I'm going to very quickly tell my story so people who want to give know exactly what "participating" means. The story is that I came to Buenos Aires in Sept and needed a change in my life. I was participating in an intercultural exchange program where I would teach english to a woman in her home while the school arrange for me to have some board and lodging. The program was set to end in March to which I would fly home to Canada.
But here is the interesting part, in Dec/Jan I began to realize that the church I was attending (Centro Cristiano Nueva Vida) needed someone to teach english. So long story short, I got in contact with the pastors and the staff about getting english lesson started. It was something I thought would be small, maybe my next trip to Argentina I would bring some work books back for me and my close friends. Nothing big, or so that's what I thought.
Anyway, after multiple meetings, the pastor announces to the congregation about this new program in church to get people learning english. This was before I left. After I left and came back to Canada, I maintained contact with the people at the church and the staff and co-pastors work at the college the church runs. And the last count I heard, there are 40 people wanting classes with me and 20 more on a waiting list. Those numbers have me reeling! I still am walking around with my jaw hanging open some days wondering how all this has happened.
So, I am making plans to return early may to finish what got started on my first trip. This time I will be there longer, like 6-9 months. And in this time, I will be teaching several times a week in my own class and helping in the classes of other teachers as well. I will also be helping the church in preparing for their biggest event of the year that happens in Dec called Rock & Vida. This is an event where the church brings in prominent rock and roll bands and they have the concert in a public venue in Buenos Aires. The event is totally free to the general public.
Rock & Vida is to create awareness about AIDS and it's deadly effects. To learn more, just click on the label on the sidebar that says "Rock & Vida". All my blogs about Rock & Vida will show up. The church is working hard all year long to promote, prepare and finance this event. The event. From attending the event last year, I can personally attest that the church has everything well arranged and sees to every detail of the event all the way from the artists, to making sure there are public bathrooms and food vendors at the venue. And the church members are giving generously to make it all happen. Honestly, this story sounds so much better in some of my other blogs. For a really good read, try my blog entitled "Alice in Wonderland". And another blog called "HIV Positive Pizza Party" is an excellent read too that sheds light on the church and what we are doing to make Rock & Vida happen.
http://makingthesamedifference.blogspot.com/2010/03/alice-in-wonderland.html
http://makingthesamedifference.blogspot.com/2010/03/hiv-positive-pizza-party.html
So this is the story and the reason why I am setting up the paypal button if someone wishes to donate. There are many different ways you can do this. If you want to donate directly to Rock & Vida, you can do that. If you want to give to me personally, that's appreciated beyond words. And if feel like giving to me but you want it to be at my discretion and you don't care what i do with the money, whether I donate part of it for Rock & Vida or I use it personally, you can do that too.
If you are very specific about your donation and you want it to be only for me or only for Rock & Vida, let me know. Just send me an email at makingthesamedifference@yahoo.com to let me know what your specifications are. But if you donate something and you don't specify and you don't really care what I'll do is that I'll use that money at my discretion. I might divide it between going towards living expenses and giving it to the church.
Just for your info to how it works is that any funds donated here, goes to my paypal account to which I transfer it to a bank account that I can access internationally. So I can draw from my Canadian bank account in Argentina and get pesos. And for your information, the exchange rate for $1 CDN is 4 ARS so your dollar goes incredibly far in that country. For $10 CDN, I have been able to buy, yogurt, cereal, pop, pasta, sauce etc. at the grocery store.
You can contact me anytime through email or you can fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page. I would be happy to answer any questions about me and what I am doing down there or questions about the church and Rock & Vida. Or if you just wanted to use that form to say "hi" and share your heart about something totally unrelated to donations, I would LOVE to hear from you. I really do thrive on my fans and readers support and I can never wait to hear your thoughts or about what is going on in your world. Happy Easter!
"More and more I am finding that tango is not just a dance, it is a way of life in this city even for those that don't dance tango. The city has a way of wrapping it's feathers around me to comfort and ease all loneliness and thoughts of home and the people there. Like a mother hen, it soothes me safe and & warm under it's wing."
-Angelina
