By Margaux Maxwell and Suezy Marins Last Wednesday we interviewed two women from "Los Pibes," a community center in La Boca, on behalf of International Women's Day. The center provides food, job opportunities and educational activities for its families, as well as providing a voice to its community with its newly launched radio station, Radio Riachuelo. We asked the ladies about womanhood - its struggles and its joys, its lessons and universal meanings. They told us their stories: Community Center Elizabeth, a mother of 7 children, is from the province of Salta. She moved to “La Boca” and began working at “Los Pibes” 9 years ago. We sat down with her last week to ask about her life as a woman. In telling her story she revealed what it means to be a woman in La Boca, a tale of how the struggle of being a teen mother taught her the meaning of parenthood, and her dreams for the future. “Women and men are not equal. A woman’s life is very hard, and her sacrifice goes unnoticed under the shadow of men – who treat a woman as a slave”. This is Elizabeth’s description of womanhood in La Boca. She is a single parent, acting as both the mother and the father in her family. Despite these feelings, however, it is this struggle led to her understanding of what it means to be a parent: “I had my children when I was very young. I left Salta for them, so they could have a better life. Working at “Los Pibes,” I could feed myself and my children. I didn’t have a mother to help me, so it was difficult, I had no one by my side. “La Boca” was a very different place back then, this building was an Engine Factory – our shoes were always covered in grease. I’m proud to see what it is now, it is a better place. Growing up here with my sons was difficult, I was a mother but I was still a girl, so I didn’t understand what motherhood meant. I never neglected my children, but I was with my friends a lot. It was not until I was older, until I had lived, that I understood. It is a gift that God gave me and I am proud to be a woman, and to have my sons.” Even with her story at her back, or perhaps because of it, she carries a very relaxed demeanor. She never stops dreaming of and hoping for the future, as she shared with us on Wednesday: “My wish is that one day we will all own proper homes, myself and my peers. That is my dream. If we find good jobs, and make good money, this dream can become a reality.”

Elsa Ocampo. Age 71. Textiles at “Los Pibes” Community Center A woman overflowing with joy sits down to talk with us. She is sewing and listening to the radio with her co-workers when we enter. This lady is Alfonsa Ocampo, who at the age of 71 is still working in the textile cooperative at Los Pibes, a social and political organization located in La Boca neighborhood. In addition to her position in the textiles, Alfonsa is a mother and grandmother. During her interview, she tells us her story and speaks of the challenges of being a working woman and single mother. She was born in the city of Misiones, northeastern Argentina. She moved to Buenos Aires in 1993, caring for her nine children by herself. When asked what it means to be a mother, she told us, “I am not just a mother but a father, working as a both a man and a woman, I was the one who took care of everything. As all of these things, I feel very proud.” The friendly woman gets emotional when recalling the hard life she endured after separating from her husband and coming to Buenos Aires to find work. When her sister whom she was living with at this time passed away, she was alone in the world and without a place to live. "I had nothing and I was completely alone. I rented a small house in La Boca, but found no work. I came to Los Pibes with one hand in front of me and one hand behind me. I opened the door and talked to the boys, and to my joy they offered me a job. That was that, I began.” Alfonsa likes her job and calls it her second home, although it has been a struggle for her. She describes this when we ask her what her deepest joys and sorrows in life have been. "My daily battle has always been working, I started working when I was very young. It is my fight. And my joy is my family: my daughters, my grandson and my coworkers. Los Pibes is my second home.” Elizabeth’s and Alfonsa’s stories are a testament to the strength possessed by the women at “Los Pibes” Community Center in La Boca, Buenos Aires.

By: Charisse Hazlett

What events in your life have made you into the person you are now? Think about it. Was it when you graduated from your university? Was it the time you tied the knot with your significant other? Or was it when you actualized your ability to help others accomplish their goals and become autonomous.

Whatever your answer may be, one thing is always true, when you help others you learn more about yourself and inherently you develop into the person who you are today. Helping others help themselves is what volunteering is all about, and on International Volunteer Day, we each shared our stories of when we were able to help others.  The evening started with a great spread of Argentine food like chorizo with cheese on toast and Brahn beer. We all gathered at the Voluntario Global house and sat in a large circle to watch an inspiring videoby novelist Chimamanda Adichie. She spoke about how everybody has their own stories which makes you who you are. It is critical to learn about other culture´s stories in order to avoid judgement and misunderstandings but instead enhance understanding. After watching the video, we each went around the room and told our personal stories influenced by our own unique cultural background and discussed our feelings of purposefulness and sometimes despair while volunteering, and encouraged each other.

Jimena, the VG Volunteers Coordinator,  shared her story of how children have made a huge difference in her life. When she started volunteering, she was “a little frightened of children”, meaning she was not sure how to relate and interact with them. However, after working in the orphanages at Pimpom, her previous outlook had changed 100%. Her initial fears completely gone, she believes that the best way to change the current situation of a country, is to start teaching the children. “Children are the future of Argentina, we must begin by changing their lives”.

 In the end, everyone was able to debrief and bond over the experiences we have had as volunteers. We discussed our concerns and celebrated our accomplishments since being in Argentina. Then we wrote a personal word on the mirror that means "what it is to be a volunteer". All in all, International Volunteer Day at the VG house was a complete success and a great way to share life as a volunteer.

At Voluntario Global, volunteers can participate in which ever project they choose as much as they like. Initiative from the volunteers is always welcome, and this week one of our volunteers showed how to take initiative in classroom activities. Claire, from France, who works in the kindergarten Trevesuras, planned a special day for the kids at her kindergarten. She invited a lady to come to come over one afternoon with fragrance samples such as fruit, food and flowers for the kids to play a guess-the-scent-game. While preparing for the game, the hardest part was keeping the energetic and curious kids out of the room that the volunteers were using to prepare the game. The volunteer standing guard had a full time job trying to stop the kids eager to get past her. The volunteer set up tables with the food that matched some of the scents the kids would smell later.

This way they would have a chance to taste and smell the scent. Finally it was time to get the first team of kids lined up and blindfolded. It was not easy because as soon as the last kids were blindfolded, the first ones had already taken off their blindfolds. In the end, one by one the kids were let into the room that had been set up for the game. In the room, the kids sat down and tried to be discreet as they sneaked a peek from under their blindfolds. Identifying the different fragrances turned out to not be that easy for the kids, but everyone had a lot of fun as they were all calling out what they thought the scent might be. The lady with the fragrances was really good at helping them out and giving them clues. When it was time for the kids to taste the things they had smelled, they had a hard time sticking to only eating one like they were told. Since there were three more teams, this became a bit of a problem, so we quickly got them out to get ready for the next team – and learning from the first round, we removed the food from the table, and in the end we also gave up blindfolding them. Then it was the next group of kids turn to guess all the fragrances, and just like the first bunch, it was hard for them to sit still and not “discreetly” take a peek. Not everyone understood the game entirely; one kid kept saying ‘fideo’ (noodles) to everything, no matter if it was oranges or freesia. All in all the kids seemed to have a really great time playing the scent guessing game.  

Name: Tamara Rilya       Nationality: Israel

Occupation: Student   Volunteering Period: September 2012 – November 2012

-What made you want to apply to volunteer and in particular for the project in the health centre?

I’m going to start studying medicine, so that’s why I chose a medic specific project and I always wanted to volunteer in a different country to understand a different culture.

-How would you describe the project and your job and tasks?

Our tasks vary from day to day as they would do in a normal hospital at home. We shadow the doctors and surgeons and go to different types of health clinics in the local area. We travel around 1 hour to 1hr 30 mins everyday dependent on the type of clinic we go to. Every day we discuss as a group of student doctors what we think the patients diagnoses are and after the doctor has spoken to the patients he explains to us whether we are right or wrong.

-What are some of the best moments around the project and what have you learnt?

I have loved being able to visit the surgery’s as this is an area of medicine that I am most interested in. Also, by meeting other doctors and nurses I have developed my understanding of medicine in different cultures, and can see how it varies to my country.

-Do you have any suggestions or recommendations to look forward to for any volunteers that will be taking part in the same project?

Bring your own scrubs and medical accessories such as gloves and stethoscopes,  you should look forward to experiencing medicine in a completely different way and meeting a lot of very helpful and welcoming doctors and nurses. http://www.voluntarioglobal.org/