Graffiti Taller

These past few weeks has seen an impressive graffiti workshop taking place at Conviven. A volunteer from Norway Sgur Seibt came to Buenos Aires to visit his girlfriend who is working as a volunteer at Conviven. They came up with the idea that as he was here he could do his own graffiti workshop with the kids. The project took some planning and of course fundraising on their part to be able to get all the spray cans needed for the project. The project would involve spraying the entrance hall way of the center and also some seperate workshops with youths in a prison. All of us have been very impressed with Sgur and Siri's commitment and hard work. The results are breathtaking and now every time I go to work I am reminded how much can be achieved when a person is really willing to get their hands stuck in. 

Thanks guys! We are really gonna miss you. 

Road Trip

Saturday saw us all venture out of the city for a much needed break.

Armed with snacks, drinks, a guitar and a frisbee, we made the journey in a SUV and an exhausted old car to an Estancia 2 hours from Buenos Aires.

A dirt track coming off the highway led us to our picture -perfect sleepy ranch. In the neighbouring fields, horses grazed and locals played polo. After the clamour of the big city,

this place was perfect.

Those of us feeling a bit gaucho tried our hands at horse riding. The guys at the ranch cooked us up a mouth watering 'asado' on an open fire. A few of the group went to watch a polo match, while the rest of u entertained ourselves with football, volleyball and a frisbee.

When everyone regrouped at dusk, we gathered around the fire- Nate played us some tunes on the guitar and made us all happy.

All in all, a pretty sweet day......

[ Arjun ] 

Cecilia: An experience for life

Everyone should take the opportunity to become a volunteer. That is my conclusion after working as a volunteer at Conviven for nearly 2.5 months, writes our former volunteer Cecilia from Sweden.

Being a part of a team and knowing that your effort and contribution matters is a good feeling, as well as dedicating your time to people that are less fortunate than you when it comes to education, work, health and opportunities in life. A few years back, I actually attended a program called the corporate community and engagement program, a program meant to prepare its participants for the future workforce by organising volunteer placements. Back then, I was too busy with university and my part-time job to really appreciate my volunteer placement. As you probably can imagine, I did not stay for a very long time.

Therefore, when deciding to go to Argentina to work as a volunteer, I decided to take some serious time off in order to really be able to enjoy my stay, as well as making a difference, if not a great one, at least a small one that would matter to someone. And as a result, my experience became a totally different one. Being able to see the progress the kids make at class, as well as the improvements that take place thanks to dedicated staff and volunteers is really a good feeling. Also, the opportunity of becoming a part of a different kind of lifestyle and culture.

I can only hope that the future volunteers will take care of Conviven in the same way as the present and old volunteers have. And not forgetting that their time and experience here also will be one for life.

Fundraiser on Labour Day

Of course I plan a fundraiser for Conviven on the same day as a national holiday, Labour Day, in Argentina, writes our fundraising coordinator Alex Salas.

Despite this case of bad planning on my part the night was a big success. We are trying to secure an "Asocacion Civil sin fines de lucro" status, which is a legal filing that confirms Conviven's non profit status and legally registers the organization as an NGO. With the title, which must be processed by a lawyer, accountant or notary, Conviven can operate as an independent organization, open a bank account and raise funds that will go directly to Conviven and its community.

Conviven has operated since 1994, but has remained under the guidance of other NGO's like Help Argentina. They have been wonderful in supporting Conviven, but as is the case in all walks of life, it’s time for Conviven to spread its wings and operate independently. We feel that this will be the first step in the long and successful journey that Conviven will embark on. We have the foundation, the leader, the volunteers and more importantly the CHILDREN who are eager to learn, build and excel.

Through friends and family we managed to raise quite a lot of money which will go directly to the process of securing the Asocacion Civil. We are well under way and look forward to the new path that awaits Conviven.

Thank you to the volunteers of Conviven who helped entertain that night! You were great and I couldn't have managed with you.

Courtney: Conviven makes Buenos Aires feel like home

When I walked into Conviven, my life felt like it was finally starting to come together again, confesses our volunteer Courtney, 19 year old girl from Canada who started volunteering at Conviven in March and will stay with us until May.

"At the time I had been living in Buenos Aires for about one and a half months, and was finding my self feeling completely lost, lonely and disconnected from the world around me.

Getting involved in a project such as this made me feel like I was part of something greater than myself, evidently helping me to better immerse myself in the culture and appreciate the different sides Argentina has to offer.

With the incredible people and amazing children being the essences of the community center, it would be an understatement to say that it’s beautiful. Conviven is the place, that for me, made Buenos Aires feel like home, and for that, I can honestly say that it’s been, and will continue to be one of the best experiences of my life."

A New School Year Begins

Finally after what seems like an endless summer the children of Conviven have started to show their little ever smiling faces, reports our new volunteer coordinator Bella.

English classes where meant to begin at Conviven 2 weeks ago but due to terrible down pours lasting over a week most of our classes where cancelled as where those of the main stream schools.

We now have 4 kids English classes running 3 afternoons a week along with classes for adults and teenagers. Some children will also be coming in the mornings as the children in Buenos Aires have school either in the mornings or afternoons and we want to give them all the chance to come to Conviven.

It s really nice for me to see the enthusiasm and energy the volunteers are putting into their classes and hearing the kids laughter through the closed doors makes all the hard work worth while.

Get your hands on Conviven's gym

We are planning an exciting, hands-on volunteer opportunity in the form of 'Paint the Gymnasium!' part 2. Thanks to our friends from South American Explorers, who made the first effort on January 26th, we are already about 1/3 finished with the project. We are hoping to finish with the help of a couple of volunteer teams in the first week of March. We will be renting equipment to reach the higher, harder to reach places and will be needing both volunteers and donations to get the job done and to cover the costs of equipment rental.

Important! To finish the job we need to prepare the walls, and apply two successive coats of paint, which will require at least two or three volunteer days because of the scope of the project and the necessary drying time between coats.

Also, the equipment rental is costly and we will only have it for a 5 day period, hopefully beginning the first of March, a Saturday, until the 5th of March. The travel time is about one hour from downtown BsAs and the painting shift will be roughly from 10am to 3pm, and more details will be provided once we know we have the man-woman power. So please, please, please RSVP with your availability as soon as possible so that we can know if we have enough volunteers to get the job done. If we don't have a minimum of volunteers then the project is a no-go and we will be missing an opportune opportunity!

The school year is approaching and this is the best time to get the job done, sorry we know it is a little short notice, but please let us know if any of you wonderful people can commit to a shift on one or all of the first 5 days of March, beginning on Saturday the 1st. Again, we will quickly do the math, make teams for the different days, and get back to the coalition of the willing to confirm.

Please email with questions or comments Nathaniel (Nate) Galea, nathanielgalea@gmail.com, or Cecilia Hellstadius, ceciliahellstadius@hotmail.com.