giving back to argentina

diego7david

Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
187
Likes
15
ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country - jfk

i was reading franks sugar and spice blog about how his company is helping/donating to make a reading corner (actually dont know what that is but it sounds helpful) in a poor section of town.

it reminded me that once in a while when i have free time ive thought, i wonder if there are places, ways, organizations in ba that could use some volunteer help.

perhaps some people in this group could list some places if they know any?
 
diego7david said:
ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country - jfk

Why can't I ask what my country can do for me? If there is a social contract, it should be a two-way street, after all. Something JFK smoothly elides over. And I don't need lessons of this sort from the the hedonistic son of a bootlegger who never had to do an honest day's work in his life (unless you count his military service). Who came up with this line anyway? Ted Sorenson?
 
We have started a clothing drive and free English lessons for the local community. It has gone over really well thus far.
 
I've been working with a good group called Voluntarios Sin Fronteras. They have lots of different programs in the city, everything from teaching low-income kids, to helping out at comedors, to teaching computer classes.

All you need to help out is a moderate level of spanish and a somewhat regular schedule (most of the programs are one day a week, etc).

Another great thing about them is they don't beleive in charging people for volunteer work (which a surprising number of groups do).

Check out their website for more info.

http://www.voluntariossf.org.ar/

The intro page on the website is about a fundraising dinner this friday which prospective volunteers are welcome to attend.
 
Do you know what type of 'giving back' you'd like to do? There are plenty of organizations where you can donate funds. Here is a website for local volunteer organisations that don't charge or charge little: http://www.volunteersouthamerica.net/ .

Through it, I have just started volunteering at L.I.F.E. Argentina - working with children in low income situations. You don't need to speak spanish (which I don't). And I think they need help in their office and with French translations. There was another volunteer center called Conviven, which sounds good too. Life Argentina does charge - they ask that you buy a tshirt and wear it ($25us) and you pay for your own transportation which they arrange out of their office. They also ask that you leave a deposit in case you cancel on one of your scheduled commitments. A binder of sorts to make sure you show up and to pay your cab fare if you don't.

I just started so I can't comment on this organisation. What I do know is that they go into the 'bad' parts of town for after school activities, as a group. They are involved in clothing drives, birthday parties, school supply drives, and have adopted a village in a remote area of argentina. I will be happy to post my opinions after I have experienced it a little more but it seems a great way to give time in lieu of money.
 
thanks now i can fill in my time with something perhaps useful instead of dancing the night away....................d
 
I work for idealist.org. they have an office here in bsas! check it at! and while we´re at it...}

Hey everyone!! My name is Alison Occhiuti and I am a student studying abroad with IFSA Butler. I work for an organization called Idealistas.org which is group that tries to make connections between people that want to do volunteer work together. We are hosting an event in June at a bar and I am looking for english speakers that have volunteered internationally (anywhere, although Latin America and Argentina are best) in the past to come. Our idea is to play a sort of speed dating game involving past volunteers and participants in the event. We would like each past volunteer to talk about an issue related to volunteering internationally (examples: language barriers, culture shock, not getting along with your boss, AIDS, the environment, WHATEVER!). You don´t have to stay for the entire event if you don´t want to (although it will be so fun), but I would really really really appreciate any help any of you could give me.
My mail: [email protected] THANKS!!!
 
Alison

Please tell us (me) more about this event in June - when, where, etc.

I will be out of town from the 19th to the 26 or do, but if I'm here I'd love to come and chat about some of the issues I have dealt with over the last 5 or 6 years with my own little "charity" www.BairesKids.com

Saludos,

David






amo139 said:
I work for idealist.org. they have an office here in bsas! check it at! and while we´re at it...}

Hey everyone!! My name is Alison Occhiuti and I am a student studying abroad with IFSA Butler. I work for an organization called Idealistas.org which is group that tries to make connections between people that want to do volunteer work together. We are hosting an event in June at a bar and I am looking for english speakers that have volunteered internationally (anywhere, although Latin America and Argentina are best) in the past to come. Our idea is to play a sort of speed dating game involving past volunteers and participants in the event. We would like each past volunteer to talk about an issue related to volunteering internationally (examples: language barriers, culture shock, not getting along with your boss, AIDS, the environment, WHATEVER!). You don´t have to stay for the entire event if you don´t want to (although it will be so fun), but I would really really really appreciate any help any of you could give me.
My mail: [email protected] THANKS!!!
 
I responded to another thread with this same information, so forgive the redundancy...

I work for Idealist.org, and we are in the middle of a new project that aims to connect expats with free and/or low cost (like, $10) opportunities for involvement.

If you check out this little site we made (yes, I know. It's kind of barebones right now, and not all that pretty. But it's a great place to store this information.), you'll find a list of organizations who don't charge to volunteer. It's a wiki-style site, so please feel free to join and add to the list.

Also, we have a section about the nonprofit sector in Argentina, which might help you understand things here a bit better.

Furthermore, we've recently started a new blog which is all about volunteering and doing good in Latin America. While it's not limited to Argentina (although we do currently have a Buenos Aires-based writer), some of the posts may help you out in your search or provide extra support. You can check it out here: http://lavidaidealist.org/

We're going to be hosting an event in early to mid-November addressing this theme - learning some lessons from last time - so be on the lookout for updates.

Oh, and I second CrashRosbe's rec on Voluntarios Sin Fronteras. We will be working with them again for the second event.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!
Celeste
 
Back
Top