Leaving my apartment that rainy Wednesday afternoon, I was thinking how quickly three months actually go by. I was on my way to the airport, headed for Buenos Aires, where my internship was due to begin the following Monday. However, looking back at those three months that have now passed, it feels like ages since I arrived. I have experiences so much, and everything single experience seems so significant. Mainly because of the people I have met in Voluntario Global’s apartment where I stayed. It is a great place to stay, a place where you are guaranteed to meet new people, and where you will always find someone to talk to.

But this trip was not all about making friends and having a good time. It was a part of my master-studies, my internship. Before leaving, I tried to prepare for the experience by reading other students’ testimonials, and this had given me a general idea about what not to expect. However, the question of what was waiting and why I needed it still seemed to elude me. I was looking forward to learning about an NGO and which insights the practitioners of my field of study would be able to show me. I expected to have my eyes opened to another world, the way that also makes you reflect upon your own. Whereas there were lots of those moments, I now feel that the less exciting tasks were what taught me the most about working within the field of communication and being part of a team. Thanks to my coordinator, Mayra, I quickly realized how important those little tasks are, and how nothing will function, if they are not followed up on. She also explained how to analyse statistics and adjust tasks to the new information. These work-related insights were new to me and will without a doubt become beneficial once I finish my studies.

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week the Community Centre, ‘los Pibes’, in la Boca organized two fantastic workshops. The first was learning how to make ‘medialunas’ and the second ‘empanadas’. I (Alexia) attended the ‘medialuna’ workshop and was once again stuck by the positive atmosphere of the community centre. We arrived and, as always, were warmly greeted by everyone whilst the children eagerly showed us a dance routine they had been practicing all afternoon. Johan offered a tour of the centre for those who wanted it and then we got down to business.   Voluntario Global’s own volunteers, Isabelle and Louisa, along with the cooks, Julia and Natalia, were waiting for us in the kitchen with everything prepared. We were taught how to make the dough from scratch. This was actually more difficult than I expected as it needs to be kneaded in a very specific way, with the butter being folded into the middle at the very end to create layers.   The hardest part though was making the perfect 'medialuna' shape. Julia demonstrated (making it look very simple!) by forming several perfect, evenly sized croissants in about thirty seconds.We eagerly followed suit only to be left with various odd looking ‘medialunas’! However, practice makes perfect and by the end we had fortunately improved somewhat as shown here by Lisa’s work of art..  They were then all placed on baking trays, brushed with a light layer of raw egg and left at room temperature for half an hour before being baked in the oven.  At the end we were allowed to taste and take some of our concoctions home and as one volunteer put it, “these are the best ‘medialunas’ I’ve ever had!”  

Follow Isabelle’s recipe in the article below if you want to impress your friends and family with this typical Argentine pastry at home! The next day brought the turn of me (Andrew) to learn the skills of empanada making. This is one of my favourite Argentinean treats and clearly this sentiment is not uncommon as there was a turn-out of more than 10 people (many not part of Voluntario Global) for the class. Again, the afternoon started with a tour of the centre, of which there are some photos below, showing us the areas used for such initiatives as: a boxing centre, wall murals, after school support, computer literacy lessons and even a local radio station!             After this the real event started. Gathering around the table in the large ‘cocina’ we were given a very professional example of how to roll out our dough before taking it to ourselves and leaving the centre staff in doubt as to whether foreigners knew what ‘a circle’ was. When we had prepared ample amounts of pastry they let us loose on the ‘rellenos’ including potatoes, chicken, beef, onions and eggs. All were chopped and seasoned (largely with cumin and chilli) before being cooked in order to be ‘ready-to-use’. It was particularly interesting to see how chicken stock was used to wet the dough and to cook the potatoes in to give a rich and non-vegetarian friendly taste. The group then filled the pre-prepared pastries and dug into the left-over mixture like pigs to a trough (speaking personally anyway)! Our finished results looked like this...         .... and tasted even better!    We would really like to thank the very friendly and talented team at Los Pibes community centre for the time and effort in giving us these enjoyable days. Keep up the great work you do in La Boca as an example for all of Argentina!  

By William Macleod and Paris Penman Davies

In a study carried out amongst students in London during January of this year, it was found that 67% of Students found that their volunteering experience had made them more employable and had given them transferable skills required by employers.  It goes without saying that the majority of students asked were willing to put their voluntary work on their CV.   

You begin to wonder halfway through a fourteen hour flight what it is we are seeking, or what we expect to find, by travelling across the world to what dusty explorers were once able to term ‘a foreign land.’ For my own part, I came looking for an experience which would turn my life upside down. I wanted to be moved by the vulnerability, dismayed by the poverty, touched by the stoicism and awed by the vibrancy and colour of Latin American society. I wanted to land in a truly alien environment and return home with tales of adventure and mystery which were highly unique. I wanted an experience that was personal, not professional, and the majority of people who come to volunteer have this in common. Wide-eyed at the prospect of that over-stereotyped and horrendously clichéd idea of gap year travel, of forming deeply meaningful relationships with those in my care and returning with that distant look in my eye and a host of dinner party stories which begin with ‘If you could see it….If you had been there…’ and end with the quietude of studied admiration. Maybe I’d get a tattoo as well. But either way, I certainly had no intention of delighting my nearest and dearest with narratives of my excellent teamwork, my ability to meet deadlines or my superior business admin skills. I am sure you can sense that a ‘but’ is coming, but I am not going to say that the latter holds any truth. The host of platitudes which surround travel and volunteering should not diminish the very real truth that it is indeed highly rewarding and immensely personal. Those hoping for such an experience will not be disappointed. The tattoo is optional.

Yet what you will find is that this personal development, whilst highly valuable in its own right, is also likely to see you returning to the workplace as a very different individual. This has its own benefits. But in addition, the process of volunteering will expose you to circumstances which have a direct impact on professional life. This can come in all sorts of different ways, and can be either overt or implied. However, we shouldn’t be ashamed to return home having boosted our professional acumen as much as our personal. Taking home knowledge which is more appropriate to the office than the pub adds, rather than detracts, from the experience as a whole. In some cases, our personal experience will be transferable to the professional world, in others, it is directly relevant. Sandy is a twenty eight year old doctor who works Australia within the field of mental health. In Buenos Aires he works in a garden within the grounds of a psychiatric hospital. This allows him to observe first- hand the different techniques and practices employed in Latin America.  But through the personal relationships built up via his interaction with patients he says he has improved his ability to relate to people from different backgrounds and cultures which will be an important part of his work back in Australia.

Laura works as a business manager for Cancer Research UK. By working as a volunteer she is able to gain a grass roots understanding of how a charity operates and an appreciation for the way in which a social organization like VG differs from a research-focused charity. She will be able to draw on this understanding when she returns to her job in the UK. But what about the two handsome (Will would prefer strapping) young men who have compiled this blog? We, Paris and Will, are volunteering in the communications section of the charity, and have both found elements within our roles which will definitely be valuable in a professional environment. Paris: I have a job starting in Paris (yes haha) in January working for an advertising agency and having never done any volunteering outside the UK before I was really excited about the idea. I really didn’t think my role here would have any relevancy to my job in France but as we have been working on a fundraising campaign here it has in fact been very similar. If you’ll excuse the advertising jargon; here you work with no budget, rudimentary graphic design and bag loads of enthusiasm to try and promote an idea within a marketplace which is extremely cluttered. What’s more, I’ve been able to do a lot of copywriting for our promotional campaigns. In the end, I have learnt more about advertising being here than I have at any of my past internships.

When a potential employer is interviewing you or inspecting your CV, he or she is looking for signs that you are a motivated, disciplined individual that can adapt to new situations and environments.   The fact that you are willing to offer your services unpaid demonstrates motivation and therefore immediately puts you one step above others. Volunteering work develops important skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving and task management.    Clearly, it takes more to get a job than just doing voluntary work, but there is no doubt that it gives you a leg up. Volunteering can provide specific career experience in that you can tailor your volunteer work to a particular area; Christina majors in social care back in the states and so decided to base herself in a medical centre here in Buenos Aires. Whilst Synva, from Norway, volunteering here as an assistant in an orphanage, hopes it will add to her nursing background and help her in her career switch to paediatric care. At the same time, another of our volunteers, Lauren, explained that her work teaching English in Los Pibes Community Centre in La Boca would be an important boost to her job hunt in America as she can now demonstrate the ability to work and adapt in an unfamiliar environment.

So as you can see, although many people come out here for something which is a complete contrast to professional life, you may well end up returning home better prepared for it. Volunteer work offers the opportunity to try out a new career without making a long-term commitment. Clearly, if the volunteer decides to be a teacher after the work or had always wanted to become a teacher, then this provides invaluable teaching experience which can help you when looking for a job in teaching. Will: Like Paris, I am also working in the Communications section of the charity. This is hugely beneficial for me, since I have an interest in Marketing as a potential career. After I leave Buenos Aires, I will be doing a Marketing internship in Madrid.  I have not done any charity work previous to this, so I continue to find new challenges and learn new skills, not just affiliated with marketing, which I can bring with me to Madrid and also keep with me for life. I am not saying that people should do volunteering because it can lead to a job. Of course one’s main incentive would be the personal fulfilment and development that they gain from it. 

Friday 4th November saw the official opening and discussion of Argentina´s responsible tourism week with numerous speakers including our very own Valeria Gracia. “La Defensoría del Pueblo” (http://www.defensoria.org.ar/) in San Telmo proved to be the perfect base for the Responsible Tourism conference. It is an institution that is in place to ensure tourists know their rights and are not taken advantage of while also helping locals to better understand the law and improve their lifestyles through services such as health or education.

In relation to this Juan José, the executive secretary of The Responsible Tourism Network, focused his talk on the importance of transparency and how important it is for the consumer to be able to make decisions regarding consumption based on knowledge. The network has therefore agreed on 42 icons, covering topics such as energy consumption and accessibility. Each company or organization then assess to what degree they live up to in each area. These icons thus serve both as an informational instrument for the consumer, but also as an ethical instrument for the members of the network. This way, every company can join – as long as there is a vision to improve and live up to expected standards.The icons are based on an ethical code, which the members of the Network have devised themselves. The idea is that no experts can define the terms better than the people who are a part of the environment in question. Also, an expert might be affected by an issue or political pressure, which the Network considers of lesser importance. This could be marketing or outdated academia, whereas the businesses and organizations are a part of the dynamically changing world, and therefore have a better understanding of how the needs within responsible production change as well.  The next speaker was Valeria Gracia, co-founder of Voluntario Global.

Voluntario Global works in many different environments and communities, all of which are less privileged. She placed importance on supporting the volunteers professionally and emotionally. This is in order to support mutual understanding between volunteers and the community, as well as avoid culture shock. She sees the voluntourism as a cultural exchange opportunity, and as such finds the preparation very important. Focusing on the projects of the organization, she says the there are big differences on how to help. The groups, which Voluntario Global are involved with are for both children and more mature people from under-privileged families and areas. Every group needs help in a different way. One way the organization is helping a young group from areas with socio-economic difficulties is by helping them to help themselves. Voluntario Global has started a cooperative launderette which offers the young people the chance to learn responsibility, education, and work in an open community to discuss their issues. It also offers them the possibility of studying while working, and thus a better outlook for the future. The afternoon kicked off with a talk focused on accessible tourism. Everyone should have the right to enjoy the sights and activities that Buenos Aires has to offer and therefore the services industry has to consider their needs. ‘Turismo Buenos Aires’ has been working hard over the past three years to make tourism more accessible. In a country where social inclusion, equal opportunity and social integration are encouraged it is important to make accessible tourism a priority. The government, community and non-profit organization’s goal is to make the whole province of Buenos Aires accessible and thus create an inclusive environment.15% of the world’s population have a disability and the province of Buenos Aires has over a million disabled people alone. Some of the audiences’ main complaints were about the inaccessibility of the Subte and the lack of food available to celiacs in a city where medialunas, empanadas and alfajors dominate!The aim is to provide the disabled with the accessibility, safety and autonomy to enjoy the activities organized by tourist and recreation services. Some initiatives include; designing web pages for the visually impaired, carrying out campaigns to raise awareness and promote accessible tourism, establishing the conditions of accessibility to guide hotels and hostels in adapting their facilities, making these conditions known to principal museums and encouraging gastronomic establishments to consider the requirements of celiacs.For example in the Feria Internacional de Turismo Responsable, taking place tomorrow, there will be a tactile map and flyers with brail to help promote the principles of accessible tourism and they plan to take more drastic measures for next year’s fair.

The government understands that achieving accessible tourism is a difficult challenge and not one that will be accomplished immediately but it is a challenge that the province of Buenos Aires is committed to overcoming and, as with every aspect of responsible tourism, some compromises will have to be made.

The second talk of the afternoon was headed by the owner of the Eco-Pampa hostel, Pablo Gueilburt. The hostel was opened in Palermo in 2010 and is the first ecological hostel in Buenos Aires. They have twelve rooms and encourage their guests to respect the environment. Pablo’s aim is to minimize their impact on the environment and their principles are based on three key ecological concepts, ‘Reduce, Recycle and Reuse’. The hostel uses solar panels, doubled glazed windows, rain water, recycled paper and LED light bulbs. Additionally the entire check-in process has been digitalized to avoid wasting paper, there is a timer in each shower to make the guests aware of the amount of water they are using and they have a compost heap and an organic garden. Currently La Red de Turismo Responsable is working to encourage more hostels to adopt similar measures. Pablo is happy with what his hostel has achieved but hopes that current groundbreaking research in areas such the extraction of energy from human movement to power traffic lights and the creation of windows containing solar panels will help to facilitate the introduction of energy saving initiatives in more establishments in the future. His message is one that could be applied to all fields of responsible tourism. We must improve upon current trends and use new discoveries to find ways of including all types of people in various tourist opportunities while ensuring that all the activities are carried out for the good of the country and its society.  

Everyone who has ever visited Argentina knows that the distinct dialect of Spanish spoken, known as Rio Platense, defines it as one of the most culturally diverse countries of Latin America. This cultural diversity found in its language stems from the vast influx of immigrants from Europe in the 20^th Century. Between 1910 and 1945 the majority of these immigrants came from southern Italy and brought with them a highly particular and recognisable slang, commonly known as Lunfardo. This slang has evolved over decades; words were created as a form of code so as not to be recognized by state officials and police. It is this Lunfardo, coupled with distinct grammatical peculiarities such as the use of the vos pronoun and the different pronunciations of ‘ll’ and ‘y’ which make Argentine Spanish so unique and fascinating. Below are a few words and phrases which show this difference and their individual social context and how they are particular only to the Rio Platense dialect Quilombo – A mess, chaos – This word is only used in the Rio de la Plata region, most commonly in Argentina. Interestingly, unlike most of the Lunfardo in Buenos Aires it does not derive from southern Italy, but from Brazil. This Brazilian word was used to describe the unpleasant living conditions of slums in the country. The word has since come to describe a mess or a chaotic scene, but, by extension is also used to refer to a brothel. Chamuyero – A smooth talker – Someone who speaks about trivial and unimportant things in order to chat someone up, with a certain hint of slyness. This word often has fairly negative connotations, but its roots are not from Italy but from Argentina, and it is a word solely recognisable in this country and not in any other Spanish-speaking nation.

Continuing on this vein of words which are applicable only to Rio Platense Spanish, the following words and phrases underline further this idea of cultural identity in Argentina, as they would never be heard anywhere else but are recognisable through its slang, or Lunfardo; Salir de joda – To go out Tener (mucha) onda – To ‘be with it’, to be trendy Trucho/a – Incorrect, wrong Mina – girl Perhaps the best known of all the Argentinian slang phrases and most readily identifiable with the country is ¡Che Boludo! This phrase is highly ambiguous as it can either be offensive or actually a term of endearment toward a good friend. For example calling someone a “boludo” could mean you are referring to them as an idiot or a fool. Between close friends it is commonly used as a way of saying “hi mate” or “hi buddy”. But in a cultural sense this phrase is a fantastic example of the Argentine communication. It is quite a common belief worldwide that when Argentines speak they do so with freedom and find whatever words sound the most fluid in speech. It is this freedom of speech which makes a phrase like “Che Boludo” such a fine example of their cultural identity.