Valeria's Last Stand

Recent news has brought to my attention that after I leave Salta, Valeria will step down from her position as Volunteer Coordinator for HelpArgentina in Salta. This presents a few problems. First, HelpArgentina will not likely hire another coordinator, unless they can convince Amalia to be the middle-woman for incoming volunteers (which is unlikely, since it’s impossible to get in touch with her and she’s always insanely busy with other work). This means that Salta may not be seeing volunteers for quite awhile. This could mean that I am the last volunteer el comedor will see in a few years…

Now, this is all hypothetical, but if this does happen, it makes me all the happier that I’m doing this mural. This will last so much longer than English classes or more books or stuffed animal tomatoes ever could. It’ll (ideally) be aesthetically pleasing and brighten up the dining hall for all the families that come to eat. It’ll also be a memory for these kids years down the road to see what they had painted years before.

I joked with Valeria how grateful I was that she decided to stick around just for me as the last volunteer, but I think her decision deals primarily with money. Salta doesn’t see a regular influx of volunteers, so her schedule depends solely on people showing up. She owns her own clothing store and runs that throughout the week, and has recently started a job at the customer service desk at the mall, which requires her to work all week (including weekends). Jon Teel, the coordinator in Buenos Aires had a partner to level out his work, however as of a year ago, the partner left and was never replaced. Thus, Jon has taken on the responsibilities of two coordinators and maintaining contact with EVERY volunteer in Argentina.

I hope this doesn’t mean that HelpArgentina will start to minimize its staff to the point where only Buenos Aires is accessible for future volunteers. I was thinking about writing down notes to create a mini handbook for future volunteers in Salta so that they are at least semi-prepared upon arrival (unlike me). But is it worth it? What’s the future for HelpArgentina?