Miguel wanted us to come speak about our experiences in college and at our banks. Miguel found it impressive that we had volunteered our summers to be in Argentina to work in microfinance and forgo paying jobs in the US. Therefore, he hoped that we would impress on the students our love of learning and interest in exploring the world around us.
Not sure how well we did that, but the experience of visiting a high school here and meeting the students impacted me. I really enjoyed chatting with everyone. I think they might have liked us too because after class they all stayed around and talked to us instead of going on their break. I had all the girls around me while Aditya and Pramod held court with the boys. One girl, Malena, drew me a mandala pattern. The school emphasizes the arts, so it was sweet of her to share her work with me.
After our morning at the school, we headed to the barrios to meet the Monday group of ladies for the last time. Alicia, the president of Grameen La Plata, who heads the Monday meetings asked us to share our thoughts on what we have learned. We discussed the sense of community and solidarity among the ladies as the most important aspects of Grameen that we felt were as important as the loans the ladies received. Alicia told us that we had discovered the spirit of Grameen.
Overall today was a great day. Tomorrow is our final day in the barrios and Thursday is our presentation in front of the National University of La Plata. I have an action-packed last few days!
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