Wharton International Volunteers Program 2007 - Buenos Aires

May 19th to 22nd

Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires.  Greetings from Team Working World or as I like to call it Two Guys, a Girl and a Microfinance company!

I'm running slightly behind on my Blog writing duties but I guess that's what happens when you work hard and party even harder.

Firstly, an introduction is due.

The Team

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This is the aesthetically-pleasing triumvirate.  Starting from the left...

• Ani Khatri: A kid from the cobbled streets of Dubai.  This is his second time around in BA so he likes to walk around like he knows the city.  We play along so he feels good about himself.
• Lisa Mou: The girl with a serious affliction for shopping.  She has been so happy with the possibilities of significant retail therapy here that I swear I saw a tear of joy roll down her cheek as we walked down a street bordered with boutique shops.
• Raghav Gandhi: The blog author with the looks to boot (at this point, I've already lost Lisa as she thinks of her next purchase).  The graduated student of the group, I am at BA as I try to console myself from a life without Philly, without Wharton, without concert rules - someone hand me the Prozac please.

The weekend

We were finally united on Saturday for the start of this WIVP adventure.  The day was spent acclimatizing to the city - by that I mean, we slept, went out for lunch, walked around the shops, slept, ate dinner and then partied.  One thing we've learnt is that Argentineans follow a schedule, which is a few hours later than what we are accustomed to in the US: lunch at 3pm, dinner at 10pm (although it seems that they would like to get away with 11pm if they could) and partying that really starts when most clubs shut in Philly (i.e at 2am) and ends after the sun even comes up!

We also met up with some of the South America GIP crew during the evening who were catching a 4am flight to Brazil (who plans these things! - a flight on Saturday night) - don't worry Kevin, Bolaji, Alex, Clarice et al, we partied on your behalf.

Sunday: the highlight was meeting the fearless and inspirational leader of Working World over Swedish brunch, Brendan Martin.  We learnt a little of his life's work over omelettes, Bloody Mary's, champagne (what - you thought the drinking would stop!) and dessert.

Some assorted highlights from the weekend:

And now to the main reason we are here (no it is not shopping or walking back into our apartment at 8am following a night of joviality!).

Working World

Working World is a non-profit organization that provides micro-finance to workers in Argentina as they strive to achieve self-sustainability.  They typically work with co-operatives, which are worker-controlled organizations that have taken control of the businesses that formerly they were employees of.  This action is usually the result of corrupt or negligent owners.  The cooperatives are involved in busnesses such as metal factories, shoe manufacturing and even balloon production!  These loans are small and short-term.  They are offered at affordable rates and are used to purchase, for example, a raw materials order.  Once the co-op carries out the sales made possible by the loan, they are required to pay off the loan.

As I mentioned previously, Working World was co-founded by Brendan Martin, a New York native.  He set up the organization in 2004 and has built a trusted team around him, who all believe in the mission of helping the poor in Argentina build their lives up.  On top of that, they are all a very cool bunch.

Beginning of Week 1

Our project is a set of tasks, which include setting up new marketing materials that Brendan can use for fundraising as he seeks to increase the size of the business, assist in the creation of accounting tools for the co-ops so that they can monitor their finances at a basic level and help Working World in the application process of registering itself with larger micro-finance organizations.

It's taken us a while to get back in the swing of being in an office.  It seems that Wharton as a business school does not prepare you ideally for sitting at a desk from 9.30 to 5.30!  The 1st years spend a few hours each day contemplating how they are going to manage during their internships.  The good thing for us is that we have great people who tolerate us!

Some lessons learnt:

1. Lisa likes to take photos of food (see photo above) almost to the point that people she is having dinner with become non-entities!
2. Ani hates McDonald's - the funny thing is that there is one of them on every corner in BA
3. Eating lunch in one area with the whole office is a great bonding mechanism - something that many American companies could adopt as an HR exercise
4. Men do the cheek to cheek thing out here when they meet - it takes a while to get used to but it's fairly endearing once you do

Watch out for the next edition coming your way very soon .... I hope!

May 23^rd to 27^th

The Co-ops

On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to visit three of the cooperatives that Working World is … working with!  We were taken by Esteban – the multi-talented loan officer with a newborn baby, who “moonlights” as a professor of communications.

Cooperatives are organizations that run on democratic control, so although there is a hierarchy, officers are usually elected and the most important decisions have to be approved by all the workers.  This also means that the elected officers can be replaced very easily if there is proof of malpractice or inefficiency. 

Another charming facet that cooperatives have is that you can often tell the personality of the workers from the name that they give to the organization.  Some are practical and will name themselves after their production material (Crometal); others have grander ambitions (Global – the manufacturer of balloons); some are nostalgic and honor the day that it all began (3^rd of October); whilst some are more philosophical or perhaps simply fans of Star Wars (La Nueva Esperanza - “A New Hope”).  Cooperatives can vary in size and we were fortunate to see three that were at different parts of the spectrum in terms of size and success.

Next was an aluminum goods manufacturer called Metal Varela (their name is inspired by the neighborhood they are located in – not muy original!).  Their case highlighted the importance of organizations such as Working World and the need for them to take more of a hands-on approach vs. lending and a laissez-faire philosophy.  Metal Varela was initially a successful cooperative, but began to suffer when it was discovered that it had been charging a price below cost for its products.  Although they are on the road to recovery, they have been aided by WW’s in-house accountant, Eleonora, on their systems and accounting tools.

Last was Crometal – one of the most successful and largest cooperatives.  They manufacture scaffolding and industrial shelves.  Their vast machinery and factory space was a stark contrast to 3^rd of October.  As opposed to the hand-holding that was required with the latter in order to lead them on the path towards repayment, Crometal comfortably handed its checks over to Esteban.

Heartbreak

Your author had to suffer considerable heartbreak this week as his beloved lost in the final of the Champions League.  For the ignoramuses in the distribution list, the CL is the pan-European football (soccer) tournament for the leading teams in the continent.  As yours truly has all too often found out, being better does not always lead to success – having the referee on your side usually helps.  Apologies – just some remnant bitterness creeping through.  Congratulations to the Milanistas.  Until next time.  Red-men: You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Weekend #2

Some sightseeing was in order.  Selected highlights…

• Recoleta : Elaborate crypts that are owned by noble families in the city so some of them contained more than one coffin.  These crypts are known to cost more than some houses in Buenos Aires and the cemetery also houses the body of Eva Peron (predictably most visitors upon seeing her coffin, including yours truly, feel the need to sing “Don’t cry for me Argentina” in their most Madonna-esque voice).
• Puerto Madero: developers have converted the old brick warehouses in this riverfront area for residential and commercial purposes.  The upcoming area of – think in early 00s.
• Museo de Arte Decorativo: More than the art, this museum is fascinating for the palatial building that it is located in.  One day my house will look just like it … and then I will wake up.

Lessons learnt:

1. Lisa can shop and really loves coats and boots (like most kids brought up in New York – apparently)
2. Cordon off a staircase with a rope and that is an instant challenge aimed at Ani to get beyond that most dastardly of barriers
3. Going to sleep at 8am on more than one night (sorry morning) means your body clock gets used to it!
4. Oh and Lisa still likes to take photos of food!

 Will try that the next one is not too late!

May 28^th – June 3^rd

 

O Sleep, where art thou?

 

I alluded to this in the previous edition of the blog but your author is suffering from a considerable bout of insomnia.  Well I say insomnia but it is more in fact that I have got used to sleeping at 7-8am so on nights when we have done nothing, I literally have done nothing for hours on end as I have tried to will myself to sleep.  For anyone in the future who might suffer from an inability to head off to the , I cannot provide you with a cure but I can advise you what will not work:

• Counting sheep because there are no sheep to count – I tried to look for them hard (to the point that I was squinting in the dark) but the damn things never appeared
• Pleading with your body, mind or soul to let you fall sleep – it seems that even I cannot be spared from my sadistic nature
• Banging your head on the mattress or the wall – this will just leave you with a sore head and slightly nauseous thereby compounding your problem as opposed to alleviating it.  You will also receive suspicious glances from your roommates the following morning

Fortunately, this time of self-inflicted punishment has enabled me to catch up on some pieces of celluloid magic -

• Wonderboys: Michael Douglas as a weed-smoking professor / has-been author trying to find his next piece of inspiration, Katie Holmes before Tom Cruise got to her and Tobey Maguire as not Spiderman = much fun
• Little Miss Sunshine: Endearing movie about the travels and travails of a family as they take their daughter cross- country to compete in a beauty pageant – BRILLIANT
• : not to be seen if you are looking to brighten your day but nevertheless good
• Zodiac: serial-killer drama that is not about how the serial-killer gets caught but more about the impact such an investigation has on the people involved
• Pirates of the 3: don’t read the reviews – the movie is fun but could be the end of the franchise
• Candyman 3: it doesn’t take much for horror movies to scare the bejeezus out of me but even I had to stop myself from cringing at how bad this movie was.  Regardless, don’t expect me to say Candyman into a mirror five times

 

Lost in Translation

I love the Argentineans but it seems that we will always have this interminable conflict between the languages that we speak.  Although officially the language here is Spanish, they are unable to understand my broken version of the language, and their accent, pronunciation and speed (sometimes it feels like they’ve barely opened their mouths yet paragraphs of conversation have already taken place) leave me looking confounded – more so than normal!

What’s your beef?

Being the good Hindu boy that I am (this blog is sent to my family too), I have not been able to taste the delectable delight of this country – the cow.  It does appear that Argentineans have unearthed some secret in the sacred creature’s meat and they know how to do it just right – even I was tempted but I managed to refrain myself.  I do hope that this exhibition of self-control gets me some brownie points with the Big Guy – I need something to balance out a heavy credit account!

In parts the city does have this smell of grilled meat hanging over it like an aura, which although does whet the appetite, it can lead to unexpected consequences.  Leaving my clothes out to dry on the balcony had the additional effect that when someone came near me, it seemed that they were readying their fork and knife and getting a side order of potatoes!

In Closing: Working World

We managed to complete the work that we had set … just.  But as working with any non-profit, we were left with the sense that we could have done a lot more.  We prepared marketing literature that WW could use for its fundraising initiatives and an accounting toolkit for cooperatives that would help them monitor their finances at a basic level, particularly their cash movements.  When you hear of examples such as Metal Varela, one realizes the importance of them using such resources.

We left with a great impression of Working World.  The organization set out to make an impact on the community and our visit to the cooperatives certainly highlighted the need for their work.  However, we were also overcome by the camaraderie that exists within the team of core workers, which then feeds itself naturally onto any volunteer that steps through the door.  There is a belief in their purpose and a significant will to achieve their objectives – such passion and desire can only lead to a successful outcome.

Lessons learnt

1. Have a party at Brendan's place and you feel compelled to play basketball with a balloon, using his staircase as a balloon
2. If Ani tells you he is never partying again, don't believe him
3. Lisa does her utmost to help the local economy - in fact since our departure from BA, there have been reports of the retail sector experiencing a significant downturn in its fortunes
4. Writing blogs is fun