DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the half point of our work with Acción Emprendedora. On Friday, we had a meeting with a few of the directors to present our work thus far and plans for the future. Here are some excerpts from our presentation and the one-page handouts that we prepared:

Elana and Karna’s field research project:

-Their project consists of interviewing micro-entrepreneurs and gathering qualitative and quantitative information about the successes and failures of the micro-enterprises. Karna is also working on developing a template for web profiles for ideal candidates.

-As of July 2nd, they had conducted 15 interviews and have many more scheduled. The interview questions focus on descriptions of the micro-entrepreneurs’ businesses, their monthly profits, revenues, number of workers, etc. They also ask questions about hypothetical services that AE could offer in the future. The interviews are filmed using flips cams, while the results are complied in an excel spreadsheet.

-Eventually, Elana and Karna plan to statistically analyze the data once they have a bigger sample size and report their findings to AE.

-The process isn’t always easy. Many times, they don’t have the correct contact info for the micro-entrepreneurs. Other times, micro-entrepreneurs don’t show for their interviews. To combat these problems, the group now phones the micro-entrepreneurs to remind them about their interviews, or they interview people already at the Puente Alto center.

Liz and Rachel’s alumni association project:

-Liz and Rachel are in charge on planning the 2nd annual alumni party, as well as improving current AE alumni relations. They hope to establish a collaborative sense of community, where alums can share ideas and mentor micro-entrepreneurs currently enrolled in AE courses.

-Working with Elana and Karna, they are creating a video to show at the banquet. This video highlights AE’s work and the advice of micro-entrepreneurs. They are also creating an alumni directory, which can aid projects like Elana and Karna’s in the future.

-In addition to contacting micro-entrepreneurs about the reunion and creating the video, Liz and Rachel are hoping to attract some sponsorship and speakers for the event.

-Like the other groups, they have faced difficulties, including editing videos and deciding what content to include in the videos.

Grant and Jordan’s educational consulting:

-The primary aim of Grant and Jordan’s project has been to create an instructor’s manual for the course on production, which includes lesson plans, examples, practice problems, and an accompanying PowerPoint.

-To begin, the two designed a questionnaire to send to former teachers of the production course. Additionally, they attended several classes to meet micro-entrepreneurs and study the style of teaching. Finally, they researched various aspects of production online to gain a better understanding of the material and how it can apply to micro-enterprises.

-Now, they have completed a preliminary, 35-page draft of the instructor’s manual in Spanish. Currently, they are working on the PowerPoint slides.

-Progress has moved along quicker than they anticipated. The former volunteers replied fully and prompted. Unfortunately, there have been a few problems with accessibility and compatibility. Some computers have trouble dealing with the sheer size of the document, as well as some of the graphics.

Overall, all three groups are progressing quite well in their respective projects. There is quite a bit of overlap between the projects. Elana, Karna, Liz, and Rachel work together in their interviews, even though they are searching for different data. Grant and Jordan collaborate with Elana and Karna to find useful case studies for the production course. Additionally, there are many other projects that the DukeEngage group is working on, including Acción Emprendedora international (incorporating in the U.S.) The next four weeks will certainly continue to be exciting!

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Sunday evening we had our second tertulia. The DukeEngage group met with painter Guillermo Nuñez and Soledad Bianchi, who is a writer. Nuñez was subjected to torture during the Pinochet military regime. While he wasn’t physically tortured, he was blindfolded 23 hours a day, forced to witness others’ torture, and subjected to psychological torture for several months. Eventually, he was exiled to France until the end of the Pinochet regime in 1989.

His art recreates the pain and suffering of torture. This is his manner of coping with Chile’s dark times. Because of the dark themes of his painting, including the distortion of bodies, his art isn’t widely purchased. Instead, his art acts as a reminder of the atrocities committed during Pinochet’s Chile and the costs of modernization. Additionally, Nuñez has painted and collected photographs that show the suffering encountered in the Holocaust and the Vietnam War. A controversial exhibit explicitly depicting the violence of the early Pinochet regime led to his imprisonment and exile.

Bianchi brought up an interesting theme regarding art and writing in Chile. Few Chileans actively collect or purchase art. Art museums here lack collections compared to those found in Buenos Aires or Europe. Writers struggle to make a living as only recently have writers signed contracts before publishing books to earn more money. For Nuñez, his personal paintings are not his livelihood, but a necessity. He works for the various museums and designing souvenirs for Pablo Neruda attractions and books.

Now, we have seen two sides to the Pinochet regime: Manuel Valdés’ pro-modernization vs. Nuñez’s torture that resulted from the economic progress. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Chile did make important progress during the military regime, but there were numerous humanitarian costs, including the murder, torture, and exile of tens of thousands of citizens.

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The next entry will focus on a midterm report on our various projects with Acción Emprendedora

I love the outdoors. There’s something peaceful about leaving behind civilization, technology, and mass transit. After spending two weeks timing the Transantiago subway, dodging dog poop, navigating traffic, and feeling isolated by buildings and houses lining street after street, I was ready for a weekend in the countryside. I even expected Marlen’s family’s farm to be much more rustic. When she said that the bathroom was outside, I was expecting an outhouse with questionable electricity. Instead, Los Robles struck a balance between wild tranquility and comfort.

I even felt more at ease in Talca. As much as I’ve enjoyed Santiago as a city, I’ve had difficulty characterizing it. I love the color of the houses and graffiti on various barrios. However, I’ve struggled to find a personifiable - for lack of a better world - culture among the bricks, wood, and metal. In other words, what’s at the core of Chilean culture outside of the offering of a large city? Upon leaving the train station at Talca, I commented on how I liked the charm and authenticity of the smaller city. It felt different. It certainly wasn’t a city you’d find in the U.S., nor did its architecture feel like a historical European city. While there are thousands of cities like Talca all over the world and dozens in Chile, it still felt unique. The bus depot was full of tired looking people. Their faces showed the wear of a harder life. The wandering clown that entertained us briefly on our mini bus felt like an individual with a story to tell. I think it’s hard to see individuality in large, developed cities. Everyone always seems hurried. With nearly seven million people in Santiago, you aren’t likely to run into someone again.

Life in the campo can’t feel any more different than life in Santiago. Elana, thanks to an energetic horse, was able to talk to Raúl, the caballero for a while. She talked to him about life in the campo. Apparently, Raúl grew up in Los Robles and moved to Santiago. He moved back to el campo because he didn’t like life in Santiago. People stole. There was pollution. According to Raúl, none of these problems exist in el campo. People are friendly. If you need something, your neighbors are there to help you in el campo. Few people steal.

The views from el campo were incredible. We were fortunate that the skies were clear, especially on Sunday. We could see the snow-capped peaks of the pre-cordillera. The air was fresh and crisp. The scene was a far cry from Santiago. Horseback was a great way to see the landscape, although it was a bit stressful at times listening to Raúl’s rapid Spanish using words that I don’t even know in English. The experience reminded me a bit of my art history class in Spain. I struggled to understand the Spanish because I didn’t know the words in English. Additionally, I milked, well attempted to milk a cow for the first time. I was glad that I volunteered since the experience was not something that I would usually do, nor would I have the chance again for a long time.

As a group, we had a lot of good discussions. We all had a great chance to get to know Marlen better. She really has made our time in Chile great.

There are several more entries at DukeEngage Chile.

photo by Eric Van Danen

Karna Mital is one of six students volunteering with community partner Acción Emprendedora in Santiago, Chile, working on microenterprise projects with residents.  He describes what captivated him about the DukeEngage in Chile program and how he hopes to put what he learns into action back at Duke.

1.  What drew you to this particular program or project?

I felt working with entrepreneurs would be a great way to learn about the developmental issues confronting a nation while simultaneously making an impact.  I have studied Spanish for years, but have not had the opportunity to experience "living in Spanish" for an extended period of time, and this project was a great opportunity to do so. Finally, I found Chile to be particularly interesting because of the juxtaposition of economic success with a wide income gap between the wealthy and the impoverished.

2.  What excited you about working with your community partner?

Acción Emprendedora (AE) has had interns for a few years now and knows how to use and support its interns effectively. Thus, I feel like I have a good opportunity not only to learn, but also to make a major contribution. More importantly, AE dreams to change Chile by empowering the impoverished to start sustainable businesses, and to me this is quite an inspiring mission.

3.  What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?

Generally, I hope to find some sort of information or abilities within the entrepreneurs that is being left untapped, and enable the entrepreneurs to use this to strengthen their businesses. 

4.  How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke?

I am currently involved in a few student organizations that are looking to provide more benefit to more students, and to assist with this, I will be able to use the skills of assessing needs and empowering others that I will develop during my DukeEngage experience.  I may consider getting involved in a service organization if I feel passionate enough about its mission and it helps train others to better themselves.  Finally, I may try to use my experience in tandem with coursework to try to draw broader conclusions on certain issues.  For example, I could create a curriculum through the Latin American Studies capstone course that frames my experiences in the context of a social/political/economic issue, or write an economics thesis that extends a microeconomic observation made in Chile into a more general framework.

Learn about the experiences of other DukeEngage students in Chile by visiting their blog at http://dukeengagechile.blogspot.com.

DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects.  Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.

Yesterday was the most rewarding day of my service work. The day began with a rocky start. I arrived to work right on time at 9 am. The door was still locked. I immediately noticed a phrase spray painted on the clean white wall next to the entrance. As I waited for the office to open, I watched strangers walk by and glance at the graffiti. I felt almost embarrassed as I stood outside. I still don’t know why I felt embarrassed, but that was how I felt.

When Ximena finally arrived, fashionably on time in Chile, at 9:25, she took one brief look at the graffiti and continued about her normal routine of unlocking the four locks that protect the center. I asked her what the words meant, since I had never heard most of them before. Apparently they don’t have much significance. They are simply names with “A la [C]alle” at the end.

The day was long. Jordan and I planned to stay for a class that didn’t begin until 6:30 pm and concluded around 9. I’m glad I finally attended a class.

During the day, most micro-entrepreneurs are working other jobs. We mainly interact with each other, the other Chilean interns that come several days a week, and the office directors during lunch. For the first week, it was difficult to see how our work could be useful.

At 6, the micro-entrepreneurs began to roll in. It was the first accounting course of program for these people. We met the volunteer teacher, Sergio, and took a seat at the small desks. The classroom was split fairly even between men and women, the old and the young. Most of the micro-entrepreneurs were energetic as they asked Sergio questions and clarifications. The Chilean Spanish was quite difficult to understand. The teacher and students interacted rapidly full of Chilean slang. This was quite a contrast to my class in the fall at a Madrid University. For the most part, I was able to keep up with the class without difficulties.

Halfway through, we took a 30 to 45 minute break (quite long!), where Jordan and I had the opportunity to interact with the micro-entrepreneurs for the first time. We talked to a nice older man, Fernando, for the whole time. In his spare time, he’s trying to start a business that makes alpaca sweaters, which, according to him are up to five times warmer than cotton sweaters. He told us about his sons and daughters, his expected grandchildren, and his niece in Chicago. He even asked me for my cell phone number because one of his sons loves speaking English and meeting foreigners. It was refreshing to see someone so excited to share his story with us gringos. The other micro-entrepreneurs chimed in about the usefulness of the courses and how diverse the businesses are. I was glad to see that my work this summer in improving the courses will help make a positive difference in these peoples lives and for many micro-entrepreneurs to come. These courses are practical. Even if the micro-entrepreneurs never really start their businesses, they learn skills that are useful in life, such as accounting, computation, and the production process. Ultimately, these micro-entrepreneurs are the reason why I am here, even if some days are long, cold, and solitary.

Afterward: I came to work today to discover the graffiti somewhat painted over. You can still see it, but it doesn't immediately draw attention. 

View many more entries at http://dukeengagechile.blogspot.com/