DEVELOPMENT-ARGENTINA: Barter Opens Door to Cash-free Vacations

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 29 1999 (IPS) - The Global Barter Network, which began in 1995 as an alternative for Argentineans who were shut out of the formal market, now offers its members travel services that are nearly cash free.

Over the last year and a half, more than 120,000 Network members have had the option of taking vacations throughout the country, paying for the trips with “credits,” as their paper trade units are known.

Even if they do not accept the credits, there are several hotels and transportation companies willing to ensure a quota of hotel rooms and bus seats in exchange for the products or services Network vacationers have to offer, said Mabel Coraldo, a Global Barter Network member.

Coraldo was a co-founder of the Network’s travel agency, where she works part-time with three other women. Their services are primarily targeted at the market of “prosumers,” as they call Network members.

“Last summer we took a family to San Clemente (a beach resort in Buenos Aires province). The father paid for the vacation by working as a painter at the hotel every morning,” said Coraldo. “Others paid by providing bedsheets, toiletries or cleaning products,” she added.

In the last year and a half, 2,100 people have been to Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian border, Cordoba in north-central Argentina, the beach city of Mar del Plata, the mountains of Mendoza in the west, or the Gualeguaychu carnival in eastern Argentina – all using the Network’s credits or bartering.

The Global Barter Network was the brainchild of a group of professionals who were concerned about the nation’s economic crisis, high levels of unemployment, the uncontrolled consumerism of the extremely wealthy and the degredation of the environment.

Soon after beginning the enterprise, the Network had 50,000 members who met in “nodes” in different neighbourhoods and town in Argentina. Today there are groups in 16 of the 23 provinces in Argentina, and in nine countries – seven of which are in Latin America.

Though most members have limited income, organisers estimate that approximately 700,000 Network credits are in circulation, and that members moved the equivalent of 50 million dollars in one year through their transactions.

“At first, people come to our self-help meetings because of employment problems,” social psychologist Carlos Desanzo, a co- founder of the Network, told IPS.

If a person is interested in becoming a member, the Network assesses his or her abilities, and the potential product or service the person has to offer the Network. If necessary, the Network also provides training.

“For the most part, it is that women come who know how to cook,” said Desanzo. Later, after bartering at street fairs, a woman may buy products and services with her credits, and soon the whole family wants to get involved.

Men usually join after accompanying their wives. There are also those who find unsatisfied demands within this market, and take it upon themselves to develop better services – such as occurred with the travel agency.

“For me, the Network gave me everything,” acknowledged Coraldo. “I’m single with four children and only work mornings. Now I feel like I not only improved the quality of my life, but I’m also doing what I like and meeting people.”

Coraldo began by selling and buying food through the Network. Later, she dedicated herself to the travel agency, and it has gone well for her.

Using the product of her work with the agency, Coraldo was able to finish building her home. Bricklayers, plumbers, electricians – all members of the Network – went to work on the house, and in exchange received credits for food, clothing and entertainment.

As time passes, the Network’s services expand. It is rare that members cannot find what they are looking for within this market, which even has a virtual magazine on the Internet with advertisements that are also sold for credits.

For the many Argentineans who are being left outside the formal market because they lack compensated employment, the Global Barter Network provides protection against economic crisis and a place to develop their abilities.