Spring 2008
Buenos Aires

Jonathan MAZUMDAR
CEF Argentina
While studying in Buenos Aires I interned at the Center for Financial Stability (CEF), an independent think tank established after the financial crisis in Argentina in 2001. The CEF isdedicated to the analysis, debate, and the formulation of public policy related to the financial system in Argentina and the Latin American region as a whole. Specifically, the CEF contributes to the financial community by publishing academic and policy papers, sponsoring round table discussions with individuals from the public and private sectors, and by leading efforts to educate public figures and industry professionals on pertinent financial services topics. At the CEF I contributed primarily to a paper examining the effects of corporate governance on non-financial firms in Argentina by composing an index based on public information. My internship at the CEF provided me with a lens through which I was able to learn about financial institutions and economic conditions in Argentina and the unique opportunity to work with professionals involved in present domestic policy discussions.

Brendan DEIZ
Centro Conviven
It was a great experience. When I first went to Conviven, I didn't know what to expect. I had been told that it was in a very rough neighborhood and I had to be really careful. So I was extra cautious the first time, and every time afterward, but I realized as long as I was smart about things, I would be fine. I'm really glad I had this internship with Conviven, because not only was it cool to be able to teach music to students who otherwise might not have the opportunity, but I also learned a lot in the process. I got a peak at a very different type of life from my privilege in the US, and, not to sound too cliched, but it was indeed eye-opening. I knew I was going to experience a level of poverty I wasn't used to, but what was really important for me was the relationships I developed there. I will never forget my time at Conviven, and I would definitely recommend the organization to anyone looking for a real experience in Buenos Aires for their internship, doing something besides just shoveling papers around or calculating data.

Derek BUCHNER
Asociación El Ceibo
This internship is a very solid one for anyone interested in sociology or environmental studies. You work with a cooperative of “cartoneros” (El Ceibo) in the well-off barrio of Palermo who go house to house asking for recyclables which the neighbors sort out ahead of time. The daily activity is variable and hands on and like most things in Buenos Aires is what you make out of it. I accompanied the cartoneros as they go about their collection in the mornings and depending on your willingness to help out, you can join in on the collection. From there you pick an "investigation" where you design a research plan for some topic of your choice and then you carry it to the end. Your boss is Cristina Lescano (google her) who is pretty famous globally for her rags to riches story of collaborating with the poor neighbors of Palermo and fighting against class issues and poverty. In other words, she’s sort of a hot-shot in the cooperativa world but is still an amazing person with a wealth of contacts, experience, and information. There’s always interviews, videos, meetings, and government visits which you can tag along for. As with anything in Buenos Aires, you have to take the initiative in this one, and the more you put in to, the more you’ll get out.

Alexandra BLANEY
Centro FECA
I worked at the Centro FECA, an organization that studies argentine culture, especially the tango, in a field broader than the usual artistic-aesthetic one. It is a small organization, which meant that I actually participated and contributed. I did whatever small tasks needed to be done such as creating contact lists, checking presentations for errors, translating brochures and proposals into English, etc. I also helped with a photography exhibit and a presentation to prospective financers. My main work was researching the increasing incidence and cultural value of tango throughout the world, which involved reading articles and books in English and writing short reports on them. My experience was a success because I was very careful to ask exactly what I was supposed to be doing and by doing things that needed to be done without being told to do them. It was very interesting to learn about something as argentine as the tango and the experience of working on the development of a project was very valuable.

Rachel KORSCHUN
Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina
While studying abroad in Buenos Aires I did an internship at the Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, a large non-profit environmental organization. The Fundación is one of the largest environmental organizations in the country and is affiliated with the WWF. The organization does work with protected land and marine areas and environmental issues in the country. I worked with their group of volunteers, which was mostly comprised of university age argentines. We went on outings to different parts of Buenos Aires province and worked on various projects in the office. I would do standard office work, translations, research, and blog work when I was in the office. This is a great organization with a lot of dedicated people working towards a better environment in Argentina.

Laura FRISCHER
Fundación Huésped
Working with Fundación Huésped in Infectious Diseases at Hospital Fernández was a really incredible experience. Fundación Huésped has fought against HIV since 1989 not only as a transmittable disease but as a societal problem as well. The Foundation funds research in the area, offers many different support groups, and provides legal aid for those who need it, among many other functions. I worked with the psychologists and doctors in the hospital who offer free HIV testing and medical checkups for those with infectious diseases (almost always HIV). For my first month I shadowed the psychologists who conducted the pre- and post-HIV test counseling sessions, for my second month I worked with the director of volunteering in the archives, and for my third month I saw patients with HIV-related neurological disorders with a doctor. Overall, I feel that my experience provided invaluable exposure to medicine and more specifically to the system in Argentina.

Alaina ROBERTSON
L.I.F.E. Argentina
I had an internship with L.I.F.E. in Buenos Aires, Argentina. LIFE is an organization that works with kids in poor areas of Buenos Aires. It offers a variety of after school activities: english class, after school homework help, play times, soccer, cooking class. Overall I would call it an average internship. Like many nonprofits in Argentina, it was very disorganized. The best thing you can do if you are going to have an internship there is coordinate an activity. This will allow you to make your own organizational bubble where you can do what you want. Don't count on anyone to really tell you what to do, you need to figure out your own work here unless you want to end up organizing the entire office (which I don't recommend). At LIFE you can choose to volunteer by going to the activities, you can help organize an activity, or you can do various jobs in the office.

Micah Macfarlane
Asociación Conciencia
My internship in Asociación Conciencia was one of the best parts of my time in Buenos Aires. The central office where I worked was relaxed and filled with employees who were passionate about what they do. Working with two bosses in the organization (Alexis and Vicky) I was given the choice of the projects that I wanted to pursue in the long term. They gave me the autonomy to pursue the projects (I had three major projects over the course of the five month internship as well as a group of smaller tasks that I was doing on a day to day basis), while at the same time working closely with me over the course of the internship. It was a wonderful internship to get and thanks so much to Juan for all of his work in finding it.

Sabrina MC NEW
Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina
I worked with the FVSA in Buenos Aires for 15 weeks as part of my internship for credit during my semester abroad. I was worried at first about chosing an intership over another class, because I had heard from some people that they’re a waste of time, but I was really lucky with the FVSA and am really glad I did it. It started off slowly (as most things in Argentina, and even more so with ONGs) because my boss, Andrés has no lack of things to do and not a lot of time. The other girl from Middlebury and I were hounding him by e-mail for two weeks before we actually got started. Despite the slow start, however, I realized that Andrés was actually really attentive, organized, and passionate about the work in the fundación.
Among other things, he coordinates the work of the volunteers, the group where we worked. We got to know the other volunteers, which was great, because they’re mostly young college students from a variety of carreras, countries and backgrounds. We had group meetings every once in a while, but a lot of them I didn’t see that often because we all came to the office on different days. As for the work- I did a variety of tasks, some translating, some office organizing, and some research. The things I liked the most: 1. we spent time organizing the articles in the 100 magazines of the FVSA by topic. This was great because I got to read most of the magazines, which are really great sources of information about the history of conservation and environmental work in Argentina. 2. Also, the volunteer group organizes “field trips” to various ecological reserves a couple times a month. During the trips I got to spend more time with the volunteers, get out of the city, and see different parts around Buenos Aires. During the time in the office, I really appreciated that I generally knew what work was going on, so that I could continue with our projects without always having to ask for something to do.
The FVSA is a good organization and the people in it are committed to enviromental work. It was a good opportunity for me to learn more about jobs in the sciences that aren’t strictly academic. Good internship overall.
Advice: be proactive – ask for things to do, if they offer you a field trip, go.


Pujan GANDHI
Proyectarte
I can truthfully say that I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at ProjectArte this past semester. It was more than just an internship; it provided me with a sense of community in a city that can often be quite overwhelming. My bosses always welcomed me (with song) and made my work experience a pleasure, of course with the aid of the traditional Argentine diet of mate and cigarettes!! While it was certainly a laid-back office atmosphere (often consisting of music-swapping and art talk), I did gain insight on operating an art gallery and the challenges of existing as a non-profit organization. Plus, I also made some valuable contacts in the art-world. It is a very active organization, offering a variety of projects—raging from fund-raising to weekly cinemas—to which one can contribute. Our team consisted of people interested in art history, others were passionate about film, others in literature, others in education and general social-change. In addition to my Argentine colleagues, I made friends with volunteers from all around the world. We were a group of passionate people of divergent background with similar interests working together to make a difference—I’m not sure what else you would want from a study-abroad internship.

Lilith REED
Asociación Responde
In my university in the United States, I study Spanish and Latin American Studies, and one of the classes I took here at the UBA was Rural Sociology. For this reason, the coordinators of my program suggested the organization Responde for its focus on the rural villages of Argentina. From the beginning, I was impressed with the mission and work at Responde. The association addresses a problem that many choose to ignore-that of the small villages in the interior of the country that disappear. I really like the holistic perspective of their projects, which not only attempt to promote economic development, but also encourage cultural and social development, reestablishing the identity of the communities.
I worked on the production of a digital base of the villages that seek the support of Responde, in addition to translations of videos, PowerPoint presentations, articles, and other documents. The projects that they assigned to me were diverse and interesting, and through them I was able to learn about the functions of the organization. The videos placed me “in contact” with the villagers and the visual aspect of their towns, and through my work on the digital base, I realized the distinct situations of each village and the different problems that they face. All of the people that work at Responde treated me with respect and interest. Although I have had several jobs in the U.S., Responde was my first office position. You find office politics everywhere, but, I’m happy to inform you, they were kept to a minimum at Responde. As with any not-for-profit organization, it seemed to me that sometimes they had difficulties executing projects and with organization, especially because they have such a high turnover rate of employees and volunteers. In the end, I left Responde with a sense of hope for the rural situation in Argentina. Although it is easy to forget these villages and their people, there are some people, like those of Responde, that continue to fight for their survival and prosperity.

Fall 2007
Buenos Aires

Maji CHIEN
Ecoclubes
My internship in Buenos Aires was with Ecoclubes, an ONG that works to teach youths about the value of the environment and ways to preserve it. I worked in the International Office of Ecoclubes, so most of my work was office work and translations. Although it was hard to begin (somewhat slow to start), once integrated into the office it was an absolute pleasure to work there. I originally thought that I would be traveling to the various “ecoclubes” around Argentina, but I did much more translating than traveling. However, I translated emails and organizational documents for a movement called “Water and Youth,” a project started by Ecoclubes to ensure universal access to clean, drinkable water. It was fascinating to learn how, from this small office in downtown Buenos Aires, Ricardo was organizing an international meeting in Kenya. It was definitely an eye-opening experience with respect to the difference in the office atmosphere in Argentina versus in the U.S.

Julia DEIXLER
Fundación Rozenblum
I interned at Fundación Rozenblum, a foundation dedicated to promoting local and up-and-coming artists. The foundation exhibits a collection of well-established Argentine artists and holds various cultural events in its downtown Buenos Aires gallery space. The foundation has ongoing relationships with various art galleries around the city as well as charity groups such as Tzedacá, a foundation representing the Jewish community of Argentina. During my time at Fundación Rozenblum I did research on various Argentine artists and aided with the initial planning of a show for one of Argentina’s most renowned artists, Carlos Regazzoni.

Julia DEIXLER
L.I.F.E. Argentina
I volunteered for L.I.F.E. Argentina, (Luchamos para una Infancia Feliz y con Esperanza.) The non-profit organization works to bring education and a better quality of life to children living in conditions of extreme poverty in and around Buenos Aires. Through various activities such as school support, an annual Christmas event, English classes, birthday parties and computer classes, L.I.F.E. strives to provide confidence and life opportunities to children in need through culture, education, and recreation.

Hannah EPELBAUM
Centro FECA
During my semester in Buenos Aires, I worked in Centro FECA, a center for Argentine cultural preservation with a focus on tango. In addition to holding weekly tango lessons open to the public, FECA hosts workshops and exhibits by local and foreign artists and entertainers. My responsibilities in the office included updating an archive of events relating to tango that occurred around town, and completing a translation of the brochure of the center.

Alex GART
Ashoka
During the 2007 fall semester my internship in Buenos Aires was with Ashoka International. Ashoka is a United States based organization operating in the social entrepreneurship and global citizen sector. Their efforts have elected over 1,800 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows world wide, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries since their conception in 1980. As an intern at Ashoka I worked closely with the Buenos Aires office (the center of Ashoka initiatives in the Cono Sur) on a number of projects ranging from creating power point presentations with argentine Fellows to translating and constructing bilingual pamphlets. The people I worked with were extremely bright, supportive and funny. The office atmosphere was relaxed but the individuals at Ashoka were still very dedicated to supporting and helping their Fellows serve and improve the Argentine community. I would highly recommend a student consider an internship with Ashoka if they are interested in the connection between the business and social sectors or of they are looking for unique perspective on Argentina’s current social problems.

Caitlin KRIER
Dirección General de la Mujer
This semester I worked as an intern with la Dirección General de la Mujer, a governmental organization that focuses on current issues that affect the lives of both women and men in Buenos Aires. I worked at a center called Lola Mora, where I was able to take part in a program called “Abriendo puertas” (Opening Doors). This program was specifically centered on spreading knowledge about reproductive rights, safe sexual practices, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS among the population of the southern zone of the city. As an intern, I participated in the consejería every Monday afternoon, during which I stood on the corner in front of the center and passed out pamphlets and condoms to passing pedestrians. I also had the opportunity to participate in the consejería during several community events, such as a street fair sponsored by the youth clubs of the city. My favorite aspect of this internship was participating in the workshops that la Dirección General de la Mujer organized for a wide variety of diverse populations. I helped to plan workshops for both a youth union and for a high school class, and during the workshops I acted as a note taker and was able to participate in the conversations and activities. Overall, I would suggest this internship to anyone who is interested in learning more about reproductive and sexual rights in Buenos Aires, and the efforts being made to combat HIV/AIDS and sexual violence. It is important to note that this internship does require both patience and self-motivation. As a governmental organization, la Dirección General de la Mujer is constantly experiencing a lack of funding, and it can sometimes be frustrating to see great ideas that will never be realized due to the lack of resources. Additionally, the structure of the internship is very loose, and as an intern I needed to assert myself in order to ensure that I had something to do. However, my colleagues were amazing, and I learned a lot from them as we chatted, drank maté and passed out condoms to ensure that the population of Buenos Aires both was protected and informed.

Maya KUSHMAUL
Responde
Working for the NGO Responde I did translations of documents from Spanish to English. Mainly the transltions were for the orgnization’s english-version web site and the majority were press releases about Responde. I also did translations of guides on how to plant plum trees and other fruit bearing trees, which were also going to be used for the website.

Katherine LEHMAN
Maternidad Ramon Sarda
I interned in a public maternity ward called Ramon Sarda in Buenos Aires. I am a pre-medical student and was hoping to work in a hospital or clinic in order to learn about a different system of health care so was really excited when I found out about my internship. I ended up only working with the volunteers and not the doctors as I had hoped, but still learned a lot – not so much about medicine, but about Argentine culture and public health care system. I talked with mothers in the residency and brought them clothes, sheets, and other things from the volunteers’ supply. I worked some in the consolatory where I was observed the massive number of mothers and babies present and the impressively efficient system. The last few weeks I worked in the neonatology wing where I held and fed the babies who were too premature or had some sort of problem preventing them from going home. Although it was boring at times as I often couldn’t be of much help, all in all it was a good experience.

Nichole RUNGE
L.I.F.E.
L.I.F.E. is an organization that works with children in poor neighborhoods in the areas surrounding Buenos Aires. They have different activities everyday Monday-Saturday including school support, English classes, and birthday parties. It was fun helping and getting to know the kids, but this organization was not everything I had hoped it would be. Most of the time I would have to wait in the office for an hour, take a bus to the outskirts of Buenos Aires which took another hour, spend time with the kids for an hour, and then take another bus back for an hour. There was a lot of disorganization and all of the volunteers are foreigners, so I was not able to practice my Spanish.

Spring 2007
Buenos Aires

Elaine MC GLAUGHLIN
GCBA-Dirección de la Mujer
I worked in a section of the government office of the city of Buenos Aires dedicated to women’s and gender issues, and specifically in the area of community health and gender. I helped plan a project that never came to fruition because of lack of funding, which was somewhat frustrating, but the project itself, called “Abriendo Puertas” or “Opening Doors,” was something I am very interested in and for that reason I strongly hope that the city government office does get the funding from the United Nations at some point soon. Besides my work on planning and discussing future ideas for the program, I passed out lots of condoms and pamphlets on safe sex and reproductive rights outside a women’s center in the neighborhood of Balvanera.
Abriendo Puertas was a system of community health education workshops in which professionals from or hired by the government office joined with women community leaders from the villas on the southern border of the city, and educated them about specific issues pertaining to reproductive health and rights, safe sex, and HIV and AIDS. These meetings took place in the neighborhoods within the villas and functioned also as a type of training session for the women from the neighborhoods. They were then able to lead their own community health workshops, as “health advisers,” for the women from their neighborhoods, and in that respect the program gained credibility in these areas because it was self-sustaining (to some degree) and the women were able to make a difference in their own communities. It was also evident that the women attending the workshops led by advisers familiar to them trusted everything they were hearing that much more, and valued the opportunity to have an open forum in which to voice their opinions.

Charlotte RIGGS
Ecoclubes
Ecoclubes is an international, not-for-profit, non-governmental, youth organization that realizes projects concerning the protection and promotion of a sustainable relationship between humans and the environment. I did my internship at the international headquarters of the organization, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from which international and national (and recently, local) projects are planned and managed. The first part of my experience consisted of translating print material (Spanish to English) for an international conference we hosted in Buenos Aires. During the second, and larger, part of my experience I coordinated a water-quality testing program for elementary school ages kids. My duties included confirming the participation of Ecoclubs throughout Argentina, coordinating the acquisition of materials they needed, revising the project's manual, and planning and giving a training session for club members who will realize the program in the schools.

Dina MAGARIL
ImagenHB
My primary internship in Buenos Aires was with a design company called NoBrand, which is a branch of ImagenHB. They are a design company that work with printing and branding design. NoBrand makes T-Shirts with images portraying different aspects of Argentine culture but geared towards tourists. They also created a modern take on the mate gourd, made out of glass. My work involved researching various companies NoBrand was working for and doing design for. I wrote a lot of marketing literature, such as slogans and brochures for various companies. I worked with another intern in doing translations in both English and Spanish.

Chris WEARN
LIFE Argentina
Luchamos por una Infancia Feliz y con Esperenza or We Strive for a Childhood full of Happiness and Hope, is a non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of the life and environment of underserved and underprivileged children. Their primary mission is to carry our recreational, education, and cultural activities to integrate children into society and provide them with the need to develop and grow healthily. Most of these activities take place in the villas (slums) outside Buenos Aires, and include game workshops, tutoring, computer classes, English classes and special events such as the annual children's marathons. All activities take place after school and before dinner in local comedores (soup kitchens). Volunteers meet in the city at the LIFE office and ride together in taxis or rented vans to the sites. Volunteers assume a small cost for this transportation (3-5 per activity), for which Middlebury will offer some reimbursement. Leadership opportunities are available even to new volunteers as activity coordinators. This requires only a commitment to attend the activity each week, plan daily activities, and orient new volunteers. These positions offer a great opportunity to take a more active roll, they help to meet the the 12 hour a week commitment, and I highly recommend them.

Francie KAMMERAAD
Idealistas.org
I worked at Idealistas.org, the Argentine branch of Idealist.org, which is an NGO that helps students and adults find volunteer opportunities online. I worked primarily on the Kids and Teens project, helping the company find NGO’s that offer volunteer opportunities for kids as well as improving the newly published Kids and Teens Website. I also helped to translate the company’s volunteer information/guide into English, which was great practice for me. Overall, Idealistas.org is a wonderful NGO. The people that work at the office are warm and very helpful, and I really felt welcomed and appreciated while working there. My boss Majo, in particular, was extremely kind and generous and we worked well together. However, the internship was simply a desk/office job which could be tedious and boring at times. I did not learn any new skills while there and mostly completed basic desk work. I would have preferred a more dynamic internship, with opportunities to integrate myself in locale communities and meet more people. Although I enjoyed my time at Idealistas.org, I do not feel that the internship was an immersion experience, nor do I feel it helped me learn more about Argentine culture.

Sara COWIE
ProyectArte
For my internship, I worked at an art school for students from 15 to 18 years old. These students are all on scholarship and are selected through a rigorous process. ProyectArte’s office, classroom and gallery all were part of a house in the neighborhood of Villa Crespo. I was fortunate to fulfill a variety of needs at ProyectArte. Some days I helped around the office, other days I worked on some projects with other international volunteers, and for a few days I walked around the city with another volunteer and posted flyers to recruit more students for the following 18 month term. I also attended a magazine launching that supported the school. Overall, the experience was quite rewarding. I felt very comfortable working in such a relaxed, enjoyable environment and I definitely contributed my time and effort to the school and for such a wonderful cause.

Benjamin PARSONS
Asociacion Responde
I worked at a non-profit organization called Responde. Their work basically deals with towns throughout Argentina that are at risk of disappearing. These towns are in danger because they have lost most of their basic infrastructure and lack employment opportunities, means of communication, and means of transportation. As a result, many of their inhabitants have left for the larger cities of the country, leaving their communities behind to languish and arriving in cities that have neither space nor jobs for them. Responde works to combat this problem by implementing social action projects to involve the inhabitants in working for their own future. They implement local tourism projects and training workshops as well as install internet connections and high-school equivalency courses. As an intern, most of my work was centered on translating documents from Spanish to English as well as the occasional Powerpoint presentation. I also helped the executive director to draft emails in English to various businesses.

Guillermo GARCIA
BA Volunteers
Buenos Aires Volunteers is a sub group of Amartya, an NGO based in Buenos Aires.  Its main proyect is to actively seek volunteers from all over the world to come to Buenos Aires and help other NGO's in the area, learn spanish, but most importantly learn about the argentine culture.  BAV has connections all over the city with other NGO's who need volunteers to work for them and they do a great job in getting them to do what they want.

Courtney LABARGE
Maternidad Sardá
During my time in Buenos Aires, I interned at the Maternidad Sardá, a public maternity hospital in the neighborhood of Parque Patricios. I worked with a group of women volunteers called the Damas Rosadas, made up of nearly 500 women between the ages of 35 and 85 that devoted four hours per week to one of five sponsored hospitals in the country. Our responsibility was to forge the gap that can widen between patient and doctor in a public hospital, offering personal support to the mothers admitted to the hospital. Some days I went from bed to bed in the public hospital rooms, checking in on the mothers, talking to them about their symptoms, their fears, their excitement for the expected child. Other days, I worked in the pre-delivery room, where mothers waited to be admitted to the quirófano to give birth to their child. I would hold their hands, helping them breathe through contractions and help distract them from the pain. Some days, in Neonatology, I spoke with the mothers with their newborns, and I fed and rocked the babies when doctors and mothers were swamped. The Damas Rosadas also sponsor a residence hall within the hospital, where up to 40 mothers can live, receive three meals a day, and be with their babies twenty four hours a day. Some days I worked in the Residencia, helping the mothers feel comfortable in their new home away from home. All in all, my experience in the Maternity was incredible. I was given so much more access to the hospital than I would have been able to receive anywhere in the US, and within one day, I would help a mother breathe through contractions, run up to Neo to help out there and by the time twelve o-clock rolled around, I could go back down and talk to the first mother, who by that time was lying outside the delivery room with her newborn child.

Haris GHERTSOS
Fundación Rozenblum
It was a great experience in which I learned a lot of interesting things. I worked for the Rozenblum Foundation, which is an Art Foundation that organizes art exhibits and it promotes and helps new artists flourish while at the same time exposes the work of already known artists.
I had the opportunity to visit a number of art galleries and organize a number of events which took place at the foundation. Also I did research for a number of projects such as independent art galleries and sculptural parks around the World. Through this internship I learned a lot of information which involved the very interesting art life of Buenos Aires.

Amy MC COWAN
Fundación Leer
The Fundación Leer is a non-profit organization based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that strives to foster in children the joy of reading at a young age. Founded in 1997, the Foundation signed an agreement with Reading is Fundamental, Inc., an NGO based in the United States, but largely independently implements its own programs within Argentina, aided by the financial support of international sponsors.
Foundation reading experts travel throughout the country, visiting communities of all income levels to establish Reading Corners and the anual National Reading Marathon. In poor communities without easy access to schools, the Fundación Leer holds training workshops to teach the teachers and parents of the community how to teach their children how to read, how to build or set up a Reading Corner, and the Fundación Leer provides new books to fill these Reading Corners or mini-libraries. By fostering early literacy, the Fundación Leer aims to increase the educational potential of Argentine children for when they enter school, which in turn will turn these students into active citizens when they graduate. As an intern, Middlebury students will be helping in the Buenos Aires office with odd jobs.

Spring 2007
Tucuman

E. Noelle BULLION
SaludArte
This past semester I interned with SaludArte, a program run through PUEDES and the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT). SaludArte incorporates art and music for social inclusion and healthy education of youths in underprivileged neighborhoods. This semester the program was based in the barrio Nicolás Avellaneda II; we worked with both adolescents and young children on projects with the projected outcome of painting a mural to represent these youths. With a group of psychologists and university students studying psychology, I participated with adolescents in “identity workshops.” In these we discussed life in the neighborhood, youth identity, and – along with various other goals – attempted to isolate themes that, with students from the art school, we would represent in the mural.
I also worked with younger children who were not originally included in the project. We discussed their “right to play” and other rights that no one had taught them, such as the right to a healthy life, the right to education, etc. Through art projects and stories, as well as playing games with the children, we were able to build relationships and hopefully impart a new perspective on what may be possible in their daily lives.


Moriah HELMS
Ingenio La Florida
While in Tucumán, my internship was in a sugar factory, or ingenio de azúcar. I would travel by bus outside of the city to the factory, which was in a small town in the middle of the province’s cane fields. My supervisor was an engineer named Carlos, who is in charge of sustainable development at the factory, meaning that he helps to develop and implement projects for the making the production process greener and cheaper. The factory complies with UN’s Global Compact environmental and labor standards, and has to produce regular reports on the steps the have taken to improve and the results. I helped to write the annual Communication on Progress report, and to upload it and other information to the Global Compact website. I also toured the factory, fields, and provincial quality testing facility with Carlos, as well as worked on ways to comply with the province-wide Plan for Clean Industrial Production.

Fall 2006
Buenos Aires

Amy BECK
IRAM
My internship was with IRAM, the national board of certification and normalization, that also works with ISO, the international standards organization. Right now, ISO is developing a new standard on corporate social responsibility, which IRAM is fully taking part in, and this is the sector in which I worked. I worked in a very beautiful office with incredibly knowledgeable people who spent a lot of time explaining everything to me. I was allowed to attend all the meetings that had to do with the new norm, be it general updating meetings, or private mirror committee meetings with the 6 Argentine delegates to ISO, two of which were my bosses. I also went to a leather factory with one of my bosses to asses it for exemplary behaviour in the area of CSR.
I spent office hours compiling documents that are referenced in other documents so that the reader can be better informed while reading important documents that have deadlines. I did a bit of translating. Also, I was able to attend a meeting to discuss the new working draft of the norm and help translate the draft. Following the meeting, I helped to translate the comments into English to send back to ISO.

Joachim SKYAASEN
Consejo de los Derechos de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes
The Consejo is part of the government of the autonomous city of Buenos Aires (Capital Federal), and works with the legislation and implementation of children’s rights. In the Consejo I worked for the Vicepresidency on which depend a number of programs and organizations pertaining to the implementation of these rights. Firstly, what I did was to familiarize myself with the different laws that govern the country and then Buenos Aires through the regulation of the international convention on children’s righs. My work also included attending different conferences and seminars on anything from children’s help lines run by the different provinces, women’s rights, modernization of the state and advising groups constituted by children. Towards the end of the semester part of my work was to research NGOs that provide financial assistance to other similar organizations and projects directed at children’s rights, perform the monitoring of international children’s cases that involved Argentina and summarize different information we had obtained throughout the semester in the different conferences for use in structuring improvement plans for other provinces.

Allison BARD
Ecoclubes
Ecoclubes is an NGO that is working to improving the way of life of people all over the world. It is based in many countries throughout the world, but began in Argentina. It is an organization of young people who meet to talk about issues within their communities and get together to complete projects to try to help or try to improve the environment. Currently, their most important foci include: Dengue fever, planting trees, ozone layer reduction, potable water and proper disposal of waste. Recently, they have been organizing international meetings to try to promote international cooperation and international understanding of these issues.

Rowan MORRIS
Centro para la Estabilidad Financiera
The Center of Financial Stability (CEF) is an independent think tank established in Argentina, focused on the analysis and discussion of financial services and policies, with a strategic and comprehensive vision. The CEF is organized legally as an NGO and includes a permanent staff of 20, an associate staff, an administrative board, and an international honorary board. CEF contributes to the local and international financial community through its forums of public and private dialogue, analysis of the political economy, training, research and publications. In my internship I worked primarily within Financial Services research groups and the Marketing / Funding group. As a project for Corporate Governance, I contributed to a paper on the analysis of the legal structures of capital markets between Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Spain, USA, and Great Britain through researching and writing the sections on the US and the majority of Great Britain. For the marketing group I researched foundations in the US that would be interested in funding CEF projects and seminars and presented my findings to the director and marketing head. As an intern, my time at CEF gave me ample opportunity to gain knowledge of the Argentine business practices and present economic scene and through the seminars hosted by CEF I was privy to current discussions on both micro and macro economic topics. I leave the CEF with a new network of professionals and increased knowledge of the international financial sector.

Kolbe FRANKLIN
Dirección de la Mujer-GCBA
While I was studying in Buenos Aires during the fall of 2006 I interned with La Dirección de la Mujer in the public health office. This department of the Buenos Aires government handles all of the issue relating to women’s rights within the city. Because of my interest in women’s reproductive rights, I was placed in the public health office on a new program sponsored by the department. For the few weeks I spent a great deal of time in the office learning about how the Buenos Aires government works and how women’s rights issues are addressed in this country. I was able to learn about numerous different programs from domestic violence prevention to HIV/AIDS awareness and I had the opportunity to meet and talk to many dedicated and passionate women.
For the majority of the semester I accompanied a woman from the office to a hospital in the city to talk to women in the waiting room about their sexual and reproductive health. These lectures were intended to inform women about their reproductive rights based on current laws, responsible family planning, and how to protect themselves. During these lectures I generally observed, took notes, answered questions, and passed out pamphlets and condoms. I also had the opportunity to accompany a group of women from the office to a series of sexual education lectures at different youth centers around the city. It was very interesting to be able to compare the experience at the hospital with the lectures at the different youth centers. Overall I really enjoyed my internship and learned a lot about women’s reproductive rights in Argentina.

Ward WOLFF
Asociación RESPONDE
RESPONDE (Recuperación Social de Poblados Nacionales que  Desaparecen) is a non-profit NGO whose primary concern is the economic and social development of small towns and villages in Argentina that are at risk of disappearing. According to the academic investigation originally designed by the founder and executive director, Marcela Benitez, there are more than 600 towns whose populations have not grown or have shrunk in recent years, including almost 200 that did not even figure into the last national census. RESPONDE’s programs focus on breaking the cycle of isolation that rural areas in Argentina have been condemned to as part of the world-wide phenomena of globalization, migration, and intensive urbanization. RESPONDE currently has programs in operation in 12 towns, in 6 of the 23 provinces in Argentina. Each program is designed specifically to address the needs of each town, focusing primarily on communication, transportation, education, and rural tourism. RESPONDE relies on the support of socially responsible businesses and its team of committed volunteers. The intern is considered an active volunteer, which includes going to the office a few days a week and performing research, helping other volunteers on specific projects, translating documents and applications for funding, and acting as a general consultant. Every once in a while an opportunity presents itself to travel with one of the senior volunteers to help with a project in one of the villages - a trip that could last anywhere from two days to a week.

Christy MARTENSON
Centro de Atención Transitoria
El Centro de Atención Transitoria is a service of the Consejo de Derechos de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. The C.A.T. is basically a temporary home for children between the ages of 2 and 18 who come from situations of abuse, abandonment, exploitation, or homelessness. My internship in the C.A.T. involved working directly with the kids who were staying there and helping out with chores. For example, on a typical day, I might have helped fix breakfast, chatted with the kids while they ate, and afterward, played a game of soccer on the patio. The internship was helpful in terms of improving my speaking and listening skills while working with the kids, gaining a new perspective on social problems in the city, and getting the opportunity to work directly with people (as opposed to sitting in front of a computer all day). However, at times I felt like my role in the center was not very defined. Overall, it was a good experience that helped me learn more about the city and the society in which I was living.

Patrick SWAN
Asociación María de las Cárceles
María de las Cárceles is a civil organization aimed at decreasing crime and violence by promoting social reinsertion of prisoners and their families through spiritual containment, labor capacitation and psychological orientation both in and outside of the prison walls. The program is primarily designed to offer prisoners a vocation in computer programming in conjunction with social rehabilitation. While in the prison, the prisoners fix broken computers (all computers used by María de las Cárceles are a result of donations) which the association donates to rural schools throughout Argentina in order to raise the standard of education in impoverished schools. Therefore, the program not only helps to decrease violence within Argentina but also to raise the educational capacity.

Nick MONIER
Ecoclubes
During my time in Buenos Aires, I had an internship with a youth based environmental organization called ¨Ecoclubes¨ (www.ecoclubes.org). My work consisted of 13 weeks and about 12 hours per week. I focused mainly in two areas: the first being the reconstruction and reorganization of the website as a fund-raising tool. This aspect was completed, but whether or not the organization con afford to implement my suggestions and model for the website has yet to be determined. I also worked translating many documents from both Spanish to English, and English to Spanish. Though this was a bit tedious at times, it is incredibly vital to an international volunteer based group, such as ecoclubes. Ultimately, my work was rewarding, and should help the organization structurally, but only if they decide to pay a technical expert to electronically change the website according to the evaluation. I learned a great deal about Argentine companies and office norms, and am happy with the overall experience.


Rachel GREENSPAN
Centro Conviven
Centro Conviven is a community center that seeks to promote and strengthen the development of children and families in Ciudad Oculta and Villa Lugano, some of the most poverty-stricken slums of Buenos Aires. In order to accomplish this goal, Conviven works with both the Government of the City of Buenos Aires as well as individual volunteers to provide recreation, occupational training, and educational, cultural and community activities to the community. They accomplish this by offering free workshops, cultural outings, and meals to participating community members. Volunteers may choose to instruct any number of existing workshops for children or adults (such as music, English, basic computer technology, circus performance, dance, weaving, etc) or may work with the organization’s director, Valmir S. Vieira, to design a new workshop or program with a long-term trajectory.

Fall 2006
Tucuman

Dylan WAJDA-LEVIE
Ingenio La Florida
My internship in Tucumán was under the supervision of Carlos Ovejero, an engineer in a sugar factory. Carlos is in charge of the factory´s initiative to meet the requirements of clean production as proposed by the United Nations. I worked with Carlos on a project to eliminate the factory´s disposal of its efluents into the river. The factory is now using the efluents to irrigate the sugar cane fields as a substitute for chemical nitrogenizing fertlizer. We examined the source of efluents from the factory, the system of canals used to transport the efluents to the fields, and the system of irrigation. We visited the experimental laboratory where they are testing the soil for the effects of irrigating with the efluents. We also collaborated with an environmental engineer who works in a yeast factory where they are also trying to solve their problem with their industrial efluents. This project was very interesting for me because I learned about current environmental problems in Tucumán and got to participate in one of the efforts to reduce one of these big problems: industrial efluents contaminating the province´s water sources. My role in the internship was mainly observation. I would have liked to have been able to contribute more. The idea of an intern like we know in the United States.is foreign to the people here, so I was not given many tasks or assignments so that I could help.