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A few days before our scheduled meeting, I arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay. My friends Alejandra and Yoorang, Karla and I travelled to Punta del Este, a coastal resort two hours from the city. Although Uruguay is a South American country like Brazil and Argentina, where I have been, it is still strikingly different. The vibe of the place, the people’s behaviour, and their mannerisms are somewhat similar to Australia, but of course, the architecture is distinctly South American. Â
While on the road trip to Punta del Este, we made a detour to visit El Aguila, a beautiful eagle sculpture with a dolphin’s body that used to be an artist’s home next to the coast. I believe the name sign for the city is based upon the sign for EAGLE, which is a common bird in Uruguay. We then went to the popular tourist attraction on the beach called La Mano, a sculpture of hands emerging from the sand. Â
My initial impressions of the area, the city and the country are that you can easily get sucked into the beauty and culture around you. The food is excellent, especially the paella with heaps of delicious seafood. The coastal area is naturally quite windy, but that didn’t interfere with our enjoyment of looking around. Â
We returned to Montevideo, and then a couple of days later, Mark joined us. We were disappointed that Laura couldn’t attend, but we forged ahead and were energised to be in Alejandra’s hometown. I found it fascinating learning more about her and her background – it gave me a real insight into her life. Â
We had a productive meeting where we provided updates on our work to that point and the work to do over the next few months. We also had to prepare workshops for the local Deaf youth and focused on relationships, communication, the importance of doing voluntary work, your rights and motivation. We also ran activities on human rights. We knew it would be a dry and dull subject, so we decided to change it and focus on problem-solving to get the message through. In one of the activities on teamwork I gave the youth people a list of tasks that they had to complete in 7 minutes. This wasn’t as easy as it looked and required working together, delegating to others and following leaders. Everyone approached it in different ways but thoroughly enjoyed it. Â
Our workshop was held in a three-storey building owned by the Deaf Association. On the top floor, they run sign language classes; on the second floor, a library and meetings room; and on the ground floor, held a café and sports hall. I had never seen anything quite like it. I wish something like that existed in Australia. The youth gave us a tour where they explained the history of the place and some of the problems they currently face. It was an energising experience.
After that, we gathered together for dinner, which we all enjoyed. The final night coincided with a dual celebration of the 50th anniversary of the YOM and the 90th anniversary of the Deaf Association in Uruguay. The Spanish heavily influenced the culture, so they start at about 8pm and go through to at least two or three in the morning. I met heaps of people and tried to take on the local sign language while downing delicious cocktails. The 50th anniversary also gave rise to a new logo for their association, highlighting their hard-working effort. The board structure is quite interesting as it consists of several sub-committees or thinks tanks where young people come together to discuss specific issues that relate to their experiences. They can work through these issues and then formulate proposals and plans for change. It is a clear example of how empowerment can work effectively in an organisation.
At the end of the two weeks, the board agreed that we had achieved a great deal. We decided to record our reports on the video to highlight these achievements. We created a tangible record of our work which we could take into the next meeting in Paraguay. Â
On the last day of reviewing the visit and our past meetings together, we concluded that our strengths were communication and teamwork. We feel connected as a family. We then had lunch said our farewells and headed to the airport. Our last thoughts were the impending Paris camp in the not too distant future. We knew we still needed to maintain our work and activity to make that a success.
