Today, the Virgen del Carmen Hospital Christmas Fair took place. This is an event in the city of Zárate that is now in its 4th edition. This Fair is organized by the Hospital’s Cooperative Association and Friends of the Hospital to benefit the Virgen del Carmen Zonal Acute Care Hospital. Like many other towns in the country and around the world, the city of Zárate has the Virgen del Carmen as its patron saint. In fact, the main parish church, located in the city’s central square, is named Our Lady of Carmen Parish. Links with basic background information on the topic: Virgen del Carmen http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_del_Carmen City of Zárate http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%A1rate
There is a book titled Sobre la Salud y otras historias (On Health and Other Stories), published by Editorial De Los Cuatro Vientos and written by Silvia I. Baccino, Sergio D. Robles, and María Luisa Sorolla. A large part of this short book covers the history of the Hospital. On pages 41/42 of the aforementioned book, it textually states: “In the year 2002, the Hospital was incorporated into the research programs of the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization and, since that year, has participated in an international research project on maternal health sustained by the Bill Gates Foundation. In that same year, when—in line with the extremely severe socioeconomic crisis of the time—the Argentine health system suffered the most severe crisis in its history, the Argentine Medical Association decided to highlight the ten hospitals in our country that performed best in such a crucial situation; consequently, the Virgen del Carmen Hospital and its executive director received an honorary distinction in an academic ceremony after being included in the aforementioned category alongside ten other establishments from different parts of the country.”
The quote refers to the worst economic crisis the country has suffered, and the Hospital defended itself quite well to be included among the ten best in the country. Today, or rather in recent years, and with a favorable economic situation—at least superior to the crisis situation, compared to that moment in 2002, by 2014 with a much better national economy—the situation of the Hospital is worse. I am copying a link: http://www.enlacecritico.com/destacados/situacion-del-hospital-virgen-del-carmen-que-opinan-los-concejales, where the situation is criticized and responsibility is placed (at least by some residents and council members) on the Provincial Executive Branch. "The Hospital is Provincial and resources must come from the governor's office," says one council member. The current governor's office is headed by Daniel Scioli, who, who knows, perhaps has more important matters to attend to. Meanwhile, local residents are collecting needles and IV fluids for the Hospital. Michael Moore, in his film Sicko, where he criticizes the US healthcare system, says that “A society should be judged by how it treats its sick.”
Moving on, it appears that the lack of resources is what motivates this fair. With the funds raised this year, 2014, renovation work will be carried out on Ward B of the Hospital. Meanwhile, the local newspaper El Debate reported that “Many are collaborating and joining this solidarity event, which will be to acquire the Flunites for the adult ward.” Flunites are equipment units placed at the head of the bed for the administration of oxygen and other fluids.
The fair was held in Smithfield Square (Smithfield was the meatpacking plant) located in the CAP neighborhood. It started at 11:00 AM and ran until 8:00 PM, “with no possibility of extension,” according to a local newspaper. In the first photograph, you can see the only block that had stalls on both sides. The fair was centered (or nearly so) in the Square, with stalls surrounding it, though they also extended one block further, as seen in the first photograph. In the second photograph, you can see the center of the square, which was occupied by many tables and chairs. On one side of the Square, there was a stage where they were sound-checking while playing music. One of the organizers told the newspaper El Debate about the participation of “Las Voces de la Alborada,” a choir from the Smithfield Neighborhood that sang Christmas carols, as well as the presence of the Argentine Prefecture band
Villa Smithfield Neighborhood Association The organization also had the support of the Villa Smithfield and CAP Neighborhood Association. As seen in the photographs, the square is surrounded by leafy trees, which provided minimal shelter from the heat—it was a day of high temperatures. My mother and I arrived there early, just as the fair was beginning at 11:00 AM. People were already walking around, and for the rest of the day, a large turnout of visitors was expected, motivated either by the outing or by solidarity. Around 120 vendors participated, covering various categories, including knitted goods, embroidery, costume jewelry, boxes and other MDF craftwork, fused glass, leather goods, painting, woodworking, and several others. There was also a sale of artisanal preserves and a stand with books about the city at the Association of Friends of the Zárate Museum booth. The Red Cross and the Boy Scouts also participated, with three of their members in sight.
Flea market There was also a flea market at the fair. When we arrived, we went straight to that area. It was located at the intersection of San Martín and Pedro Martini streets. There was an indicator sign—I never saw it, but when reviewing the photographs, there it was, on the ground under a table, half-tilted. The sign is the least of it. The flea market was well-located, a few meters away from the other vendors. When we arrived at 11:00 AM sharp, there were already people who had selected some purchases; that is, people had arrived earlier and picked out their purchases in advance. Nevertheless, there were about four tables and a number of items—some good, some fair, and some bad—but people looked and took whatever interested them. There we acquired a few items, partly out of taste and partly for the sake of collaborating. The organizers, who were all women (the Hospital Cooperative and Friends of the Hospital), kept shouting “anyone to help?” so those who had already chosen their products would approach, get them tallied, and then head to the cashier to pay.
Dog In this photograph, a little dog is taking some fresh air in the shade against the oppressive heat. This is right at the corner of San Martín and Pedro Martini, as can be seen on the indicator signs. Lots of green, lots of trees. Behind them are the tennis courts. I could notice that they had partially wrapped the trees with white, light green, and red colors. What are those colors? What is particular about them? At first, I do not know. Nobody told me, and I couldn't find the meaning either. The first thing that comes to mind is that they are the colors of the Italian flag; I relate them because of immigration. But it could also be due to the Hospital, or the Cooperative, or the Friends of the Hospital. Or who knows, they were just colors chosen by chance or in reference to the proximity of the holidays or some use with a particular meaning that I am unaware of. The three colors did not follow an established pattern; they were placed indistinctly on each tree, always together but in a different order. The truth is that all the trees were decorated with those colors.
Nativity scene In one section of the square, a small nativity scene was set up on the occasion of the Christmas holidays. There were quite a few decorative products related to the holidays—hence why it was called a Christmas Fair. At some point, Santa Claus was going to make an appearance so the little ones could ask him for their gifts. Around 12:00 PM, a lady took the microphone and welcomed everyone, explained what the event was about, and announced that the Fair had been declared of Municipal Legislative Interest by the City Council. They don't take care of the Public Hospital, but they do take care of declaring the Fair to be of Municipal Legislative Interest, which is nothing new—every time there is a fair, there is a declaration of Municipal Legislative Interest. All previous editions of this fair were declared as such, as well as other fairs on other occasions, such as the artisanal producers and fair trade fair. And what is this declaration by the Honorable Council members about? It is a brief resolution, generally voted on unanimously, in which the Honorable members state that they “fervently support the event and congratulate the organizing entities, urging them to continue in their community task for the good of their neighbor.” Perhaps the good thing about a declaration of this tenor is the inclusion in the Cultural Calendar by the Executive Department of the Municipality of Zárate.
Indicator sign In the following photograph, a colorful indicator sign installed right at the intersection of 19 de Marzo and Pedro Martini streets. First indication: Cash Registers, lest someone want to pay and not find the way. And then you can see Drinks, Choripán, and Tarts and Cakes. Indeed, there was an area reserved for food; a lot of variety could be seen in pastry items. Returning to the craft stalls, some of them had their names and/or brands and others did not. And some of those names that I now remember are Amor a primera vista, El taller de Reina Rana, Ando y endo, Loquita linda, Luna de jazmín, Artezar, DeusFleur, and Lirium.
Kids scene In this photo, what appears to be a scene set in an old house with a fireplace prepared to welcome the holidays—possibly this was one of the events oriented toward children. That's how it looked when we walked by, but I imagine it was some game for children, I don't know. Next to it, another decorated tree can be seen, with the tricolor I mentioned earlier, this time in the form of ribbons. But looking closely, one of the colors repeats; there are not three little ribbons, there are four. The question I ask myself is: what was that about?
Tree sign Finally, before we left, after spending a good time walking around and after purchasing a few items for the purpose of collaborating, and some liquid to endure the heat—in what turned out to be a little over an hour and a half—I took the last photo of an old tree with a motivating sign pasted to it that read: “Thank you for caring.” I will use this phrase to conclude and close this message.
Links:
http://www.diariolavozdezarate.com/2014/12/12/la-feria-navidena-manana-en-el-barrio-smithfield/
http://www.eldebate.com.ar/n/espera-una-feria-navidena-crecida-y-mas-participativa-que-la-2013
http://www.deuxfleurs.com.ar/feria-navidena-hospital-virgen-del-carmen-diciembre-2014/
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