I am suddenly very aware of the problem of slavery and exploitation of children here in Buenos Aires, and it scares me beyond belief to actually witness it myself. As I'm sure many of you know I want to be a social worker in my future, but today made me decide exactly what I want to do with my life.
Every so often there are children (probably as young as about 5) on the subway asking for money. Many come around with a small printed slip of paper that says "with the money that you give me I will be able to feed my family," but it always seemed weird to me that the kids have paper obviously printed from a computer that their families certainly couldn't afford if they are asking for money for food. I've always been wary of giving them money because I had the suspicion that it wasn't going directly to them or their families. I would prefer to give them food, but usually they won't accept it- for a good reason. They have a quota to fill, a minimum amount of money to bring back each day to the people that are exploiting them. I finally got up the courage to ask my NGO leadership professor about it, and my fear was confirmed. They don't have families to feed. Most of the children are orphans. These children are clearly malnourished, walk around without shoes, and wear dirty and ragged clothing...because they are slaves.
Today my friends and I were walking around by the park and saw a young girl juggling tennis balls in the middle of the street in front of cars. We paused for a bit to sit down and the girl and her cousin came over to talk to us, and it was then that I realized what was going on. Her cousin had a gatorade bottle with a few coins in it...probably no more than about $1 US total. They asked us where we were from and the little girl asked if we came here on an airplane. She was so surprised that we weren't scared to fly, and told us that she was. Hearing her say that broke my heart; I know that she has never been on an airplane and probably never will be. We were having a fun little conversation with them when all of a sudden they ran off and said they had to go. Their boss came over, furiously yelling at them for having been talking to us instead of making money. She had a big group of children with her and a bag of toys for them to do tricks with. We quickly left so as not to make the situation any worse for the kids, realizing that there was nothing better we could have done. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life, knowing that I literally had no way to make their lives better.
I am still incredibly shaken by having witnessed modern-day slavery. It is a frequent topic of conversation in my sociology classes at home, but seeing it in real life changes everything. I now know that putting an end to slavery is my purpose in life. I hope that one day it won't have to be my purpose, but it is going to take a lot of hard work on the world's part to make that a reality. I plan to make changes in my life to reduce the contribution that I surely have to the slave trade- we all contribute whether we know it or not. It's going to take a bit of research on my part, but I encourage everyone who reads this to do the same. Look up where the coffee you drink, the chocolate you eat, and the clothes that you wear come from...By making one small change in your life you can reduce the impact you have.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Neverland aka Iguazu! and Lady Gaga night
I guess it's about time that I've updated after having gone to Iguazu, and finally being over the various illnesses that Argentina has brought my way. I'm happy to say that I no longer have the giardia I got in Patagonia and whatever awful sinus/cold/sore throat I've had for the last week.
We had last Thursday and Friday off of school, so a number of my friends and I went to Iguazu with a group of students and PALs (Argentine students assigned to us to be our guiding light during our stay in Buenos Aires), and students from other universities as well. We travelled with an agency called Bais, which was absolutely fantastic. I couldn't imagine the staff (Gabby and Diego) having been more friendly and inclusive. We left Wednesday night at about 8pm and set out on an 18 HOUR bus ride to Iguazu falls. Luckily the busses here are incredibly comfortable and we got some cama seats that recline almost fully to turn into a bed. We partied on our way there and slept soundly until arriving at the Jesuit ruins at 10am. We took a tour of the ruins which were incredible and beautiful, but of course with a sad history. Back in the 1500s and 1600s the site was a place where Jesuits brought the native Guarani indians to convert to the Catholic religion. I imagined the site as sort of a concentration camp; there was a big courtyard where the natives were lined up and accounted for each day. I am constantly reminded of the sad history of how each South American country was conquered by the Spanish and other European groups or has had a period of military dictatorship, whether it be in my film class or through these excursions, and how that plays into the local culture.
The next day we went to the Argentine side of the cataratas (waterfalls), which was equally as beautiful, but in a much different way, from Patagonia. We were asked for signatures for the Iguazu falls to be included in the 7 Wonders of the World- that's how glorious it is! If you have seen Hook, just imagine that Neverland as real life! The trees were all a beautiful, vibrant green and covered in vines. I couldn't imagine anything looking more like paradise. We also saw a lot of different animals- butterflies with beautiful patterns and colors flew all around us and even landed on us. Lizards and coatis (kind of like Argentina raccoons) greeted us at the ends of the bridges when we stopped for drinks. We walked on miles of bridges over the beautiful water and roaring waterfalls to "La Garganta del Diablo", the throat of the devil. The falls soaked us, which was a nice relief in the scorching weather. We must have seen about a dozen rainbows as well, luckily I got lots of pictures! Unfortunately we weren't able to do the boat tour that goes under the falls because about 2 weeks ago two people were killed and another 3 are still missing. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the boat capsized under the falling water and the people were drowned. The walkways definitely sufficed for our tour though.
The next day the group split up- mostly Americans in one and Europeans and Latin Americans in another, because none of the Americans (including myself) wanted to pay for a Brazilian visa to go the that side of the cataratas. Instead, we went to a zoo for endangered animals which included a lot of birds, monkeys, and a few jungle cats! Many of the animals were rescued and recovering from some sort of injury, but this zoo was absolutely beautiful and it was apparent that they were in excellent care. My favorite part was the cappuchin monkeys- there was one baby that was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. The birds of prey were magnificent. I've never seen such a large, regal bird up close they really are beautiful. After we went to "tres fronteras" where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet. That was a fun spot for some pictures and souvenir shopping- its pretty cool to be able to see three countries at once! All of us were pretty wiped out the next day, so we lounged around the pool until it was time for us to go. We celebrated my friend's 21st on the bus back, and arrived in Buenos Aires at about 10 the next morning.
Last night we finally made it out to the gay club, and had an incredible time! The night was Lady Gaga-themed, and could not have had better music or a more fun atmosphere. It was great to see so many people be able to be themselves without a care in the world- much like my experience at the Gay Pride Parade last summer. It was even better for me because it was the first time I didn't have to worry about men grabbing me and wanting to dance with me, so much more enjoyable than our average club night. There was a short drag show to Lady Gaga's new song "Born this Way" that was soo much fun. The drag queen was fabulous and such a great dancer! We ended the night (at 5:30 am) with a choripan- there's nothing better than a choripan after a long night of dancing! Even better I shared it with a really cute stray dog. He was strangely picky and didn't want to eat the bread, just the meat...spoiled little guy!
We had last Thursday and Friday off of school, so a number of my friends and I went to Iguazu with a group of students and PALs (Argentine students assigned to us to be our guiding light during our stay in Buenos Aires), and students from other universities as well. We travelled with an agency called Bais, which was absolutely fantastic. I couldn't imagine the staff (Gabby and Diego) having been more friendly and inclusive. We left Wednesday night at about 8pm and set out on an 18 HOUR bus ride to Iguazu falls. Luckily the busses here are incredibly comfortable and we got some cama seats that recline almost fully to turn into a bed. We partied on our way there and slept soundly until arriving at the Jesuit ruins at 10am. We took a tour of the ruins which were incredible and beautiful, but of course with a sad history. Back in the 1500s and 1600s the site was a place where Jesuits brought the native Guarani indians to convert to the Catholic religion. I imagined the site as sort of a concentration camp; there was a big courtyard where the natives were lined up and accounted for each day. I am constantly reminded of the sad history of how each South American country was conquered by the Spanish and other European groups or has had a period of military dictatorship, whether it be in my film class or through these excursions, and how that plays into the local culture.
The next day we went to the Argentine side of the cataratas (waterfalls), which was equally as beautiful, but in a much different way, from Patagonia. We were asked for signatures for the Iguazu falls to be included in the 7 Wonders of the World- that's how glorious it is! If you have seen Hook, just imagine that Neverland as real life! The trees were all a beautiful, vibrant green and covered in vines. I couldn't imagine anything looking more like paradise. We also saw a lot of different animals- butterflies with beautiful patterns and colors flew all around us and even landed on us. Lizards and coatis (kind of like Argentina raccoons) greeted us at the ends of the bridges when we stopped for drinks. We walked on miles of bridges over the beautiful water and roaring waterfalls to "La Garganta del Diablo", the throat of the devil. The falls soaked us, which was a nice relief in the scorching weather. We must have seen about a dozen rainbows as well, luckily I got lots of pictures! Unfortunately we weren't able to do the boat tour that goes under the falls because about 2 weeks ago two people were killed and another 3 are still missing. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the boat capsized under the falling water and the people were drowned. The walkways definitely sufficed for our tour though.
The next day the group split up- mostly Americans in one and Europeans and Latin Americans in another, because none of the Americans (including myself) wanted to pay for a Brazilian visa to go the that side of the cataratas. Instead, we went to a zoo for endangered animals which included a lot of birds, monkeys, and a few jungle cats! Many of the animals were rescued and recovering from some sort of injury, but this zoo was absolutely beautiful and it was apparent that they were in excellent care. My favorite part was the cappuchin monkeys- there was one baby that was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. The birds of prey were magnificent. I've never seen such a large, regal bird up close they really are beautiful. After we went to "tres fronteras" where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet. That was a fun spot for some pictures and souvenir shopping- its pretty cool to be able to see three countries at once! All of us were pretty wiped out the next day, so we lounged around the pool until it was time for us to go. We celebrated my friend's 21st on the bus back, and arrived in Buenos Aires at about 10 the next morning.
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