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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Though I’ve spent some time in Buenos Aires before, my experience this time around has so far been quite different from the last. I attribute this change to the fact that I am spending most of my time working with a local NGO, which has given me access to a new perspective on the city and its inhabitants. For example, getting to now my co-workers, learning about the work they do and the perspectives they hold, offers me a greater understanding of Argentine politics and society. Last week, I was also able to learn about the perspectives of various other community members who have been directly affected by the city’s education system.
The education team at ACIJ (the NGO for which I am working) set out to conduct a survey within one of the “villas” so that they might determine the effect of a certain educational policy on members of that community. My first observation of that experience has to do with the word “villa” itself. The closest translation of “villa” in this particular context would be “slum.” Something I find interesting about the use of that term is that the lower income neighbourhoods to which it refers almost invariably contain the word within their name. What rubs me the wrong way about this is that, while the richer areas of town have proper names like “Palermo” or “Recoleta,” many lower income areas of town are only known as “Villa 31” or “Villa 1-11-14.” Not only are those areas only designated by number (do they not deserve a name?), but they are also identified and labeled as slums by naming them as such. Personally, I feel that this sends a subliminal (if not explicit) message that those areas of town are defined by their lower-income character, and it also implies that their situation is static; they can be called “villas” because that’s what they are and that is what they will always be. Me, on the other hand, I would like to think that they have some potential for growth and change…
As for the experience of conducting a survey within one of Buenos Aires’ many villas, the truth is I had a wonderful time. It was a nice change to be learning about the problems within the education system by listening to people’s stories and experiences rather than sifting through documents on a computer screen. I also found that talking to affected families also gave life and perspective to the research in which Adrian and I are currently engaged. One woman sat me down at her kitchen table and told me that her grand-daughter had finally managed to get a spot in kindergarten half way through the year because there had previously been no spots available. At hat moment, the very same grand-daughter ran into the house, having just got home from her first day at school. We had to stop conducting the survey for at least 5 minutes while this sweet, smiling little girl prattled on about the hooks in her classroom, the haircut of a new classmate, the song that they sang for someone’s birthday, and other wonderful things that her first day of school had brought. Needless to say, I didn’t mind the intrusion…
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