My internship officially ended on Friday, September 12. However, the week following I was more busy than I had been since I arrived. I finished buying all the supplies for the comedor. On Tuesday, the new group of interns came and painted the inside of the comedor (this time with a much better quality paint…or maybe it is because Fabian didn’t add water like they told him to, if you don’t add water, paint is less watery!) On Wednesday afternoon I held the brief hygiene workshop. I don’t know if they got much out of it. I also wasn’t very prepared and am not much of an expert, so I am not sure if there was much to get out of it. But if nothing else, at least now they spray bottles which they can fill with bleach solution to clean and a variety of new wash clothes and cleaning supplies that can be used. I still need to buy a few more things with the money that is left, but am waiting to find out how much they need to buy materials to build the table. Then I will know how much is left to buy the few small remaining items.
The following are accomplishments of my internship:
1. Raised $445 from friends and relative in the United States to assist the comedor.
2. Bought needed basic kitchen supplies, cleaning supplies, and a cabinet to keep them safely stored.
3. Led a workshop on hygiene and cleanliness so food preparers would understand the importance of a clean kitchen and disinfecting work areas.
4. Made needed repairs to the panadería, including installation of electricity and sink, fixing cracked walls, fully closing the room, and laying fresh concrete on the floor.
5. Painted inside and outside of both the comedor and panadería.
Apart from the comedor, I also worked on creating an updatable database of Argentine resources to facilitate connections with short-term interns. The database is still in the works, but I am in the process of collecting information from people who would like to volunteer their time to help with internship projects, or who can give helpful tips on where to find resources related to a particular area. Once I have gathered several resources, I will work on putting them into an excel spreadsheet so that future interns can access the information and hopefully quickly find resources they are looking for. I will also create it so that interns in the future to contribute to the growth of the database.
