Today we went back to El Tigre, but this time to a community center that was much different from the other ones we have visited so far on this trip. This one was located in a poorer area of the city, and it was run by a nonprofit organization called CONIN. The goal of this center was to provide support for mothers, especially young mothers, by teaching them the basic necessities and skills needed to support their families, such as cooking, sewing and cleaning. In addition, the center was used to help prevent malnutrition and hunger for children within the community, as well as showing mothers how to give them the proper care they deserve.
After seeing the more wealthy region of El Tigre yesterday, it was easy to spot the vast differences between the wealthy and poor, even though they are only a few miles apart. The people within the poor region can barely sustain a healthy lifestyle, sometimes not knowing where their next meal is going to come from, whereas the wealthy people are very well with nice houses and private developments. Some of us were able to see the extent of disparity within the two areas as we took a walk around the neighborhood with a couple of the mothers. It was a bit startling to see how the people lived in these conditions, with many broken down houses and streets filled with trash.
The range of inequality within the area can not be good for the region, because with the further development of the wealthy areas, the impoverished areas will continue to be dragged further and further behind. While it does seem that the community is making an attempt to try to keep up with the sustainability of the wealthier areas, they just do not have access to the same resources to compete. This brings about a major class division between the middle to upper class and the people living in poverty.
Globalization has been a factor for sustaining inequality, because the world is constantly changing and adapting. As I said before, this results in people who have the resources and opportunities to change moving forward, while the people who do not have those resources and opportunities to stay behind where they are, creating an even larger gap. In this way, while globalization is good for the areas with wealthier standards, it tends to worsen places that are already in poverty. On the other hand, globalization can also attempt to decrease inequality as it provides development of new initiatives that may help people that are impoverished in the long run. For example, at the center today, they use education as the first step towards improvement by providing mothers with a basis for proper care and support of their families. However, in order for this to work the community must implement a proper plan to adapt to the rapid changes that globalization causes. Sometimes the community has to start with slight changes in order to address their long-term problems and goals.
To end the day, we went back to Buenos Aires for tango lesson. We were all intimidated at first, because the group before us was doing some crazy variations to tango, but what we learned was much simpler. It was quite easy to pick up the steps, and it ended up being a great time. I am definitely hoping I can tango again.