Building Trust: Beginning BTE in Buenos Aires

BTE Student Stories

BTE Buenos Aires kicked off earlier this year. We’re excited to share a Q&A with Site Coordinator Camila Ensinck on the start of their program.

Question 1: Highlight one activity from your first year. What made this activity stand out?

We’d like to highlight the individual accompaniment (or mentoring) that we do with BTE young people. This type of support is a characteristic of all the support programs carried out by Asociación Conciencia because we believe that, in addition to all the academic and training support for their future work, young people also have many concerns and questions, and they need a space in which they can express themselves, feel listened to, and feel supported.

We use various individual support strategies, starting from attentive listening and empathy to be available to the needs of young people. We also offer personalized tutoring monthly through a face-to-face meeting with each young person at the educational institution and during the school day. In this way, when obstacles are detected in their academic situation, we work with them to resolve their problems and build their life project.

At first, the meetings were to generate a bond, begin to get to know each one in their individuality and generate a space of trust so that they know that they can count on us when they need it. During this quarter, we began to implement more mentoring and tutoring with BTE youth.

Although building a relationship with each student is still in the beginning, we can highlight that students really like being able to get closer to having that space in which we take care of each other. We believe that this activity stands out because it refers to human value, which is the basis of everything they can dream of and build in the future.

Question 2: What did your site do really well? Share an example of this practice in action.

We successfully recruited 60 students into our program. While this is only the start, we were able to generate interest among students in the program and propose engaging activities so our participants started to feel comfortable, and started generating relationships between themselves and mentors. As they started to trust us, it made them commit to the program. It has been rewarding to see our BTE program come to life.

Question 3: How do you think the program has impacted your BTE students? How did they respond to and engage with content and activities?

Commitment is difficult in these types of communities. However, I believe that we have been able to generate a safe, fun, and educational space for the participants, which has generated interest and desire to participate. Although I think we still have a lot of work ahead of us, we have had a great start in terms of the willingness and the way in which the young people have received the program.

The social and political context of our country has not been very cooperative either, and we have been forced, on some occasions, to postpone activities. Even so, we have overcome adversity and continued with the necessary flexibility and adaptation so that the young people did not lose continuity in the program.

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Thank you, Camila! Learn more about the Buenos Aires site here.