Adventures of Cameron & Emma in Buenos Aires

A few days before Christmas, I dragged Cameron, Preston and Paige to a L.I.F.E. (Luchemos por una Infancia Feliz y con Esperanza) volunteer meeting. The organization was organizing a Christmas party for slum children who would otherwise have little to celebrate this time of year. This specific event was organized for over 2,000 children, providing them with Christmas presents, food and new shoes. Although the meeting was a bit boring, rushed and not too informative, everyone decided to volunteer their time and we were even able to convince Zach to join. The celebration started at 9, but we were scheduled to arrive at 11… You all know how much we like our sleep.

By the time we arrived (actually 12, because the cab driver took the longest route ever, costing us much more than we ever intended on spending) all the children were there. It felt like we were in a zoo, with little people (or… children) running around everywhere. All the presents and shoes had to be blocked off, as the children are often so eager they wouldn’t have been able to contain themselves and would have headed straight for the presents. As soon as we arrived children were already asking when the presents would be handed out, they were obviously excited. Although there were tons of people there, we were able to track down other volunteers because of the Life T-shirts we all wore. A few of the “leaders” quickly gave us positions.

Cameron and Preston were assigned to recreation. The children were supposed to sign out the toys they borrowed so they were sure to be returned and although it worked a bit, it was more confusing than anything. The toys consisted of basket balls, baseballs, tennis balls, paddles.. etc. For the girls there was also nail and face painting. Cameron was asked by a young girl to paint a star on her face. After painting a beautiful little star on the girls cheek, she informed Cam that she wanted it to cover the entire face, Cameron tried her best, but in the end, there were a few more points to the star than there were supposed to be. The little girl didn’t care, she was just happy to be there. In the end, it probably didn’t matter- it was so hot that the paint was forming pools in their containers and dripping off of everyone’s face.

Zach and I were in charge of handing water out to the 2,000 children plus parents (it was about 90+ out that day). The only problem was that the business that was supposed to donate water backed out at the last minute. Instead of having sanitized bottled water for everyone, we were forced to fill and refill large buckets with water from the bathroom faucets. Needless to say we felt a bit guilty dipping cup after dirty cup into the same buckets of semi-brown water for the children and their parents. Another small problem was that there were only about 50 cups, so we were forced to ask for them all back once they were used. This means that the 2,000 + people had to share about 50 cups. (I hope no one got sick…but those chances seem slim to none). Eventually Zach and I were forced from thirst to join the others and drink from the buckets. The most frustrating part was filling the buckets up with water from the public restroom sinks, and dragging the full and heavy buckets back to the group of thirsty children waiting for some water. A few times the bucket would almost be full and a little girl would run up after using the bathroom to wash her hands in the flowing water above the bucket, causing me to have to pour all the water out and start again, the filling process takes about 20 min in total.

For food, Life provided hamburgers with rice and mayo salad (not a good combination in 90+ degree weather). Anyhow we were all pretty hungry, so the burgers didn’t taste bad after all. I was in charge of putting together burgers for a little while, (before the water job) there were many people volunteering in the food section and I was feeling a little stuffy. Paige on the other hand worked so well in the food section, that the coordinator placed her as head food manager. She was in charge of all the food volunteers and together they had to get the food prepared and handed out to the children. A job she did well!

After the food and games, the children were all lined up to receive their new pair of shoes. Tom’s shoes donated all 2,000 pairs. Toms are traditional Argentine shoes (called espadrilles-very popular here) that have been branded and exported to the US. For every pair sold in the states a pair is donated to Argentineans in need. (BUY THEM… Toms.com) We all have a pair of similar style, although not Toms. I can attest they are about the most comfortable shoes ever, I think I will buy about 5 pairs to take back to the states with me. Anyhow, Tom and his family were there to hand out the shoes and get some publicity shots as well. I had been waiting all day to help out with the shoes, as I truly love shoes in general and this type in particular. I was unaware that I would have the duty of keeping children in line, and out of the shoe area. They were so excited about the shoes that they would run past the taped off section and grab shoes. I am probably the worst person for the job, as I felt guilty keeping the excited children from shoes. They would run past me, and I hardly had the heart to tell them no… but as time wore on, I got more and more forceful. Eventually catching them as they tried to run past me and shoving them back outside of the boundaries. The little twerps got annoying after a bit. Although I am not sure how much of it was the shoes, or to see if they could get past us gringos. Even though there were some frustrating children, who can really blame them, this is the most exciting time of the year, or one of them. All I can say is that I am glad I wasn’t handing out the presents.

After the shoes, we all felt so tired and dehydrated that we decided to call it a day. Around 6 we arrived back at the apartment for a well needed nap.

Some of the kiddies lined up to meet santa (poor guy it was way to hot to be wearing that!)
Although it was a bit chaotic, I am excited to volunteer with LIFE again.