FINAL OBjectives and STRATEGIES

1) Relate the findings academically to the real world of globalization and how Latin American relationships with North America and Europe are affected depending on the region where the help is provided.

            a) Understand the value of the help provided to Latin America by keeping close records of the number of grants and awards given to NGOs through a list that specifies where the help goes to and who is eligible.

            b) Interview older workers and relate their experience to the progress that countries are making based on the help they obtain.

2) Analyze the reaction of societies in each country to the aid given and analyze whether or not the people know help is available to them.           

 a) Evaluate migration patterns and economic stability as affected by grants by talking to the people on the street and asking simple questions about their contentment with the government and help provided. Also by simple reflecting on the differences between neighborhoods and social classes.

      b) Analyze the involvement government organizations have in the processing of awards and grants handled by NGOs by researching rules and norms each government imposes of the handling of benefits online.

3) Explore the interworking of an organization and how to better the interaction between workers to produce the maximum amount of progress and individual satisfaction in the workforce.

            a) Interview volunteers to see their preferences in the workforce. Then, evaluate how much progress volunteers and workers get done in comparison to how employees are treated.

            b) Keep a secret record of how much work gets redone over and over by different volunteers by asking about their tasks each day.

 The people in RACI (Red Argentina para la Cooperacion Internacional) are wonderful. I feel like we share many of the same objectives as far as equality achievement and justice goes. There are also many volunteers who come from the US and other countries, which add so much to the mix. I am definitely glad I got to make connections with these individuals. 

The Last Standing

This is the last blog I will post regarding the internship before I do my portfolio.  There are many things I have learned regarding International Networking and internal working as well, but those matters will be discussed in the critical analysis of my internship. Now the task at hand is as follows: Blog explaining how you have or prepped or plan to prep the area for the next intern on the last Monday of your internship.

Well, I am prepping the next intern (I just met today, actually) by letting her know where to set her expectations in order to not result disappointed and make the best out of her time in RACI. I think it is vital to guide people in a direction where they can make the best of the information they are given access to, instead of focusing on the negative sides of the work environment and monotony of tasks. I say this not to criticize the organization, but in order to speak realistically to a peer who comes in with the same expectation as myself.  In fact, the one girl I am specifically referring to started today. She came in explaining that this was the last internship (in fact, last step, period) she would have before she graduated and entered the real work force, and is obviously showing eagerness to participate as a one more member in RACI, which in my experience, does not necessarily equate as such when you’re one of their volunteers.  I think that if I had known this when I started, it would have made my life a lot easier, because these things they don’t explain to you when you show up. Of course they sell you the organization as much as they can, and quite on the contrary, make you believe there are these huge tasks of vital and completely necessary things you have to do, but as days go by you’re not even sure of what your deadlines are. This does not help the fact that most international interns come in with really high expectations, when in fact we are just volunteers for the organization.

I really don’t mean for this blog to be a simple bashing session of what I have experienced, but I am one of those people who really want to know the truth of what they’re getting themselves into. I still believe that RACI is a great organization with much, much potential, but you definitely have to go in there knowing what you’re looking for. We have so many resources available to us and this makes it amazingly easy to do your own research and learn things anyway, as I have done and so have many of the interns I worked with. Although, It is easy to get lost in the disappointment, one most remember to keep pushing toward the things that they want to get out it. For instance, if what you want is to have more interaction, then you need to plan interviews and talks at least during the lunch period that is shared by all, as opposed to staying quietly trying to integrate in the environment. I say this because lunch is one of the most important times for communication.  As a matter of fact, communication may seem ambiguous at times,  so it’s important for the interns to know that they have to keep a certain level of respect with the people they work with regardless of the fact that some of them are younger than us. Believe it or not, this is difficult because at the beginning it seems like everyone is jolly and happy to be with you and friendly in a different, higher kind of “just acquaintances” level, so it may help you forget that you technically work “for” them and let the friendliness get too far. I saw it happen with one intern in particular, and I am pretty sure he did not place a job because he was too straightforward with the workers. He was a local and had been working with them for over 6 months. I felt really sad because he was a really nice guy and I cherished him as a friend. Obviously I can justify both parties in the decision of not working together, but at the end of the day I think that whole situation could have been avoided by simply drawing a good solid line of boundaries.

Ok, so after reading this it seems like a harsh critique, which is just not my style, but it is what I have done to ensure that interns don’t repeat mistakes and truly cherish the opportunities without any resentments. I have really appreciated my time there, and also shared that with my peers. I have made it clear that the experience is whatever you make it, as is everything in life, and this organization is in constant growth because of how young it is. You can be part of the start of something wonderful, especially as we embark in the projects I have discussed in previous blogs, and that alone, is magical. 

Size Matters

I had waited to update my blog this long because I wanted to find something specific to discuss as far as the advancements I have made toward my goals go. I will talk about this progress starting with a meeting we had at the AVINA foundation that opened up my eyes in a different perspective. It helped me see the involvement we get from enterprises in the social compromise regarding Latin America. As I have been doing research quantifying this involvement, it was definitely very helpful to see the research in a real life picture.

I have come across ridiculous numbers of NGOs that are either based off Latin America, or work together in order to help organizations based off Latin America. The field trip to this organization not only painted a better picture, but also revived me as an intern and made me wish we did that sort of dynamic work more often.

Regardless, some info about AVINA, it is a foundation that helps aid new associations and individuals get started in the process of ethically conceiving their business.  During this meeting I was also exposed to other organizations that work paralleled to this organization. One really grabbed my attention: Alameda, an organization that works with the human trafficking issue, and gets involved with sweatshops from different countries as receivers and senders. Which led me into a huge focus on research for a day, and sadly introduced me to a topic that I had taken for granted throughout my research excursions; trafficking.

 I cannot explain how happy I was to attend this meeting. Although it wasn’t what I expected (I thought we were attending a cocktail kind of thing with other organizations, and it really was a presentation around a table for the interns of RACI), it made me realize that his kind of dynamics is what moves me to get more involved as a worker. Which means that when I work legitimately as a professional, I will have to get involved in a field or company that lets me pursue this kind of learning.

In conclusion, I have learned much as an individual and the impact I can have if I take part in the process of coordinating and carrying forward an NGO.  The meeting had with it a great source of facts that I took to be very interesting. Here are my favorites:

1) Richness is not necessarily linked to money or tangible resources but to the use of those same ones and how happy we feel as individuals.

2) Capital social is your word’s value in the market. It is not assumedly opened to grow, as in, you don’t get more value regardless of how much you steal, but over time until you mess that up.

3) Corruption happens in all levels, and it has a different definition at each level it happens. State- discretion in the administration of public goods and less transparency;  Society- When enterprises support politicians in order to ask for “favors” after they have won;  and Civil- Monopolies in use of power.

And finally my favorite:

The ability for power you have is that the power you have as an individual, but the power you have is diffused. Your diffused power is the power of the volunteers and connections and people who work toward a goal with you, that power can be infinite. This last piece of information definitely gives a lot of hope to those people who think they can’t do anything alone, because no one is alone in fighting a cause that is worthy to follow, once you put it out there someone will always be willing to give you a helping hand.

It will be hard to put into words how this helps me move closer toward achieving my goals for the Summer, and it is mostly because more than just focusing on the Summer this has given me a power to change many goals in my life as a whole. Although it wasn't meant to be a pep talk, it did just that for me, but on a greater scale. 

I am almost done with the internship here, and even if I were to finish tomorrow, I believe I already obtained what I came here to find.