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When I began the application process for this program, my main concern was becoming more fluent in Spanish and my secondary concern was doing something related to my field. After I actually received the Fellowship, my main concern was still Spanish. When I found out I would be a volunteer environmental education coordinator, and somewhat the assistant of the assistant volunteer coordinator at Aves Argentinas, my concern was now how am I going to do this in Spanish? It turns out, I didn’t really have anything to worry about because Mery also spoke English, so my science-Spansh disconnect was covered, and Spanish, really Castellano, isn’t that bad once you get used to how fast porteños talk. I learned more in my time working for Aves Argentinas than I bargained for. Yes, I learned Spanish. LOTS of it. But I also learned how to educate. I learned the most important part of educating people about anything, and especially the environment, is connecting with them and making it personal. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter how passionate you are, they will not remember it and they won’t care.
In this sense, my journey in Buenos Aires was one of learning how to connect with people and how not to connect with people as I gained practical skills along the way.
For those of you who don’t know, Aves Argentinas is a centennial (they turned 102 July 28th) conservation organization that works with the conservation of native birds and their habitats. They are also the representative of BirdLife International in Argentina and are also known by the name Ornithological Society of the Plata. The Environmental Education efforts of Aves are almost entirely run by volunteers, such as myself, and are organized into commissions within the overall group of environmental education that are in charge of specific areas of interest. As a volunteer in the commission of coordination, I helped oversee everything. Meaning, between Mery, the other two volunteer coordinators, and I, we went to all the commission’s meetings and all the event planning meetings both internally and externally as well as helped run and oversee each event. In the office, I would do general maintenance things that Mery did not have time for such as making some educative material and organizing things. I organized a closet of stuff (which was a nightmare), digitalized the contents of the volunteer library, and organizing hundreds of CDs, storing the important photos and information on a hard drive.
My first meeting in person with Mery and the other two volunteer coordinators was for an annual meeting with CABRÉ-Í, another conservation organization that runs the zoo and the rescue center. In that meeting, Mery taught me two things: how to take maté – she literally paused to explain to me that I did it wrong and explained proper maté etiquette – and that if food is present, as it was at almost every meeting, eat it – Mery would also pause during the meeting to tell me to eat something. Because of that meeting, for the next two weeks Mery would introduce me to people and say, ‘make sure she eats something.’ At first, I thought she was serious, but I quickly learned she was kidding and poking fun at me.
Before events and meetings with the volunteers she would always warn me, ‘Kalee, they are crazy, but in a good way, prepare yourself.’ And she was right. Everyone, even Mery and perhaps her more than the others, was crazy, goofy, loving, and passionate about what they did – which was environmental education even though they also had other jobs and a portion of them were students.
The time I happened to be in Buenos Aires coincided with the winter vacations for schools there. For three weeks, there were five activities being planned and executed at once and the weekends were very busy, almost chaotic because of this. Additionally, there were several late nights in the office due to coordination things. It was a real bonding time for all of us. During winter vacations, I had the pleasure of helping run educational events at the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, where I officially gave my first guided tour over arthropods, the Museo de Artes, and an event at Plaza Clemente. Through all of the trainings, meetings, and events I attended as a Volunteer Environmental Education Coordinator, I gained skills, friends, and memories along the way. I had my ups and downs, but overall it was an amazing experience and way more meaningful than what I expected. Overall, I learned coordinating is not insane because it is difficult, it is intense because it is a lot of work and a whole lot of crazy. But if you take away the crazy, what is the fun in that?
Final Note: I want to thank Cultural Vistas for this Fellowship and experience, because without their assistance, I would never have had this opportunity. This Fellowship has meant a lot to me. Without it, I would have never had my first experience flying in a plane, gone outside of the US, or been able to work abroad and be immersed in culture. Without the financial support and program of the Cultural Vistas Fellowship, my summer would not have been possible.