Today, we went on a walking tour for about four hours. We visited a chapel, saw the famous egg, and visited Recoleta. Recoleta is a cemetery for the famous and rich families in Argentina. Every tomb was decorated with stained glass, stone, flowers, religious figures, or statues. A tomb that stood out to me was Rufina Cambaceres. However, her story instilled fear in me at the same time. Rufina was the daughter of a famous writer and she was a ballerina. One day, her and her mom were preparing to leave for an event at a hotel. When it was time to leave, her mother knocked on Rufina’s door and received no answer. After no response, she opened Rufina’s door to discover her deceased on the floor. Once a doctor was called, he presumed her dead. Rufina was placed in a coffin; however, the next day, they discovered scratch marks in her coffin. It was apparent that Rufina suffered an epileptic episode and was alive but in fear, experienced a heart attack or a lack of oxygen, taking her life. This story caused cemeteries to implement the bells tied to the fingers of the deceased.

After Recoleta, we had lunch at the Evita Museum. Once lunch was finished, we began a tour of the museum. Evita Peron was the second wife of the President Juan Peron, who began the era of Peronism in Argentina. Juan Peron passed labor laws in favor of workers as the head of labor during the military regime. Hence, Juan Peron was incarcerated, in fear of his growing influence with the working class. In protest, thousands of people gathered in the Plaza de Mayo to free Juan Peron. As a result, he was freed and when a public election was held, he won by a landslide.

Before peronism, the traditional social aid was through charity. However, Evita had a deep distaste for charity as it didn’t solve lower class problems. Hence, she created a foundation to introduce a social direct aid program. Through this program, they avoided bureaucracy and used social aid from the government. In other words, every single Argentinian had access to insurance for health care. The foundation was a direct part of the Peronism government. Money was received from the state, private companies, and worker salaries. Money from the worker’s salaries were collected by the unions, which were created by Peron’s administration.

In terms of healthcare, the foundation allowed nurses to get a post-graduate specialization degree. In addition, many of the children in the day cares were able to play soccer and participate in a team. However, in order to participate, children received medical checkup with the foundation to monitor their health. In addition, the Ministry of Health joined with the foundation to help children receive proper amounts of food for growth. Their progress was checked with the medical checkups.