted a secure way to cross. Through a walk painted with the colorful houses, an incredible mural in the church, and some spooky urban story, the guides were able to tell the group about the struggles of the neighborhood. During this cultural experience, they also learned about the community development. The guide told them about cooperative projects, reaching for sustainable growth. These cooperatives give locals the chance to study tourism and sports, while fostering general education.

            After a long morning of experiences, they gathered for a big lunch, made by the co-op coordinators. Everyone seemed to know each other and be a team, holding a sense of pride in the community. They could really feel a sense of community in the way everyone interacted with each other.

            To conclude this day trip, the group visited the Community Center at La Boca where they were invited to participate on the afternoon Radio Show. The students practiced their Spanish skills, telling the audience how much they have learned during their visit to Isla Maciel and how they recommended the visit.

             The itinerary of the trip also included visiting the kindergarten in Suarez and a weekend picnic with the children from the orphanage. The boys show their passion for football while some of the girls create a craft station for the little ones to create noodle necklaces and works of art worthy for any volunteer museum. At last, teachers and students were able to know not only the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, but also the heart of some of its people who shared with them the love they have for what they do. This was a genuine cultural experience not influenced by commercial tourism. The group left Argentina taking home the best souvenirs, the feeling of knowing you've touched an entire community.

Buenos Aires living means nothing without football.

How would you tell your friends you visited the city of Maradona and Messi with out even experiencing a passionate football match in the middle of the rain? There is no acceptable answer for that.

Therefore Voluntario Global organised a football match to get together volunteers, local coordinators and some members of the Voluntario Global team because, who can say no to a football match in the rain?

So, besides the cultural differences, the language barrier, and the levels of exhaustion after a long day of work, everybody was up for a run in the mudy field.
Here are some of the best pictures of the night.