Che, Encuentro de Murga para Sembrar Alegria
Noted on August 7, 2012 by IE3 Student in
Written by Diana Cardona: Oregon State University - Cascades student and IE3 scholarship recipient interning with Community Center in Argentina this summer.
I can say that my experience here in Argentina has been quite impactful on my life. I have been here 5 weeks already and there are so many things I have learned and so many things that have influenced how I view other cultures. Like any other experience, I have had ups and downs, Argentina was no different. I pictured Argentina as similar to Mexico but I learned that expectations can definitely take a toll in life adventures.
The most appalling difference I found in Argentina was the heavy influence the media and politics have on families, educational systems and communities. Within the first week I had about 40 political theory discussions with my co-workers, supervisor and host family. I never realized how important it was in everyday life. It made me see that everything is a type of ideology from a political structure. I had came to the conclusion that the people from the Engranajes Association don’t do their job because they get paid substantially well. It was quite the contrary; they don’t get paid at all. Their jobs as educators, mentors, and advocates are very important for the well being of the children of Barrrio San Calletano and Villa Constitucion. I see the joy in the children’s eyes when they play music, sing and dance.
On July 26th and 27th, I had the privilege to attend and participate in the public street band (murga) battle created by Asociación y Biblietaca Popular "Engranajes" in conjunction with the Asociación Vecinal de Barrio San Cayetano. It was a two day event that consisted of percussion, dance, singing and costume workshops. A professional murga from the city of Rosario came to instruct the workshops and more than 200 children participated. Overall, it was quite a successful event and the children left the workshops with smiles on their faces that touched my heart.
The main purpose of the event was to bring together the community in order to reduce negative connotations that have been placed on citizens of low economic status, who are discriminated in the media and business industry. The phrase used in the event was “Sigamos sembrando nuestros sueños con alegria que cosecharemos un País con Justicia, Amor, Igualdad, Creatividad y Trabajo” which translates to: let us keep planting our dreams with happiness and we will reap a county filled with justice, love, equality, creativity and work. I think we have a lot of work to do before my return to the states, but we have started off on the right foot. We will continue to strive for the main objective of Asociación Engranajes, which is to advocate for children’s rights.