21 Sep SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP IN ACTION/ARGENTINE
We visited the community of senegalese immigrants in Francisco Solano, in the department of Quilmes, in order to address various existing doubts concerning enrollment in afip, compliance with the general system of monotax and the regularization of fiscal obligations.
| In a surprising and most unexpected way, the formal consultation meeting that had been planned seeking our advice, had been transformed into a training day in which we – together with the immigrants present – took note of their legal situation, the numerous formalities that they have to go through to obtain residence, the bureaucracy that they have to battle with and the dominant status quo. It was clear that, watching the young people who surrounded us – impressive in their physical appearance but, at the same time extremely fragile because of the situaton that they were going through – a simple evaluation that had been planned for a sunday, had changed into a compelling need to help them. We are always imagining how we can collaborate to help those in need, we dream about miraculous solutions and we end up organizing activities and/or collecting assistance funds or clothing and food to reach out to the needy. But the reality is that, very often, the opportunity to help them is much closer at hand and more within everyone’s reach than we think. And it does not depend on joining with the efforts of third parties. Perhaps it is sufficient just to approach, listen, share and dedicate some of our time and/or expertise to the service of those who need it. |
And so, this event offered us something else, and, even though it would have seemed imcredible a priori, it was sorely needed by those who received it. It was about using our knowledge, our skills and experienced acquired thanks to our professional training, but now not as a means of providing for our families, but putting it at the service of needy third parties, thus giving a social dimension to our normal activity.
Even if the results of this first encounter have not been what we would have hoped, it did serve to emphasize the reality of the situation of each one of them, and has permited us to create an orderly and effective course of action to solve the problems presented.
Once night had fallen, and we had returned home by car, we were unable to put this group of immigrants out of our minds, with all their needss. And we transferred their situation to that of our grandparents and we imagined that they too would have lived through similar problems, on arrival in the new world from Italy; the wonderful work done by Father Juan in villa itati, the accompaniment given by Maria Marta and Constanza. So all other reasons were definitively erased from our hearts, as we understood that we just had to be to part of the team.
As we would say in accounting terms, we had planned on giving but we ended up receiving the capital of a spectacular experience. A profit that is tax free.
Silvana and Alberto. Parents, School of Belgrano
