Directorio Legislativo February 2, 2012
Posted by cwslibrary in Advanced Projects, Argentina, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Argentina, Grassroots Organizing, Human Rights, Law/Politics
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Directorio Legislativo was founded as an independent project in 1999. Today, the foundation works as a non-profit organization to strengthen the institutional role of the Argentine legislative branch at the local, provincial, and national levels. For this our organization works to inform the public on how legislative power can affect their daily lives and what role the public can play in demanding transparency and civil rights. Our initiatives seek to promote and defend public interest.
Our areas of work and projects are:
I. Legislative transparency:
- Directorio Legislativo, quienes son nuestros legisladores y cómo nos representan (Legislative Directory, Who are our legislators and how they represent us). Directorio Legislativo (DL) was first published in 2000 in order to spur public debate and to provide the necessary tools with which the public can monitor and influence the activity of its legislators. The publication contains basic information about the function of Congress as well as information about current congressmen and senators.
- Network of “Parliamentary watchdog organizations” in Latin America. Directorio Legislativo is leading a network of non profit organizations in Latin America that work towards the transparency and strengthen of the legislative power in different countries.
- Innovation in Congress Award. Directorio Legislativo believes that many members of Congress over the past few years have undertaken creative programs to better social and political conditions in Argentina. With the hope to encourage more of these initiatives this award is given every year to a national senator or congressman who spearheads an innovative project to resolve a specific social, institutional, cultural, or economic problem.
II. Legislative monitoring and updates
Directorio Legislativo monitors and follows the legislative activity of the National Congress and the legislatures of the City of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Misiones, Santa Fe and the Parliament of Uruguay. This information is used to create reports and newsletters. These newsletters—which deal with various themes related to legislative power in Argentina over the past decade—are distributed to five thousand people in Argentina and abroad and are translated into English. The objective of the newsletter is to generate debate and ultimately consensus among distinct actors in society.
III. Consensus building
The Agro-Industrial Consensus aims to coordinate a consensus-building process to underpin the debate on agricultural policies. Argentina urgently needs to express the basic agreement shared by many agricultural organizations on key issues such as: institutional quality; fiscal framework; the regional economy; agriculture, and dairy produce. The Consensus is currently being promoted in all provinces of the country, with a focus in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, La Pampa and Entre Ríos. The goal of this project is to discuss the “Consensus Document” with congressmen and senators.
IV. Institutional Development
This area main purpose is to help the organization grow and have a bigger impact on society, fulfilling the it’s mission and contribution to society. In order to achieve this there is a strong focus on fundraising, external and internal communications, institutional relations and serving as a liaison with other non and for profit organizations.
Advanced Project Description for 2012
The intern will work on the “Legislative Directory. Who are our legislators and how do they represent us?”, the Innovation in Congress Award, and Institutional development.
The intern will spend the first week learning about our different projects, and meeting with each project coordinator. During this week the intern will also be asked to read different newspapers and articles in order to gain knowledge about the Argentinean political, social and economical situation.
In the second stage of the internship, the intern is assigned different projects, some will be weekly projects and other will last the whole internship period. Since Directorio Legislativo is a small and hands-on organization, the projects will have a small percentage of administrative tasks that will also have to be performed as part of the internship.
In the third stage, the intern will complete her tasks with the help of the area directors and program coordinators and in close cooperation and contact with any other interns in the office.
The intern is expected to come to work into the office and to attend to different events during or outside office hours.
Desired Qualifications
Good knowledge of spoken Spanish, good organizational skills. Interest in government. Knowledge of Latin American politics recommended.
The ideal intern is capable of working in a changing environment (such as the political environment), and able to meet her own deadlines to reach objectives. She knows how to prioritize,and is a team player (preferring to work on a team). She is proactive, charismatic, and able to effectively communicate with high-level members of government.
Language requirement: strong spoken Spanish.
Poder Ciudadano February 2, 2012
Posted by cwslibrary in Advanced Projects, Argentina, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Argentina, Education, Human Rights, Law/Politics
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Poder Ciudadano is a not-for-profit, non partisan organization. It was founded in 1989 as an initiative by a small group of citizens concerned about civic and social rights in Argentina. The organization’s goal is to promote citizen’s parti cipation in the governmental process, transparency and the availability of information and public access to information created by government entities. Poder Ciudadano’s belief is that transparent, public information strengthens democracy and local institutions.
Advanced Project Description for 2012
The intern will work as part of the Political Institutions and Government section of the organization. She will either author or assist in writing reports on political issues at the national level (campaign finance, political reform, among other subjects). She will also assist in projects and other publications as needed. Duties will also include research and analysis on topics related to municipal, provincial and national level politics.
Desired Qualifications
Interest in Political science, law, education, sociology, anthropology or other areas in the social sciences. Knowledge of Spanish. Laptop required. The ideal intern is motivated, a self-starter, and responsible. She must be willing to work as a team in a small office, and bring her own laptop. Language requirement: strong Spanish (both written and oral).
United Nations Development Fund – Costa Rica January 3, 2012
Posted by cwslibrary in Advanced Projects, Costa Rica, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Law/Politics, Poverty, Science/Technology
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The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is the United Nations’ global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. There are UNDP offices in 166 countries, working on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners. Major priorities of the UNDP include: democratic governance, poverty reduction, environment and energy, crisis prevention and recovery, and HIV/AIDS.
Advanced Project Description for 2012
The intern will work in the Costa Rica office. She will work with staff to define and implement a project that capitalizes on her strengths and interests, as well as the needs of the organization. Previous intern’s duties included: helping to organize a forum on civil society, compiling background research on a variety of issues (including science and technology, production and employment, government spending, and public policies), and speech writing. For 2011, the internship will focus on issues of democratic governance and gender equality, and the dissemination of related information via the Internet.
Desired Qualifications
Strong communication and organizational skills, strong Spanish (all office communication occurs in Spanish), ability to take initiative, interest/background in international development and the UN Millennium Development Goals, computer proficiency, experience in developing procedural systems.
Language requirement: spoken and written Spanish
The Guatemalan Project December 7, 2011
Posted by cwslibrary in Guatemala, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Business/Finance/Entrepreneurship, Cultural/Ethnic Origins, Health, not-for-profit, Poverty, Women
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The Guatemalan Project works almost exclusively with the poorest people of El Triunfo, a rural village in the Municipality of Gualan, State of Zacapa, in eastern Guatemala. The community of El Triunfo (The Triumph) was established after Hurricane Mitch washed away area villages along the Motagua River in fall 1999. Cecilia Campoverde, PhD, a social work faculty member at Florida Atlantic University, worked with others to meet the most basic water, food, shelter, and sanitation needs of these families. They brought together the people of El Triunfo to dialogue about their needs, strengths, and priorities for community building. Slowly, homes were built and a water system installed. From this initial disaster relief work came the Guatemalan Project with a long-term commitment to empowering the people of El Triunfo to create a sustainable social fabric as well as economic and physical infrastructures. More than 250 families now live in El Triunfo. Ninety percent of the wealth in Guatemala is held by six percent of the population; Guatemala has the highest level of children with malnutrition in the Americas; and Guatemala has the lowest level of public education in the Americas. Over time, with private donations, the Guatemalan Project has built the eight room El Triunfo Elementary School, a health and dental clinic, and a child center; established an active micro-finance program, and created an educational scholarship program for students. Private funds have enabled a revolving, self-sustaining loan program.
To date, approximately $175,000 has been distributed in 775 loans ranging from $12 to $7,000, with many loans at $500. Forty-nine scholarships have enabled primary students to attend school in El Triunfo and middle school students who travel to nearby Gualan to continue their educations.
All interns begin their time with the Guatemalan Project by visiting area governmental offices, medical and educational facilities, and El Triunfo families, and learn about all aspects of the Guatemalan Project. Executive Director Campoverde now lives in El Triunfo and works with students to develop individualized learning plans and will serve as their supervisor for the duration of their internships.
- Improve awareness of the Guatemalan Project through various media outlets
- Update, improve, and maintain the Project Website
- Work with Proyecto Doctoritas, a Wellesley student-initiated health and education project which trains young women as community health workers and sends them to middle school
- Update the record keeping system for the microfinance program
- Develop children’s music/arts education and/or sports programs
- Learn about organizational strategy for micro-enterprise loans
- Learn about organizational strategy for educational advancement
- Complete office administrative tasks, including drafting and editing documents and grant proposals
- Design and initiate some other project based on community needs
All majors are welcome, as a comprehensive view of economic and social development requires that attention be given to many aspects of community development, e.g., architecture, engineering, education, medicine, communications, counseling, planning, technology, etc. The intern should also demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills in English as well as some knowledge of Spanish. The ideal intern must have an interest in community organization, economic, educational and social development as well as possessing the ability to work in challenging conditions (heat, humidity, poverty).
Additional info: $1000 will be held back from the student’s award to cover housing and board.
The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) November 18, 2010
Posted by tashabeg in Costa Rica, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Costa Rica, Environment/Animals, research, Science/Technology
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The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is a non-profit consortium that hasgrown to include 63 universities and research institutions from the United States, Latin America andAustralia. In the early 1960′s, scientists from U.S. universities forged working relationships with colleagues at the Universidad de Costa Rica in the interest of strengthening education and research in tropical biology.Intense interest both in the U.S. and Costa Rica led to the founding of OTS in 1963. OTS was founded to provide leadership in education, research and the responsible use of natural resources in the tropics. To address this mission, OTS conducts graduate and undergraduate education, facilitates research, participates in tropical forest conservation, maintains three biological stations in Costa Rica and conducts environmental and education programs.
The Bosques Project, located in northeastern Costa Rica in and around La Selva Biological Station, was initiated in 1997 to investigate the factors that influence the spatial and temporal dynamics of seedling,sapling, and tree regeneration in second-growth forests. The project hopes to increase our knowledge of vegetation dynamics, and the use of secondary forests for forestry and biodiversity conservation.The research team has been monitoring trees, saplings, and seedlings in 1-ha plots annually for over 13 years.The project is currently funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA. Dr. Robin Chazdon, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, is the principal investigator. This project is now part of a larger project comparing forest successional dynamics in tropical wet forests of Mexico, Brazil, and Costa Rica).
Internship Description for 2011
Students will be supervised by two doctoral students and will actively participate in research projects. One of the interns shall investigate seed dispersal by tent-roosting frugivorous bats. Interns will assist with surveys and mapping of tent plants, surveys of seedlings of dispersed tree species, and monitoring of seed dispersal beneath tent roosts. Another project focuses on functional traits of leaves and wood of trees and seedlings. Interns will assist with collection of material and measurement of functional traits in forest plots and of seedlings in experimental plots.
Students will be residents at La Selva Biological Station. Accommodations are rustic but comfortable and rooms will be shared. Laboratory facilities are air-conditioned and internet is freely available. La Selva Biological Station is a 2-hr bus ride from San José, the capital city. La Selva is a wet place and June-August is a wet time of year. Students should be prepared to get wet and hot doing fieldwork. Hiking and/or biking is required for access to field sites. Note that up to $1,000 will be deducted from the intern’s payment to cover housing costs.
Desired Qualifications
Preferred majors are environmental studies and biology. Field experience and/or outdoor experience is a big plus as there will be much physical activity (biking, hiking, hot sweaty days, buggy conditions, mud, etc.). Ability to speak/understand spoken Spanish (introductory level) is important.
Language Requirement: Ability to speak/understand spoken Spanish at the introductory is important.
