Tanja, a volunteer from Finland, who has been helping as a volunteer in Suarez, recently spent her last day of work in her childcare project. Most of the childcare projects focus on supporting the families of the community by giving them the opportunity to leave their kids in a safe place, when they have to go to work. Most of these parents struggle to keep their kids safe, with the reality of the shanty towns around Suarez.
Tanja is instantly greeted by one of the girls in the kindergarten. Tanja enjoys talking and playing with the children. Because she had the experience to volunteer here in Argentina, she has improved on her Spanish by talking with the children.
The little ones line up to play with Tanja. She has made the children, and the project, her own; in return, they are very open and playful with her.
The kids in the kindergarten are very playful and interactive; not only with the other kids, but with the volunteers as well!
Tanja hands out Finnish candies to the children. It's always hard for a volunteer when they have to leave their projects, because they have built strong relationships. During her project, it was not only the kids who were positively impacted by Tanja, but Tanja was also strongly impacted by them.
Kids play together, with the volunteers, and with the project coordinator! Each of Voluntario Global's projects is operated by a local project coordinator. The project coordinators are very important for not only Voluntario Global and our volunteers, but also for the community. This is because they oversee and maintain the operation of the different projects. Without the project coordinator's help, Voluntario Global's projects would not operate efficiently, if at all.
Tanja tells her farewells to one of the kids from Suarez. She told us at Voluntario Global that she will miss not only Buenos Aires, but also the experience that she had as a volunteer.
Voluntario Global wouldn't be named Voluntario Global if it didn't offer volunteering experience outside of its main base, Argentina, as well. Apart from projects in Mexico, Bolivia is emerging to be a more and more popular destination for volunteers coming to support the projects of Voluntario Global. For four years Voluntario Global has been cooperating with an economic development project in the village of Vallegrande, located 110 kilometres south-west of Santa Cruz, one of Bolivia's biggest cities. The main purpose of this project is to create a second source of income for the local people.
Despite being a rather small dot on the map of Bolivia, Vallegrande is a popular tourist destination, in particular due to it being the place where the body of the notorious guerilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara was buried, in secret, in a mass grave in 1967 after being arrested and killed in the nearby rainforest. Tourism, as well as agriculture, is the main source of income that funds the development of the area. The majority of tourists coming to Vallegrande come for the 'experience' and not for a state-of-the-art tourist resort. For many years, local people have tried to preserve the tradition and identity of Vallegrande that forms its unique tourist experience. However, due to a lack of good schools and universities, a large amount of the young population emigrates to the larger cities to pursue their professional aspirations, making it even harder to preserve and advance the town’s potential as an attractive tourist destination. Vallegrande's local economic development project that is supported by Voluntario Global aims to leverage the town’s full potential and enhance the quality of life for locals and tourists alike.
Projects that are aimed to support the economic development of Vallegrande are based on five different strategic alliances. Firstly, a so called transformation alliance focuses on using available natural resources and transforming them into consumable goods like liquor or bread that can be sold in markets and local shops. Similarly, the alliance of Artesania aims to create unique works of art that will again be sold at local markets in Santa Cruz or different tourist shops around Vallegrande. The two alliances of alimentation and restaurants especially intend to keep the culinary experience of Vallegrande - including a variety of delicious local dishes - alive and maintain a high quality standard in the restaurants around town. Finally, the tourism alliance has the goal of improving the touristic services offered by providing education and training to the different parties that form Vallegrande’s tourist experience.
Participating in the economic development project, Volunteers have the chance to organize English courses for guides and the staff of hotels or restaurants. Furthermore, they can share their professional experiences if available and support the different strategic alliances in their regular activities. Volunteers help by learning about and raising awareness for tourism and culture in the area. They may do translation work and help the local tourist guides with their tours. Helping students find advice on their schoolwork in the House of Culture (depending on the initiative the volunteer is assigned to) and helping the local farmers with selling their products at local food fairs are other options of engaging in the community.
Volunteering in Vallegrande guarantees exciting insights into the town's community. Volunteers can expect to become an integrated part of the local crowd and will be treated like that as well. This is a place where even small contributions will find high appreciation and leave an essential impact. Closely working together with local people of all genders and all ages will offer a great exposure to the life of the community of Vallegrande. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will bring change to the life of many local people but mostly to your own life. Also, if you liked this story, you might also like: A weekend of colour and salt The importance of teaching language For more information, or to volunteer with one of our projects, visit www.voluntarioglobal.org.
Meet Eva Brockmann, a volunteer from Germany who spent her time in Buenos Aires helping at a kindergarten. Like many volunteers from around the world, she wanted to improve her Spanish whilst doing something meaningful for the local community. Therefore, her day was full of games, tidying the toy's room, and sticky hugs. Playing time was during the morning, and she was surrounded by books and little "Hola, como estas " during the afternoon.
As many Voluntario Global volunteers, Eva stayed at the Volunteer´s House, a space dedicated to strengthening the volunteer work. Besides having a place for communication and exchange of the everyday work with other travelers, the Volunteer´s House is a place where activities for all members of the Voluntario Global community can be organized!
This kindergarten is located in the south of the city, in an area called Zabaleta, inside the Barracas neighbourhood. Zabaleta is one of the areas with the least resources, its main problems include the lack of a proper sewage system which leads to disastrous floods on rainy days.
At this childcare placement the kids are all different ages, ranging from 2 years to 6. Interaction is a big part of their day - they share between them all of the toys as well as the love of the volunteers who visit them. Being able to play with the volunteers is very fun for them and helps in their early learning and development.
As well as having toys such as dolls and blocks and little cars to play with, the children get to spend their time racing down the slide and kicking a football around. If everything goes as expected, in a near future this institution will belong an outdoor playground to spend the warm springs playing non stop. Kindergartens are a main priority in Zabaleta due to the amount of working parents who are unable to take their kids to work with them. Most of these childcare institutions are organised by people from the community for people in the community. Sometimes, they are just other mums with an extra room who can help their neighbours by taking care of their most precious treasures - those little smiles.
Lunch is served at noon by the local coordinators who ensure every kid finishes their meal while trying to avoid any kind of food fight among them. Volunteers like Eva are always a tremendous help for local coordinators, they collaborate by watching the kids, picking up the plates, and preparing them for nap time. An extra pair of hands is invaluable!
The argentinian expresion "Panza llena, corazón contento" (full stomach, happy heart) couldn´t be more appropriate.
Tania Chirico On March 24th 2014 the Argentineans commemorate el Día de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia (Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice). In Buenos Aires where the main event took place a lot of ceremonial acts of different political organizations reminded of the coup in 1976 which is one of the darkest pages in the Argentinean history. Various political and human rights organizations and families with their children participated in the march that went on from the Congress up to Plaza de Mayo where speeches and music shows were hold from a stage. The commemoration also took place in the ex ESMA (Escuela de mecánica de la armada- School of Mechanics for the Army) which in former times was used as a detainment camp but since 10 years now the Museo de Espacio para la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (Museum exhibit for the Memory and Human Rights) is located there in order to maintain the history of this period. Anyway it is important to underline the fact that this memorial day does not only remember the victims of the last dictatorship but also shows the strength of this new period of democracy thanks to the union and the participation of the various political organizations united by the same interests making so this country every day to a better place.
One of the most important thing that showed the manifestation on March 24th 2014 is the will of the population to deal and to deepen with these political changes that put a solid basis for the current democracy leaving so the horrible past behind. Talking about the past, about the terrible things that happened between 1976 and the returning of the first democratic government is one of the most important and essential steps for every democracy. One of the most revolutionary things of the period after the dictatorship was the trials to the top military officers for their humanitary crimes during 1976 to 1983. A mesure of great bravery and work, which put one of the key fundation on the road towards the new democracy. Nowadays this basis is crystallized in the march of March 24thwith the different groups of activists that aside from their different ideas participate united and in a very peaceful way to promote the principles of human rights, tolerance and active political participation.
In 2002 the Argentinean Congress created the Día de la Memora por la Verdad (Memorial Day for Truth and Justice) y la Justicia, in 2003 President Kirchner began his policy which aimed not to lose the memory about the past and which tried to overbear and to give truth and justice for the victims’ family. These policies have been continuing until now and are a representation for the strength of the Argentinean democracy that is manifested in many other civic rights for example the legendary fight that the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (mothers of the desaparecidos, missing people during the dirty war) have led over the human rights during the last decades. A fact that also should be pointed is the democracy that is based within the population and which strength is coming from the people itself and not forced on the nation without building up the essential groundwork. Although Argentina faced a lot of economic crisis in the past that might be a criterion to destabilize the political system, a huge percentage of the population fight to improve their political system – how it could be seen in the march of March 24th. And apart from the large number of various currents – which might be difficult to been understand by foreigners – one can notice that an intense institutional work focuses on sustaining the democratic system for the future.
El 24 de marzo del 2014 se conmemoró en toda la Argentina el Día de la Memoria para la verdad y la justicia. En Buenos Aires, donde se llevo a cabo el acto principal, se pudieron encontrar muchísimos actos donde participaron los distintos grupos políticos que recordaron al golpe de estado del año 1976 el cual cuenta una de las paginas más oscuras de la historia argentina. Diversos grupos políticos, junto con organizaciones de derechos humanos y familias con niños participaron de la marcha que tuvo lugar desde el Congreso hasta la Plaza de Mayo donde, desde un escenario, se pronunciaban los discursos y se veían los espectáculos de música. La celebración también se realizó en la ex ESMA (Escuela de mecánica de la armada) el cual había funcionado como centro de detención y que desde hace 10 años funciona como el Museo de Espacio para la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos en función de contener toda la historia de este periodo. De todas maneras es importante destacar que este día dedicado a la memoria no solo recordó a las victimas de la última dictadura sino que también demostró la fuerza que tiene este nuevo periodo democrático gracias a la unión y participación de los distintos grupos políticos bajo un mismo interés, hacer de este un país cada día mejor.
Aquello que enseñó la manifestación del 24 marzo del 2014 es la voluntad del país de ocuparse y profundizar aquellos cambios, que, dejando atrás un pasado horrible, logran poner una base firma a la democracia actual. Hablar del pasado, de las cosas terribles que ocurrieron desde 1976 hasta la vuelta del primer gobierno democrático es un paso importante y necesario para toda democracia. Una de las cosas más revolucionarias de la época una vez terminada la dictadura, fueron los juicios de lesa humanidad a la junta militar que lideró el gobierno desde 1976 a 1983. Una medida de mucho valor y trabajo que puso una de las bases clave en el camino hacia la nueva democracia. Hoy en día, esa base, se concreta en la marcha del 24 de marzo con los distintos grupos de militantes que participan juntos y de un modo pacífico, los cuales dejan de lado sus diferentes intereses y promueven los principios de los derechos humanos, la tolerancia y activa militancia.En 2002 el Congreso argentino creó el Día de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia, en 2003 el presidente Kirchner inició un periodo con políticas para no perder la memoria y seguir buscando la verdad en pos de superar el pasado y dar a las familias de las victimas justicia. Esas políticas siguen hasta ahora y son un ejemplo de la fortaleza de la democracia Argentina que se manifiesta en muchos otros derechos ciudadanos consolidados como por ejemplo la legendaria lucha que las Madres de Plaza de Mayo han liderado a favor de los derechos humanos. Es muy importante destacar, que esta democracia le es propia a este pueblo y nunca tuvo la intención de ser semejante a aquellas gestadas en países con distintas experiencias.Y aunque ha habido algunas crisis económicas que pudieron ser un factor de inestabilidad del sistema político, hay una larga generación de argentinos que siguen la lucha y quieren mejorar su sistema político, tal como se pudo ver en la marcha del 24 de marzo. Y a pesar de la gran variedad de corrientes que dictan el ritmo de la política, el cual puede ser un poco difícil de entender para un extranjero, se puede ver que el trabajo de las instituciones se centra en fortificar el sistema democrático.
There are hundreds of volunteer-organisations which work in development. On a closer look, you see that there are some organisations which really want to help people and others which are also interessted in earning money. In this article I'm going to present my experience with a sustainable development project how it should be, its work and which role the volunteers play in it.
One of the organisations Voluntario Global is working with is a small NGO. It is committed to Sustainable Development with projects of eco-building, permaculture and sustainable tourism. The founder of the organisation, my local coordinator Andrea, is a lecturer for sustainability at a Buenos Aires University. She does the work for this project unsalaried, just as her four companions in the organisation. All of them commit their time and energy to the organisation from the conviction that there is more to a good life then making money. This spirit seems to be on the rise in Argentina, says Andrea: „In the time of dictatorship we learned to think of ourselves first, after the crisis we learned that we have to help each other in order to proceed.“
Economically the organisation survives on donations of materials and, to a lesser amount, funds. (inter alia of Voluntario Global). Furthermore, it gets some money through the sustainable tourism projects in Missiones. But only 10% of the profit made go to the organisation, a principle adopted in line with the Fair Trade-philosophy. The Argentinian state supports the work of civil society organisations through mediation of projects and organisational help. But there is no monetary support from the state, since, after the crisis, a lot of fake NGOs misappropiated donations.
The more the organisation, like other argentinian NGOs, is dependent on the help of volunteers. Since its founding 2003 more than 300 volunteers worked for this NGO. Until last year only 2 volunteers at a time were accepted, this policy changed with the expansion of the organisation. Currently about 10 volunteers work in the different projects. They come from other latin american countries, from the US and Europe. This international mix provides for an interesting and open atmosphere in the work.
Andrea is more then satisfied with the volunteers. Everyone brings certain qualities and qualifications, which can be used and developed profitably into the projects. Also, the cultural exchange is of great value for the organisation and the people its working with. And finally a great sideeffect of volunteering is the advertising the volunteers do after returning home. They tell their families and friends about their experiences and therefore activate new volunteers, which creates a steady stream of new volunteers for the organisation. So if you want to make a positive contribution by volunteering, choose a small organisation like this. Voluntario Global only works with responsable projects who take their work seriously .
Die Arbeit einer kleinen NGO, Freiwilligenarbeit in Buenos Aires. Es gibt eine unüberschaubare Anzahl von Organisation die sich im Bereich der Entwicklungshilfe engagieren und für die man Freiwilligenarbeit leisten kann. Bei genauerer Betrachtung erkennt man, dass einige Organisationen ausschließlich Menschen helfen möchten und dass für manche Profite auch eine große Rolle spielen. In diesem Artikel werde ich ein Vorzeige-Projekt vorstellen, zeigen wie dort gearbeitet wird und welche Rolle die Freiwilligen für die Organisation spielen. Die kleine NGO, der Voluntario Global unter anderem Freiwillige vermittelt, arbeitet im Bereich der Nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Zu den Tätigkeiten gehören Projekte im Bereich Ökologisches Bauen, Permakultur und Nachhaltiger Tourismus. Andrea ist die Gründerin der Organisation. Hauptberuflich ist sie Dozentin für Nachhaltigkeit an einer Universität in Buenos Aires. Ihre Arbeit für diese NGO macht sie ehrenamtlich, genau wie ihre 4 Kollegen. Sie alle arbeiten aus der Überzeugung, dass zu einem gelungen Leben mehr gehört als die eigenen Taschen zu füllen. Dieser Geist scheint in Argentinien auf dem Vormarsch: „In den Jahren der Diktatur haben wir gelernt, nur an uns selbst zu denken. Seit der Krise haben wir gelernt, dass wir nur weiterkommen, wenn wir uns gegenseitig helfen.“, sagt Andrea. Ökonomisch überlebt die Organisation durch Sach- und in geringem Maße Geldspenden. (Unter anderem von Voluntario Global) Außerdem verdient sie Geld durch ihre Projekte des nachhaltigen Tourismus in Missiones; von diesen Einahmen dürfen allerdings nur 10% an die Organisation gehen, der Rest wird gespendet. Diese Regel hat sich die Organisation im Sinne der Fair-Trade-Prinzipien selbst gesetzt.
Der argentinische Staat unterstützt die Arbeit zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisation durch Vermittlung von Projekten und organisatorischer Unterstützung. Geld vom Staat gibt es nicht mehr, seitdem in den Jahren nach der Krise NGOs aus dem Boden geschossen waren, die die Gelder veruntreuten. Umso mehr ist dieses Projekt, wie andere NGOs in Argentinien von der unentgeltlichen Arbeit der Freiwilligen abhängig. Seit der Gründung 2003 haben über 300 Freiwillige für diese NGO gearbeitet. Bis letztes Jahr wurden maximal 2 Freiwillige gleichzeitig aufgenommen, dies änderte sich mit der Expansion der Organisation. Die Freiwilligen können nach Interesse an allen Projekten teilnehmen, sollten aber für ein Projekt besondere Verantwortung unternehmen. Im Moment arbeiten circa 10 Freiwillige in der Organisation, sie kommen aus anderen lateinamerikanischen Ländern, aus Europa und den USA. Diese Mischung bringt allen Beteiligten viel, es herrscht eine freundschaftliche Atmosphäre in der Organisation.
Andrea ist mit der Arbeit der Freiwilligen sehr zufrieden. Jeder bringt bestimmte Qualifikationen mit, die in den Projekten gewinnbringend eingesetzt und entwickelt werden können. Auch der kulturelle Austausch ist für sie ein großer Pluspunkt der Freiwilligenarbeit. Und schließlich gibt es keine bessere Werbung für die Organisation und die Projekte in denen sie arbeitet als die Mund-zu-Mund-Propaganda ehemaliger Freiwilliger. Sie erzählen in ihren Heimatländern von ihrer Erfahrung und aktivieren so neue Freiwillige. Auf diese Weise wächst die Organisation weiter. Wer als Freiwilliger einen positiven Beitrag leisten will trifft mit kleinen, nicht-gewinnorientierten Organisationen wie dieser eine gute Wahl. Voluntario Global arbeitet ausschliesslich mit derartigen Hilfsorganisationen zusammen. Für weitere Informationen: www.voluntarioglobal.com oder www.omprakash.org
The Community Centre, located in the working-class neighbourhood of La Boca, is one of Voluntario Global’s longest-standing affiliations. The centre has gone from strength to strength even in tough circumstances and now has a number of different facilities, including a soup kitchen, English language school, radio and fabric workshop. This week one of our volunteers visited the centre to help out with an English class and meet the Community Center team.
The centre provides free English language courses two times a week for members of the local community. Where volunteers can help teaching English. Wilf, a volunteer from the UK, was helping out with the class. Mechi, the English teacher, has been going to the Community Centre for most of her life. It is also where she learnt English!
If you're thinking of coming to Argentina, places like this Community Center in La Boca are always in need of new volunteers who like the idea of teaching english. Voluntario Global has a number of teaching and other projects around Buenos Aires; don't miss the opportunity for an incredible experience with us!
Voluntario Global is steadily increasing their number of projects and the number of organizations they are working with. One of these new projects is the so called "Alfarero", which is located in the south of city in the district of Barracas. It consists of a soup kitchen, a kindergarten as well as an organic garden.
The first thing I got to see when entering the building was the large kitchen, where around 10 women were hustling and bustling around, cleaning pans and pots, putting away the remainders of the lunch and bringing in chairs and tables in the dining-hall located close-by. We had arrived there at about 1.30pm, which meant that lunch was already over and their main work was almost done. In the soup kitchen they provide meals for the local community as well as for homeless people everyday. Visitors can choose whether they want to eat in the dining-hall or whether they want to take it away. The menu that day was chicken, rice and salad. Over 83 chickens had been needed to prepare all the meals, as one of the women there told me with some pride. Because they were about to dine themselves, Jimena and I were invited to stay and eat with them, which gave us a chance to get to know them a little more. It turned out that most of the workers in the soup kitchen aren’t from Buenos Aires, but from all over Argentina, with some even being from another country. Provinces like Tucumán, Catamarca, Jujuy and countries such as Paraguay and Bolivia – they were from all over South America! This project is an excellent representation of Voluntario Global slogan „Bringing cultures together“. Even though I was only supposed to be there for half an hour or so, they made me feel at home from the first moment on. I’m totally convinced that the future volunteers who are going to work there – the first one starting next week on Monday – are going to enjoy it.
After finishing lunch with the local workers, Jimena and I were shown the nearby Kindergarten. What shall I say: I was being very, very surprised by the fact how beautiful and well equipped it was. If I hadn’t known that I was being in a Villa in Buenos Aires, I wouldn’t have believed it – the building looked quite new, the walls were covered with colorful and nice posters, there were lots of things to play with. This is one of the oldest local cultural centers in this area, being founded in 1994. Furthermore, it’s funded in part by the local government, which probably explains the very good conditions. Nevertheless, as I pointed out before I think VG were quite lucky to find an institution like this to cooperate with and I’m sure the people volunteering in here in the future are going to have a great time.
When you think of Argentinian music, normally you think of tango. Of course this is still extremely popular, but there is also a thriving new music scene in Argentina.
Right now is festival season and this year Buenos Aires is playing host to the international electronic festivals Ultra and Creamfields, as well as alternative rock fest Lollapalooza.
This means names like Tiësto, Steve Aoki, Arcade Fire and The Red Hot Chili Peppers – all playing in the space of a couple of months in Buenos Aires.
Aside from festivals, DJs like Nicolas Jaar, Marco Carola and David August have all played in clubs around Buenos Aires in the last couple of weeks.
This really is one of the perks of the city for tourists and volunteers alike. It should be no surprise that the Argentine capital attracts such big international names.
Buenos Aires is the 15th largest city in the world and one renowned for its passionate people; here you shouldn’t find any shortage of enthusiastic fans.
It is said that the Rolling Stones like to end their tours in Buenos Aires as it is one of their favourite cities worldwide to play. Alongside this is also a healthy and growing local scene; something which is a must-see for visitors wanting to see a different side of the city.
Buenos Aires is home to a variety of new and exciting music and, if you are willing to put in a bit of research, it can be seen for a fraction of the price in the US or Europe.
Festipulenta, a small-scale festival showcasing underground and rising bands, just celebrated its 5th anniversary. The two-day event (entry ~€5/day) featured great music as well as poetry, comics and books and was well worth a visit. La Ola Que Quería Ser Chau, who you can listen to below, were one of the highlights.
Another band worth catching if you are in Buenos Aires is Las Kellies. The post-punk all-female 3-piece are a staple in bars and venues around the city, while they have also managed three albums and two European tours. "Perro Rompebolas", which roughly translates to "Pain in the ass dog", can be heard below:
If drum and bass is more your thing, Bad Boy Orange is one of Argentina's best-known producers. Listen below:
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And of course, there is still the Buenos Aires Tango Festival to come in August! Interested in coming to Argentina as a volunteer?
Argentine Women - International Women’s Day 2014
With International Women’s Day this Saturday (March 8th), thinking about women who changed the attitude and view towards their gender through art is almost impossible to avoid.
Every year since the early 1900’s thousands of events are held throughout the world to celebrate this day: not only to remind everyone of the long term relationship women have with the fight for their equality but also to inspire women and celebrate what has been achieved. To underline the importance of this day more than 26 countries, including China and Russia, have declared it a national holiday on which celebrations and events are held to honour women and their achievements.
Some of the most influential and inspirational women who fought for equality and change did so through art. The songs, poems and paintings produced by these women can give us a great insight into the past.
Argentina has a long tradition of women that have gained the respect of their contemporaries. They faced the rejection of being the speakers of a gender supposed to be weak and passive and acted during moments in history where nobody was allowed to think differently without facing the consequences.
Alfonsina Storni (1892 - 1938) was one of the most important Argentine and Latin-American poets of the modernist period. Her most notable works were “La inquietud del rosal” ("The Restlessness of the Rose") and “El dulce daño” ("Sweet injury") among others in which she focuses on what sees as the repression of women by men. Starting in 1930, her style of writing changed into a more feminist style which is clearly noticeable in her piece “Mundo de siete pozos” (1934). In October 1938, Alfonsina Storni sent her last poem “Voy a dormir” (“I’m going to sleep”) before committed suicide. She apparently headed towards the sea at La Perla beach in Mar del Plata, 400km south of Buenos Aires haunted by solitude and breast cancer. Although it is believed that she jumped from a breakwater, popular legends say that she slowly walked out to sea until she drowned. Her death inspired Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna to compose the song “Alfonsina y el Mar” ("Alfonsina and the sea"), which has been performed by many famous singers.
One of these singers was Mercedes Sosa (1935- 2009), known as La Negra. She was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout Latin America and many countries outside the continent for her roots in Argentine folk music and political protest songs. She was best known as the "voice of the voiceless ones" during the time that politically opinionated artists were banned during the 60´and 70´. Her career spanned four decades in which several Grammy awards were given to her, including a posthumous Latin Grammy award for Best Folk Album. As well as other singers, she performed the song “Alfonsina y el Mar” to honor Storni’s life and work as well as the feminist attitude which was important in her time.
To cover all artistic fields, painting cannot be forgotten. For a more modern and actual view on inspiring women these days, Marta Minujin should be mentioned as a great example for how the female picture changed throughout the years and what a modern lifestyle they can follow nowadays. Marta Minujín was born in Buenos Aires in 1943. She studied at the National Institute of the Arts and now lives and works in Buenos Aires. She was an important member in the avant- gard Di Tella Institute where she started the pop and psychedelic art movement. In 1983, after seven years of dictatorship in Argentina, she created a monument to raise awareness for the lack of freedom of expression which existed at the time. Assembling 30,000 banned books, she designed the "Parthenon of Books," which was mounted in the centre of the famous street 9 de Julio. Within three weeks all 30,000 books had been taken home by the people of Buenos Aires.
Amongst many others, these three Argentine artists made it possible for women today to live in a society that respects them without any limitations on how to dress, act or speak. International Women’s Day is a great reminder for everyone how far we have come in this world.
La primera reunión del grupo se realizó el 29 de mayo de 2010 y marcó el comienzo de encuentros mensuales, que se continúan realizando hasta el día de hoy. El objetivo de estas reuniones es el de compartir análisis y reflexiones sociales y políticas, almuerzos y meriendas con otros jóvenes y conocer los espacios de militancia, y a las organizaciones de cada uno de ellos con las cuales Voluntario Global trabajaba y trabaja en red.
Esta iniciativa surge de la mano de los jóvenes y los integrantes del equipo de coordinación de VG, y con los años, los jóvenes van creciendo, ganando autonomía y sumando amigos, vecinos de los barrios populares, y compañeros de otras organizaciones. Los jóvenes deciden qué temas se debatirán y algunos de ellos son elegidos en cada reunión para coordinar la siguiente y buscar material que les permita profundizar en los temas elegidos a partir de información de los hechos o documentos.
Quizá hoy no todos son tan jóvenes, pero conservan el nombre del grupo como parte de su identidad. Los objetivos siguen siendo los mismos: escuchar “todas las voces”, reflexionar con un pensamiento crítico y sostener el carácter asambleário de sus reuniones sin jerarquías, donde todos se expresan en condiciones de igualdad.
A lo largo de los años, se han adentrado en temas como la vivienda, el trabajo cooperativo, la participación política y social de la juventud, el acceso a la educación en los barrios populares, como así también han desarrollado acciones con el objetivo de conocerse entre ellos, saber que estudian y compartir con otros jóvenes y visibilizar la cultura, la música y las expresiones populares.
Durante 2013 llevaron adelante el proyecto y obra de patio de juegos en el Jardín Pim Pom de Zabaleta y continuarán intentando hacer mejoras en el espacio. En 2014 planifican, además de sus asambleas mensuales, participar y pensar acciones concretas para desarrollar en os barrios. Según sus propias palabras: “Este año seguiremos reforzando nuestra conciencia colectiva desde las actividades que realicemos. Seguiremos realizando las charlas-debates, que saldrán de propuestas personales o grupales, sobre temas actuales e interés general. Podemos armar salidas a festivales, ferias, ver películas en grupo o ir a las actividades de nuestros barrios y tratar de aportar a la comunidad. Muchas ideas y acciones pueden surgir desde las reuniones y saber que todo lo que aportemos es valioso. Vamos a arrancar con la idea de que el grupo siga creciendo”.
VOLUNTARIO GLOBAL
Voluntario Global helps local communities by being available to discuss anything that local organizations need, and offering ideas for further change and development.
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CONTACT
Location: General Pacheco. Buenos Aires. Argentina
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