Greetings from Trenque Lauquen!

Yesterday we journeyed from Santa Rosa to another city about two hours to the east. We are thankful for the hospitality of the wonderful people we met while in Santa Rosa. We are impressed with the kindness and generosity of everyone we met there and were sad to leave.

Since arriving in Trenque Lauquen, I had my second vocational visit today at the library in the town. There were many things that I found absolutely fascinating about this library, but the visit reminded me of the fundamental purpose and necessity of libraries. For the democratic process to work properly, everyone must have equal access to information and knowledge. From what I witnessed today, the library in Trenque Lauquen provides exactly that.

One interesting aspect of this library is its collection of Braille books. This collection was developed and continues to be added to depending on requests from blind students in the schools. The librarian I met said that this is an example of citizens filling in and volunteering their time as to meet the needs of other residents when the government doesn’t have ample resources. I found this information extremely encouraging because I tend to have a very negative view of human nature. This community demonstrates a large sense of objectivity and ability to notice gaps in resources provided governmentally and in response, an ability to rise to the occasion to meet those needs. It reminds me of the Margaret Mead quote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”

In conclusion, I believe this concept is very similar to the philosophy of Rotary and I’m so excited to learn more about it.

Photo 1: Jorge drinks mate´ as he sorts through hundreds of donated VHS tapes.

Photo 2: The archives of Trenque Lauquen newspapers and magazines.

Photo 3: A book from 1904.

Photo 4: A jade-ite typewriter (shout out to my mom) 

Photo 5: The head librarian

Photo 6: A complete view of the library