Los ultimos días

Its hard to believe that I only have one more week left here in Argentina. Tomorrow is my last day of my internship and then I will be flying home next Wednesday night. For my last day it just so happens that there is a conference scheduled that we were invited to, so I will be going with my coworkers to an event sponsored by a coalition of groups dedicated to the issues of people of African descent in Argentina. My last week has been mostly about tying up loose ends. On Monday I visited the US Embassy again to use their database of grant organizations to make sure I hadn't missed any the first time. After working on grant applications for the past 10 weeks I have come to realize how difficult it is for small NGOs to grow and expand their impact. Grant applications usually include questions about the success of previous or current programs in order to gauge the capacity of your organization to manage the funds responsibly. Similarly, they often ask about what other sources of other funding you receive. Its hard to sound convincing if your NGO is in the process of beginning programs and doesn't have a long history of previous funding.

On Wednesday I went on my final visit to the Office of Immigration. First however, we passed by the Bus terminal to represent a Senegalese man named Bamba who works in vending merchandise such as sunglasses, jewelry and watches along the coast of the Rio de la Plata. On his trip back to Buenos Aires all of his merchandise "went missing" from the cargo area of the bus he was traveling on. The bus company upheld that it was not their responsibility and had no way of recovering or compensating him for his suitcase of merchandise. The suitcase was everything this man had, and the only means of making money to support himself. The approximate value of all the merchandise in his suitcase was about $2400 pesos (~$550), without accounting for what he could get from selling it. After a year in Buenos Aires, the thought of starting over is devastating. We left the bus terminal without much consolation that the bus company really had any intention of following up with the case. While waiting at the Office of Immigration I spoke with Bamba about how he ended up in Argentina. He said he arrived with the intention to make enough money so he could go back to Senegal and make a better life for himself. He spoke Spanish very well and said he like it in Buenos Aires, but his intent was, and still is, to return to Senegal.

Today was my last day in the office (since tomorrow is the conference). In retrospect I think this has been an amazing experience and I am grateful that I was able to work alongside people who are so passionate about giving immigrants an opportunity to succeed in Argentine society. Although I had a lot of frustrations with the structure of my work and the difficulty I experienced in gathering information for my grant applications, I think I have gained valuable experience in the field of international development and in relation to immigration policy both in Argentina and internationally.