Serge: my first day as a volunteer with Conviven

Serge from Austria started work with Conviven in November 2009. This is his account of his first day:

It feels fantastic over here! Today I had my first meeting with the NGO Conviven that I'll be working with and it made a big impression. It's a modest facility with little means, situated on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. I need an hour to get there by bus and it's not the best area (I finally needed much longer because there was a demonstration going on organised by the unions - literally thousands of protesters in a procession moving up the the Avenue 9 Julio, the main artery of the city).

The children at Conviven really benefit from the good work the organisation does. The kids aged from 6 to 12 benefit from English language classes but also from art and theatre workshops and other things. They all come from underprivileged families and the government education system for them is terrible. The classes are overflowing with 40 children sometimes and the teachers are often unqualified. They can participate voluntarily and for free in the organisation's classes and activities, which is of course intended to give them useful real-world skills but in large part also just to get them off the streets and expose them to positive-minded role-models from whom they get far more attention than in their public schools.

The organisation, Conviven, is badly equipped and always needing basic materials such as books, stationary etc. But the people working there are full of heart and are all wonderful positive individuals. They are from international backgrounds and most of them are young students volunteering during a gap year or in combination with their education or are simply doing it on the side while working. But there are also people who have come for no other reason than to do good and make a small but precious difference in a community whose youth desperately needs that kind of positive influence. Tomorrow I will be supporting another volunteer in holding an art class which is becoming increasingly popular with the children.

Although today was my first day with Conviven, this evening after work I ended up going with a few colleagues to an event held by other NGOs with the purpose of bringing together volunteer organisations (who are active in Argentina but also other South American nations) for exchange and meeting. All volunteers and would-be volunteers were also invited. The purpose of the event was for NGOs to acquaint themselves with other NGOs and make ties as well as for prospective volunteers to find out about volunteering options and to meet organisations with different aims and needs. I can tell you there was a lot of positive energy and goodwill in that room. I have never seen something like it and it was invigorating! We even recruited two volunteers, one teacher and another to organise the library and improve the website http://www.conviven.org.ar/

On Friday I will be assisting an NGO that combats AIDS, called Fundacion Huesped, in making a movie which they make once every year, and which will be showing on Argentinian television on international Aids day December st. Apparently they need extras to play the role of students. This is their website: http://www.huesped.org.ar/ I made many interesting encounters at that NGO conference with positive-minded people and it turned out to be a very fruitful evening. It feels like there is so much happening and that there are so many options. Its very exciting and I'm looking forward with much hope and optimism.