HERE I AM!

So the city isn’t as grand as  I would have thought. It’s pretty small but the people are extremely nice. I get stares, I am assuming because of my skin color, but as usual, I don’t really care about that. The program FSD has two Salta natives who are local coordinators. There are three other volunteers, all of which are girls, and they also are cool. For the first week we did some basic training and receeved a brief history lesson on the country Argentina overall. As each volunteer is working on separate projects, we never got specific into the issues of the city or country. After the first week of adapting to the weather (which is ice cold) and learning the city, we were introduced to our host families and organizations. It is now the second week.

My host family is so real. There are 4 members, the parents and two sons. They have hosted, as it seems, several times before, so it’s no wonder that they are very accustomed to me and helping to accommodate my difficulties. Spanish, of course is the primary language as none of the members know much English outside of basic greetings. They treat me like a guest, which makes me a bit uncomfortable because I feel like a burden sometimes, but I try and wash my dishes/clothes independently, so that I can chip in. The sons are my new best friends haha, they’re such excellent people, the entire family, and although they’ve hosted before, they make me feel very unique and special.

The organization, MANOS, here in Salta, is contained to a smaller building no larger than a typical McDonalds. However, the spirit of the program is immeasurable. There are, what seem to be 3 program managers, that schedule the “classes” (dance, theater, Crafting, Soccer, Tutoring) that are taught by volunteer teachers from all over the city. The entire staff, managers and teachers, are volunteers. They include college students, married engineers, and local actors. All have come together in a neighborhood that is noticeably not well off, to support the children who have parents that are unable to be as active in their lives (for work, maybe military, or just neglect). The staff works their hardest to create a place of escape for the neighborhood children (really any children who decide to show up), of which there are approximately 30 total.

I wasn’t able to speak to someone for a direct hour to get their one viewpoint on the situation of non involved parents, however, I though it sufficient to accumulate viewpoints of several people. For the most part, I found that the city citizens are well aware that this happens. They are aware that poorer families can’t afford to send students to school, not because of the school price (the schools are free) but because they need the extra hands n the house or at work. In other well-known cases, there are parents who simply neglect the educational as well as hygienic needs of their children. But the topic seemed a bit taboo for some citizens. As if they were afraid to talk about it in the open. Speaking with the actual program managers, I learned that the neighborhood in which MANOS operates is well known for it’s poor land quality (dry and infertile soil). Taking a walk around I was able to see, first hand, the low living standards (low when compared to my host family’s home) that these children have. They come from homes with no doors or windows, made of poorly stacked cement blocks and very few have electricity. I was told that the national (or provincial) government has already taken steps to increase the quality of life in the area. There have been provisions of fresh drinking water, blankets, and even installment of lighting.

From FSD, we volunteers were assigned the task of completing a project work plan during the first week. That is, we must think of our own project related to the organization in which we are volunteering, then we are to create, present, and submit an outline for organization approval. We can receive up to $300 USD for finances to fund the project. Before arriving to Argentina, I had no contact with MANOS, and thus had very little (practically zero) idea of what to expect for a role as a volunteer. During this first week of working with MANOS, it seem seemed that I was going to work as a teaching assistant in various of the offered classes. They requested that I attend each class offered each day for the first week (this week) in order to identify where I felt the most useful and comfortable. Of course, as anyone who knows me would expect, the dance, math and English courses were my forte.

For a second, I contemplated making my project a dance class and using the money for costumes, to make the class more fun. However, I feel like that aligns with an aspect of MANOS with which I do not completely agree; the escape from the real world. As I interpreted (or translated because the words were said in Spanish) MANOS tries to distract the kids from the less than optimal lives, by city standards, in which they live. They enter the building and they are treated well, supported, and encouraged. Of course this is excellent, however, this is not a sustainable . Escaping into paradise does not equal the absents of problems. Instead, if anything, the children are constantly switching between high and low quality life each time they enter and leave the building, which could easily emphasize how low quality the low quality can be. I feel that a better, or more sustainable way of improving the lives of the neighborhood children, and their parents, is to bring take what’s inside of MANOS, the support, encouragement, and happiness that the children receive (that sounds fanciful), and bring it to the real world. Show the neighborhood how great MANOS and the participants are. Use what MANOS offers as a way to engage the entire neighborhood and create a sense of community and unity. Show the parents how their children shine and prove to them why they are worth supporting.

For that reason, my project proposal is to organize and put on a MANOS field day. On this day, all of the classes in which the kids participate will present some work for the neighborhood to see. Using the money given, I will subsidize food and purchase decorations to attract as many community members as possible. The more that witness the greatness of MANOS and the wonderful work of the children, the more that could potentially be inspired to work towards a sense of community unity. In a way, I will work from MANOS to the neighborhood. I will be an agent of the people.