2. Uruguay 2012
Tara, Marjan and Kristen do:
Montevideo
San José
Campamento Artigas
Punta del Este
Colonia del Sacramento

3. Montevideo
Our Uruguayan “Y”
familia.
Omar, Augustín, Tara,
Marjan, Kristen, Adrian,
Jesús.

4. Montevideo
Margarita provided Tara and I with a place to
stay while we were in Montevideo. She also
provided us with cake 24/7 and gave us the
recipe when we left.

5. Montevideo
1)1.3 Million people/3 million cows. They eat a lot of meat!
2)Capital of Uruguay.
3) Official language is Spanish.
3)Average summer temperature 28C which feels like 40C with
the humidity. Most places do not have a/c. It was hot!
5)We spent the first 5 days in Montevideo exploring the city
and the different branches and programs of the “ACJ”
(Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes).
6)We also spent a lot of time BBQ-ing.

6. Montevideo
ACJ Centro
A 7-story building with 2 pools, a fitness centre, courts,
several basketball gyms, a salon, theatre, university, social
media department, and administrative offices. The main
function of the downtown branch is to provide a recreation
facility for people, promote the core values between staff
and members, and provide programs such as fitness
classes, swimming lessons, day camps and leader courses.
There is another location that is considered a part of the
Downtown branch from which social programs and created
and carried-out.

7. Montevideo
The day-camp centre at the Downtown branch.

8. Montevideo
La Teja and Piedras Blancas
One of the biggest social issues in Montevideo is people lacking skills to
be able to enter the work force, and therefore are left unemployed. La
Teja and Piedras Blancas are branches dedicated to helping people
acquire skills such as using computers and making resumes. Another
issue in Montevideo is that a lot of students are not succeeding past
grade 6 (in a 9-grade program), and less are graduating. These two
branches offer homework and studying support. Another program that
Piedras Blancas runs is a business program in which youth make pencil
cases and tote bags to sell. The proceeds go towards the cost of
supplies. This program allows the youth to be creative, gain skills and
do something positive with their time. These satellite branches are
further away from the city centre. For some individuals, access to needs
such as seeing a doctor, is limited. At each of these branches there is a
doctor, a nurse, a psychologist and a sociologist to help provide basic
needs.

9. Montevideo
Las Piedras Blancas Branch

10. Montevideo
ACJ Portones
Like the Downtown Branch,
Portones is focused on
recreational youth
programs.

11. Montevideo
BBQ Parties
A common gathering spent socializing and eating lots of meat. This party
was organized by Jesus and his family to unite the youth involved with
the ACJ.

12. Montevideo
More BBQ-parties!

13. San José
1)Population: 40, 000 or so.
2)Separate from the ACJ Montevideo
3)One HFR branch and a “Casa”
4)HFR branch has 1 pool, 1 basketball gym, courts, a
fitness centre and an outdoor living area (for classes
and BBQ’s). Programs are similar to Montevideo;
There are fitness classes, swimming lessons, day camps
and leader courses.

14. San José HFR Facility

15. San José
Outdoor Yoga

16. San José
Outdoor Pool

17. San José
La Casita
Social programs are for children and youth. They consist of
homework and studying help, providing breakfast and after school
nutritious snacks, a place to shower and brush their teeth (as many
of the children that come to the facility do not have clean water in
their homes), and an organic garden where youth grow vegetables
and use them to make meals and snacks. There is a children’s
coordinator and a youth coordinator, alongside a psychologist,
sociologist and nurse. The main focus of this branch is to empower
youth and give them the skills to succeed through school, as well as
provide them with basic life needs. The programs are funded by the
government, and the Casita facility was funded by Winnipeg. They
want to purchase the land beside the building to use as an outdoor
activity area. It will cost them approximately $8000.00.

18. San José
La Casita

19. San José
The San Jose Crew

20. San José
Having a snack with the kids at the Casita

21. San José
Many kids who come to the Casita do not have running
water or clean water in their homes, so they take showers
and brush their teeth there.

22. San José
Carla the CEO of the San Jose ACJ, with Tara and
Marjan.
é

23. Campamento Artigas
-Provide adventure, relaxation and fun for children, youth and adults
-20 regular full time staff (maintenance, kitchen, administration and
direction).
-The leaders (and leaders in training) run the show in terms of running
activities and taking care of the campers.
-Open 24/7/365
-Rental camp
-Can hold up to 400 people
-Zip-lines, Boating, Canoeing, Swimming, Climbing walls, Parks, Sports,
Games, Dances and more.
-Very rustic camp. Start a fire to have a hot shower, hammock beds.
-Family Camp
-Tradition! Soup, Camp fires, Meal time and intro’s, Night games and
dances.

24. Campamento Artigas
This was the bus we went on to Camp with the 6 leaders
from San Jose, 40 kids, 2 drums, a tambourine and a
megaphone for singing.

25. Campamento Artigas
On our way to camp, a heard of cows decided to come
stampeding towards the bus!

26. Campamento Artigas
Our cabin!

27. Campamento Artigas
Dining hall

28. Campamento Artigas
Warming up the
water for showers.

29. Campamento Artigas
The 3km beach!!

30. Campamento Artigas
Activities at Camp!

31. Campamento Artigas
Ziplines!

32. Campamento Artigas

33. Campamento Artigas
San Jose group
Leaders were
Awesome!!!

34. Campamento Artigas
Popi- The camp dog

35. Campamento Artigas
Family Camp! Summer 2012 Mayan Theme

36. Campamento Artigas
Arts and Crafts during family camp

37. Campamento Artigas
Parks and Sports

38. Punta del Este
After the first week, Tara Marjan and I went to the beach
town of Punta del Este to get to know each other.

39. Punta del Este

40. Colonia del Sacramento
At the end of our stay at camp, we got to visit the town of
Colonia del Sacramento, which was an old Portuguese
colony.

41. Colonia del Sacramento

42. Colonia del Sacramento

43. Highlights of the Experience
The most important part of the trip for me were seeing how strong the leaders were
both from Montevideo and from San Jose. It was really amazing to see 15 and 16 year old youth
have the confidence and ability to care for and entertain a huge group of kids for 3-5 days. Their
enthusiasm and level of involvement with the ACJ was rejuvenating and reminded me that I am a
part of a great organization.
Another very important aspect of the trip was that even thought we were thousands of
kilometers away from home, because we were involved with the ACJ, we felt at home. Adrian,
Jesus and Margarita took care of us very well, and took us into their families. Because of them we
made many friends. Margarita felt like a long lost friend to both Tara and I, we would often have
lunch together and end up sitting at the table for hours afterwards talking about our lives, etc.
The emphasis on the demonstration of core values between staff and members made us feel we
were in a familiar place. It was really interesting to learn about the social programs
created by the ACJ to help individuals transcend through social issues.
The coordinators at the Casita suggested that we connect our youth so they can have
exposure to each others cultures. I hope this is something we can possibly launch.
Experiencing Uruguay’s country and culture was amazing. Uruguayans are a lively
and humble people. We got to see 4 different cities and spend time at the beautiful Camp
Artigas, which was basically a retreat. I was surprised at how safe I felt while I was in Uruguay.
Culture shocks- Surprisingly the food was very similar to what we eat here, the
language was not a barrier for me either. Some challenges were trying to bare the heat, and
waiting until 9pm (at the earliest!!!) to eat dinner.

44. A message from Agustin Silva
“We are very proud of our long-standing relationship
with the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg. Although we are
not able to contribute to the relationship financially, we
are eager to contribute in other ways.”