0:00:21.643,0:00:27.968
The first question I asked myself[br]and I ask you too is:

0:00:29.405,0:00:30.851
What is poverty?

0:00:32.871,0:00:36.452
Maybe some of you imagine[br]that poverty has to do with this,

0:00:40.468,0:00:46.155
and with living[br]in a neighborhood like this.

0:00:48.365,0:00:52.908
And in fact, since I was a kid[br]I believed that poverty,

0:00:52.933,0:00:55.930
or they made me understand[br]that poverty had to do with this.

0:00:57.683,0:01:00.301
I am the fifth of six children:

0:01:00.326,0:01:04.748
Yomi, Mariela, Marcela,[br]Mauricio, me, and Oscar.

0:01:05.837,0:01:11.284
We were born in San Juan. We came to[br]Buenos Aires for the moon and the stars.

0:01:11.308,0:01:16.660
My father had been promised[br]a job, a home, a car, success.

0:01:19.137,0:01:22.387
This is the only picture[br]I have of my parents together.

0:01:22.411,0:01:26.781
Because Buenos Aires kills my father.

0:01:26.805,0:01:29.284
He ends up dying[br]within a few years of being here.

0:01:31.512,0:01:35.683
And there it began an eternal struggle

0:01:35.707,0:01:39.207
to live with dignity

0:01:39.232,0:01:43.129
and to improve our quality of life.

0:01:44.409,0:01:50.461
We seized a plot with my brothers[br]in the middle of a settlement.

0:01:51.839,0:01:53.388
We were poor,

0:01:54.977,0:02:00.289
people who were living[br]in a usurped land.

0:02:01.179,0:02:03.973
We sometimes even didn't have[br]anything to eat for dinner.

0:02:08.291,0:02:11.167
However, despite all this,

0:02:12.672,0:02:16.480
despite having lived [br]through discrimination,

0:02:18.082,0:02:23.172
and my whole family[br]being pointed out for many years,

0:02:23.197,0:02:28.367
there was something[br]I always loved and I always liked.

0:02:29.690,0:02:33.557
I love music, I'm a musician.

0:02:35.764,0:02:41.445
And I really discovered music[br]through a woman who when I listened to her

0:02:43.189,0:02:45.860
it was amazing for me.

0:02:45.884,0:02:50.722
I looked at her and she was like an angel.

0:02:50.746,0:02:55.877
I knew all her songs, all her lyrics,[br]all her choreographies.

0:02:55.901,0:02:59.138
I learned all her songs,[br]I had all her cassettes.

0:02:59.162,0:03:01.268
There were cassettes at that time.

0:03:01.292,0:03:05.321
And for me she was a star, an angel.

0:03:06.470,0:03:08.970
This woman was Gladys, la Bomba Tucumana.

0:03:08.994,0:03:10.797
(Laughter)

0:03:10.822,0:03:13.677
(Applause)

0:03:19.189,0:03:20.421
I dreamed with Gladys.

0:03:20.445,0:03:23.445
Once I told my mom:[br]"Mom, I want to be Gladys."

0:03:23.470,0:03:25.100
(Laughter)

0:03:25.125,0:03:30.367
And she said: "Oh son, don't you like[br]Antonio Ríos or Alcides?"

0:03:30.391,0:03:32.200
No, I wanted to be Gladys.

0:03:32.224,0:03:35.848
And my mom told me:[br]"Well, but how about La Nueva Luna?"

0:03:36.606,0:03:41.196
No, I dreamed of being [br]an artist like her one day.

0:03:42.179,0:03:43.668
I always dreamed with her.

0:03:43.692,0:03:47.074
I always dreamed of learning[br]to play her songs.

0:03:47.098,0:03:51.258
A great friend from childhood, Edgardo,

0:03:51.282,0:03:54.801
his mother, Olga, worked[br]in the neighborhood developing projects

0:03:54.825,0:03:58.067
so that people like me, who lived[br]in these neighborhoods,

0:03:58.067,0:04:00.133
could study.

0:04:00.157,0:04:03.175
They had a project[br]in Crear Vale La Pena Foundation,

0:04:03.199,0:04:05.995
in which they worked with art[br]in the context of poverty.

0:04:06.019,0:04:07.628
My friend told me one day:

0:04:07.652,0:04:10.737
"Daniel, why don't you stop[br]pestering around with music

0:04:10.762,0:04:13.304
and sign up in the[br]community cultural center?,"

0:04:13.329,0:04:16.927
where they gave free keyboard[br]and piano lessons.

0:04:16.952,0:04:21.091
I said: "No, me taking piano lessons?

0:04:21.117,0:04:27.604
Ridiculous. I have to go out [br]and give a meaning to my life."

0:04:27.628,0:04:30.694
And he said to me: "But go, [br]sign up for the piano class."

0:04:30.718,0:04:33.462
And I signed up for piano lessons.

0:04:33.486,0:04:35.384
Saturdays at 9 am.

0:04:36.451,0:04:38.821
I said, "Oh, how nice!"

0:04:38.845,0:04:44.273
In this Foundation there was [br]a teacher, a concert pianist,

0:04:44.297,0:04:48.816
Liliana Alpern, who gave once a week

0:04:48.840,0:04:51.511
a couple of hours of free lessons

0:04:51.535,0:04:54.336
to people who could not pay for the class.

0:04:55.373,0:04:57.836
I went to her piano class[br]when I was nine.

0:04:57.860,0:05:02.412
And I saw Lili, my piano teacher,[br]in high heels, with a silk shawl,

0:05:02.436,0:05:05.646
glasses, green eyes, blond hair.

0:05:06.446,0:05:08.644
And I looked at her and she looked at me.

0:05:08.668,0:05:10.266
She said: "What is your name?"

0:05:10.290,0:05:13.074
"Daniel." "What are you doing here?"

0:05:13.098,0:05:16.427
There was an upright piano beside her.

0:05:16.451,0:05:18.062
I said, "I want to play that."

0:05:18.086,0:05:20.417
And she says: "What do you want to play?"

0:05:22.295,0:05:24.264
(Laughter)

0:05:24.288,0:05:26.717
And I said: "Gladys, la Bomba Tucumana."

0:05:26.742,0:05:28.106
(Laughter)[br]

0:05:28.131,0:05:31.621
And she said: "Who is that woman?"

0:05:34.505,0:05:36.527
"What? Aren't you a music teacher?"

0:05:36.551,0:05:41.917
"Yes, I certainly am,[br]but I don't know all the musicians.

0:05:41.941,0:05:47.527
But if you bring a tape with her music,[br]I'll listen to it and I teach you."

0:05:47.551,0:05:49.197
"Really?" I said. "Yes."

0:05:50.427,0:05:54.772
I go to my house, grab the cassette,[br]I bring it back and Lili began:

0:05:56.194,0:06:01.044
"B B B B B, C D, C D E,[br]E F G, B C".

0:06:01.068,0:06:03.879
(Laughter)

0:06:03.903,0:06:06.127
And I said, wow!

0:06:07.932,0:06:11.962
She began to teach me and I felt[br]I was John Lennon playing "Imagine."

0:06:12.844,0:06:14.631
(Applause)

0:06:14.981,0:06:16.381
So awesome.

0:06:24.491,0:06:25.519
(End of applause)[br]

0:06:26.718,0:06:32.694
Lili said: "Look Daniel,[br]you can learn this and much more,

0:06:32.718,0:06:34.107
if you want to."

0:06:34.132,0:06:36.155
"Really, Miss?"

0:06:36.179,0:06:39.026
"Yes. You can learn[br]everything you want to learn."

0:06:39.051,0:06:43.349
And the next Saturday I brought[br]La Nueva Luna, Los Charros, Gilda.

0:06:43.373,0:06:49.920
I learned to play a band called[br]Los Palmeras, I dreamed with Los Palmeras.

0:06:49.944,0:06:52.359
And she taught me all the music[br]I wanted to learn.

0:06:53.308,0:06:56.264
Pretty soon, I had learned[br]everything I wanted.

0:06:56.288,0:06:58.904
And Lili said, "And now,[br]what do you want to learn?"

0:06:58.928,0:07:01.978
I said, "That's it, I've learned[br]to play what I wanted to learn."

0:07:01.978,0:07:04.434
And she says: "Look, Daniel,[br]with these same chords

0:07:04.458,0:07:06.274
there is a guy named Beethoven.

0:07:06.298,0:07:07.874
Do you know who Beethoven is?"

0:07:07.899,0:07:10.074
I told her: "Yes, a dog from a movie."

0:07:10.099,0:07:11.099
(Laughter)

0:07:11.124,0:07:14.210
"No, dear, Beethoven is not a dog.

0:07:14.234,0:07:18.210
Beethoven is a musician who [br]plays 'Fur Elise'".

0:07:18.234,0:07:19.690
And she showed me "Für Elise".

0:07:19.714,0:07:23.770
When I heard "Für Elise" I fell in love.

0:07:23.794,0:07:25.710
And I said, "Lili, can I play that?"

0:07:25.734,0:07:29.587
And Lili said, "You can play that[br]and much more, Daniel.

0:07:29.611,0:07:31.317
Everything you want to play."

0:07:31.341,0:07:36.617
And there I learned at age nine[br]to break with the first poverty.

0:07:36.641,0:07:38.233
That is the poverty of culture.

0:07:38.257,0:07:40.853
I just thought that music was...

0:07:40.877,0:07:43.138
(Applause)

0:07:58.782,0:08:00.077
(End of applause)

0:08:01.609,0:08:04.988
I thought that music was[br]what I heard in my neighborhood,

0:08:05.012,0:08:07.300
but I didn't know [br]other kind of music existed.

0:08:08.895,0:08:13.984
So I learned to be not only [br]a musician, but at age 14,

0:08:14.008,0:08:15.902
Lili puts me another challenge,

0:08:15.926,0:08:19.929
with a partner who we played [br]the piano together, Marcela Tula,

0:08:19.953,0:08:21.696
the two attended her class.

0:08:21.720,0:08:25.843
"Now you, after five years of taking[br]free classes at the cultural center,

0:08:25.867,0:08:28.323
must begin to teach others."

0:08:28.347,0:08:31.183
And I said, "No, me, Lili?[br]I can't teach others".

0:08:31.207,0:08:33.203
"Yes, you can teach others."

0:08:33.227,0:08:35.153
"But Lili, I have nothing to give."

0:08:35.177,0:08:38.482
She said: "To give, you don't need[br]to have something in your pocket.

0:08:38.506,0:08:41.913
All you have to do[br]is to be willing to help others."

0:08:41.937,0:08:44.082
Then I started teaching[br]in my neighborhood.

0:08:44.107,0:08:46.533
With Marcela, we both[br]learned how to teach.

0:08:46.557,0:08:51.493
We gave classes to young people,[br]the very beginners in the neighborhood.

0:08:51.517,0:08:54.660
I went from being the kid who hung[br]in the street corner to mess up,

0:08:54.684,0:08:56.288
to be "the neighborhood's Professor".

0:08:56.312,0:08:59.325
I would pass by and people would say:[br]"Professor, Professor".

0:08:59.349,0:09:02.185
Then I'd pass by like four times!

0:09:02.209,0:09:03.815
I'd go to the grocers and they would say:

0:09:03.839,0:09:08.435
"How are you, Professor? Take a candy".[br]And I'd grab about five.

0:09:08.459,0:09:11.315
The grocer's daughter was my student.[br]

0:09:11.339,0:09:14.495
And there I learned to knock down[br]another poverty,

0:09:14.519,0:09:16.187
which is the poverty of dignity.

0:09:17.122,0:09:22.310
The poverty that is lost because,[br]by living in the contexts we live,

0:09:23.237,0:09:28.383
we think that poverty only[br]has to do with hunger,

0:09:28.407,0:09:31.163
and feeling cold at night, but no.

0:09:31.187,0:09:33.723
Poverty has little to do with economics.

0:09:33.747,0:09:38.034
It has to do with what you do[br]to design your life project.

0:09:38.859,0:09:45.355
What you do to say who you are,[br]regardless of the degree,

0:09:45.379,0:09:47.644
or the position you have in a company.

0:09:47.668,0:09:50.349
Who you are as a person.

0:09:51.328,0:09:55.761
And that is what I learned at age 14,[br]to start teaching in my neighborhood.

0:09:56.742,0:09:57.809
When I was 17...

0:09:57.834,0:09:59.444
(Applause)

0:10:06.714,0:10:09.674
At age 17 I began to coordinate[br]the community cultural center

0:10:09.698,0:10:11.714
with activities for young people.

0:10:11.738,0:10:15.214
It was not anymore[br]just learning and teaching.

0:10:15.239,0:10:19.924
What we did with a group of young people[br]was to form them and start thinking

0:10:19.948,0:10:22.284
about our community,[br]how our neighborhood

0:10:22.308,0:10:26.131
could do activities[br]to improve the quality of life,

0:10:26.156,0:10:30.044
not only of those who studied,[br]but of our community.

0:10:30.068,0:10:34.044
We did events in neighborhoods,[br]we celebrated Children's Day,

0:10:34.068,0:10:36.294
looking for the needs in our neighborhoods

0:10:36.318,0:10:38.764
and we began to improve,[br]not only our lives,

0:10:38.788,0:10:40.768
but the lives of our neighbors.

0:10:41.708,0:10:43.844
At age 25 I leave this Foundation,

0:10:43.868,0:10:45.834
because I felt that in it

0:10:45.858,0:10:50.144
I had gone from student to teacher,[br]coordinator, executive director,

0:10:50.168,0:10:53.396
I even prepared young people[br]in political issues.

0:10:54.397,0:10:58.317
And I began to understand[br]that I had to knock down another poverty.

0:10:58.341,0:11:00.854
Then I started working[br]with a civil organization

0:11:00.878,0:11:01.923
called Inicia.

0:11:03.019,0:11:06.417
And what we did in Inicia[br]was to work in a prison,

0:11:07.645,0:11:10.781
because the son of a friend of mine[br]was there in the unit

0:11:10.805,0:11:13.978
and we went to visit him.

0:11:14.907,0:11:17.121
When I went to the prison[br]the first thing I saw

0:11:17.121,0:11:19.801
were those drawings that you see[br]behind the young men,

0:11:19.825,0:11:22.021
it was like an art gallery.

0:11:22.046,0:11:27.487
They were drawings where they had drawn[br]everything they wanted.

0:11:27.511,0:11:30.787
I looked at Cristian with Olga[br]and we said, "Hey, Cristian,[br]

0:11:30.811,0:11:32.647
what do you do here in the unit?".

0:11:32.647,0:11:33.525
"Nothing".

0:11:33.527,0:11:34.887
"How's that, Cristian?".

0:11:34.911,0:11:38.929
"Nothing. On Monday nothing,[br]nothing on Tuesday, nothing on Thursday."

0:11:38.953,0:11:42.189
"What if I proposed you a workshop where

0:11:42.213,0:11:45.729
you can think about the mistake[br]you made, why you are here

0:11:45.753,0:11:49.123
and you can think of a project[br]for when you leave prison?"

0:11:49.147,0:11:51.723
And Cristian replied:[br]"Would you do that for me?"

0:11:51.747,0:11:52.973
"Of course."

0:11:52.997,0:11:56.028
Then we started a workshop[br]where we talked about leadership,

0:11:56.028,0:11:58.450
so they could lead their life project.

0:11:58.450,0:12:00.992
We had a book: "The New Leaders,"

0:12:00.992,0:12:02.734
which belonged to this organization.

0:12:02.734,0:12:05.680
And it had chapters like:[br]"Personal transformation,"

0:12:05.680,0:12:08.166
"The common good", "Ethics" or "Values."

0:12:08.166,0:12:13.538
Each chapter we read it with the inmates,[br]the 48 who attended the workshop.

0:12:13.538,0:12:16.197
And not only that, we would create a comic

0:12:16.197,0:12:19.815
and each of them could put in the comic[br]what they learned from that chapter.

0:12:19.815,0:12:21.031
But not only that,

0:12:21.031,0:12:24.247
we invited the authors of the book

0:12:24.247,0:12:27.363
and we reflected upon the workshop[br]we were giving.

0:12:27.363,0:12:32.169
So that the prisoners could also think[br]some way of a life project

0:12:32.169,0:12:33.549
once they were out of there.

0:12:33.563,0:12:36.789
And then I knocked down another poverty,[br]the poverty of prejudice.

0:12:36.789,0:12:39.627
We think that people [br]who are deprived of their liberty

0:12:39.627,0:12:41.213
not only deserve to be there,

0:12:41.213,0:12:43.959
but they don't have the ability,[br]nor the dignity

0:12:43.959,0:12:45.653
to be able to change their future.

0:12:45.653,0:12:47.839
Yes, they can change their future.[br]

0:12:47.963,0:12:50.769
All they need are opportunities.

0:12:51.423,0:12:54.889
And what I was providing there[br]was an opportunity.

0:12:55.553,0:12:59.443
But not only with this I knocked down[br]the poverty of prejudice.

0:12:59.942,0:13:03.573
Then I got to work on another project

0:13:03.923,0:13:08.059
with a colleague, an acquaintance[br]from the gastronomic industry,

0:13:08.207,0:13:10.960
who had a restaurant chain[br]in down San Isidro.

0:13:10.960,0:13:13.696
He said: "Dani, in front of my restaurants

0:13:13.732,0:13:16.848
is the settlement Martin and Omar[br]and I don't know what to do,

0:13:16.848,0:13:21.024
because every time I pass by they tell me:[br]'Hey, mustache, got work for me?',

0:13:21.024,0:13:22.830
and I don't know what to do".

0:13:22.850,0:13:25.526
Then we created a program[br]called Cocina para Integrar.

0:13:25.860,0:13:27.970
What did we do?

0:13:27.970,0:13:32.476
This man would teach the women[br]from the settlement to be chefs,

0:13:32.950,0:13:37.724
so that they have preparation not only[br]as people engaged in odd jobs,

0:13:38.242,0:13:41.538
but also in a trade[br]in the gastronomic industry.

0:13:41.538,0:13:44.720
And then I broke another prejudice,[br]I broke another poverty.

0:13:45.081,0:13:47.708
The poverty of thinking[br]that people who are living

0:13:47.708,0:13:50.894
in contexts of vulnerability[br]can only work doing odd jobs.

0:13:51.098,0:13:54.694
No, they are professionals who also[br]can be formed in trades,[br]

0:13:55.068,0:13:57.964
as that of being a chef.

0:13:58.018,0:14:01.098
On this path I met[br]with another person who also helped me

0:14:01.162,0:14:04.278
knock down another of my poverties.

0:14:04.278,0:14:07.014
We met during a talk we gave together.

0:14:07.883,0:14:11.719
He had a company which developed[br]products with design,

0:14:11.888,0:14:13.749
shoes with a different design.

0:14:13.749,0:14:18.158
He gives his talk, a young company[br]which exported worldwide.

0:14:18.520,0:14:22.496
I give my talk and he says:[br]"Dani, you have to work with me."

0:14:22.496,0:14:26.082
And I said, "Tomás, what do you want me[br]to work on in your business?"

0:14:26.082,0:14:29.636
"You have to do in my company[br]what you do in the neighborhoods.

0:14:29.636,0:14:33.203
You have to work in my neighborhood[br]which is my business, my community,

0:14:33.203,0:14:34.599
with my employees."

0:14:34.599,0:14:36.229
"What do you want me to do?"

0:14:36.229,0:14:38.593
"I want you to be[br]the Human Resources manager."

0:14:38.593,0:14:41.659
And I said, "But, Tomás,[br]I don't even know howto clear salaries."

0:14:41.659,0:14:43.953
He says, "I don't care,[br]you will learn that,

0:14:43.993,0:14:47.269
what you know is to listen[br]and to be with the people."

0:14:47.893,0:14:51.521
After working three years with him,[br]he proposes me to be even more than that.

0:14:51.663,0:14:54.629
And today I am the Culture[br]and Happiness manager.

0:14:54.653,0:14:57.029
In the private sector I work as...

0:14:57.054,0:14:59.028
(Applause)

0:15:06.923,0:15:11.366
Not only I work in the neighborhoods,

0:15:11.390,0:15:13.496
to improve people's quality of life,

0:15:13.520,0:15:16.616
but also companies start[br]to think that all the people

0:15:16.630,0:15:19.596
working in a company[br]can improve their quality of life.

0:15:19.620,0:15:23.720
They have to work happy[br]and work on their company culture.

0:15:24.702,0:15:26.318
But this was not last.

0:15:26.343,0:15:29.826
The last big project[br]that I have with three friends

0:15:29.850,0:15:34.200
is to build a social enterprise[br]called CreerHacer.

0:15:34.930,0:15:37.010
What is CreerHacer?

0:15:37.035,0:15:38.835
It is a social enterprise

0:15:38.860,0:15:43.866
where we work with the private,[br]public and social sectors.

0:15:43.890,0:15:47.596
We build a bridge for these three[br]sectors so they can improve

0:15:47.620,0:15:50.206
the quality of life of any person.

0:15:50.230,0:15:52.986
We have lots of projects[br]with this institution.

0:15:53.010,0:15:55.856
To strengthen the NGOs[br]that want to be strengthened.

0:15:55.880,0:15:58.396
We have a project called Barrio Abierto,

0:15:58.420,0:16:00.760
replicating a model very similar to this,

0:16:00.760,0:16:04.676
but in the middle[br]of a settlement, like La Cava.

0:16:04.700,0:16:08.676
In the middle of La Cava we will make[br]an event called Cava Abierta.

0:16:08.700,0:16:13.206
Six speakers will come to share[br]their story, very similar to mine,

0:16:13.230,0:16:17.579
and they can share with their neighbors[br]that they decided to take a step forward,

0:16:17.603,0:16:20.384
they decided to improve[br]their quality of life.

0:16:21.547,0:16:23.113
(Applause)

0:16:29.833,0:16:34.114
You may ask me today,[br]what is your wealth?

0:16:35.168,0:16:39.575
My wealth has to do with this,[br]to have formed a family,

0:16:39.599,0:16:42.813
with my wife, with my brothers,[br]with my friends.

0:16:44.302,0:16:47.719
To be the parent of Lautaro and Catalina,[br]which is two months old.

0:16:48.709,0:16:54.405
And I want to tell you this:[br]any of you here

0:16:54.429,0:16:56.857
can be a Liliana Alpern.

0:16:56.881,0:17:02.167
Anyone of you can consacrete time[br]once a week to someone else,

0:17:02.191,0:17:04.204
so that they change their lives.

0:17:04.229,0:17:06.304
(Applause)

0:17:16.330,0:17:21.361
Regarless of your economic poverty[br]or your economic wealth,

0:17:21.385,0:17:25.616
don't make of your life a poor life.

0:17:25.640,0:17:27.171
Thank you very much.

0:17:27.196,0:17:29.197
(Applause)

0:17:30.394,0:17:32.392
(Whistles)

0:17:32.874,0:17:33.874
(Applause)