Wednesday 4/28

Today we had another late start but had a very productive afternoon. After grabbing a delicious lomito, again, we met up with Ariel to go on our mission of buying needed things for the elders at Osvaldo’s home, San Martin. First we went to an orthopedic store at one end of the city that also had a pharmacy attached to it. We bought rubbing alcohol, a bunch of syringes, gauze, medical gloves, and other first aid stuff for the geriatric home that only came out to 119 pesos which was about $30. So cheap. Then, we spent about an hour trying to find both a mobile toilet chair and shower bench. We found a toilet chair that was a floor model, metal and stable, for about 250 pesos which is about $68, which was also pretty cheap. They had other models and types of the mobile toilet chairs, but none of the others were well made and were pretty flimsy. We then went to another store on the other side of the city to continue to look for the shower chairs because the only one they had at the first store was with a back. It would be much easier to use a backless chair, more like a bench or a stool, in the shower. That way, the caregivers can easily wash their front and back sides without problems. Well, the next place didn’t have any backless shower chairs either, but they did have another mobile toilet chair like we found at the first place. This one was brand new and still wrapped up, and was 430 pesos, or $113, which is still a good price for this equipment. We got two because one was for San Martin de Porres house and the other is for the other geriatric home Osvaldo works with in Villa de Soto, about 3-4 hours away. They have all the same needs so as we are getting things for these people, we are doubling it to have one in each home. We didn’t get to visit the home yet, but Ariel is going to go with Osvaldo in a few weeks, check it out, bring more donations up there, and take lots of pictures for us! Ok, so we found the second toilet chair, but still no luck with the shower stool. We then went to a local Ferreteria, or hardware shop, to get toilet seats….could you believe these people were using the bathroom without toilet seats? They just sat on the bare porcelain AND it was super low to the ground. So with both the toilet chair and the toilet seats, we could make it easier and more comfortable for those who need extra support to get up and down from the toilet, and also sit comfortably. It is much more hygienic this way as well. So, because the seats are plastic and will break sooner or later, we got two for each home, for a total of four. They we like 23 pesos a seat, which is like $6 each.

After three hours of shopping we had to come back to the hotel to get ready for the meeting with the people who are a part of organizing Los Abuelitos as a non-profit in Argentina. Ariel’s friend who is also a lawyer, Augusto, was the first to show up and he was such a kind man. He had researched what the process was to incorporate in the country of Argentina, and because I’m a foreigner, it has to be set up by a board of people from here, and preferably in Cordoba. He gave us all the details and it’s very similar to the way the process goes in the States. Then, Cesar, Liliana and Daniel from the Asamblea finally showed up, and they were all in agreement that they wanted to be on the board and work together to make this a distinct organization here. So it will be like Los Abuelitos (that which I formed in the States), and Los Abuelitos Argentina, that is like a subsidiary of ours here in Argentina. We will oversee everything and work together to bring volunteers and donations to the people in Argentina, but they have their own board and own responsibilities to be self-sufficient as an entity here. I have faith in all of them and am very excited for them to begin on the paperwork and getting established. Once that’s done, many more doors will open, they’ll be able to start soliciting and advertising, and most importantly, they’ll be able to start going around to local universities, community service groups and programs to get them involved. That way, the locals are working together to improve their own community, and that’s the aim of the big picture here.

So all in all, it was a successful day, and we  needed to hunker down early because Thursday we need to get up at 8am to prepare everything to bring to Osvaldo…and make a last run to the store to get shower curtains and rods and a much-needed cooking pot for San Martin!