"We must coordinate for the next meeting"

This interview with Monica Tarducci, General Coordinator of the Organizing Committee of the Fifth Meeting, - a title which gives her a great deal of work and no glory, she says - was given in the midst of great activity, before the end of the event. She has worked on the Committee for two years while simultaneously teaching anthropology at the university. She takes women's issues there too, and organizes seminars on sociology and anthropology of women, on top of the other subjects she gives.

W in A : What has the organization of this Meeting been like?

M . T . : When the location of the following Meeting was discussed in Mexico I was one of the ones who did not want it be in Argentina because I thought the Movement here lacked the strength to ensure success. On top of that, there was a misunderstanding in Taxco because many Argentine women attended but few feminists; there were deputies, senators and members of the Peronist movement who didn't remain committed to working with the women's movement and who, little by little, deserted the Organizing Committee. In the end it was those of us who didn't want this Meeting here who ended up responsible for it

W in A : Who is on the Organizing Committee?

M.T.: There are thirty-two women from four cities in two countries: Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Rosario in Argentina, and Montevideo in Uruguay. Women from groups and unions in both countries also took part under their own names and just to organize the Meeting.

W in A: What do you think of the Meetings in Bertioga and Taxco compared to this Meeting?

M.T. : Bertioga was excellent and very well organized. Although it only lasted three days it was very useful for the 900 women who participated because, among other things, it all took place under one roof. I thought the Meeting in Taxco, in Mexico, was more disorganized, but now that I have had personal exjjerience of the problems I judge my Mexican companions less harshly. And the present Meeting, due to its size, has gone off the rails slightly. In the future I don't know how we will manage to organize an event in which theoretically about 4000 women will take part, if the same system is maintained where the food, the lodging, the workshops and everything is organized in advance.

W in A : What would you recommend for the next Meeting?

M . T . : That the Organizing Committees coordinate more closely; we should get together and evaluate this Meeting to avoid making the same mistakes. As things stand, the experience from one Meeting is not passed on to the next, as it should be.

We could consider, for example, the possibility of handing over the organization of the event to a tourist agency which, with the coordination of one of us. would guarantee a good result. This would perhaps leave us time for the political aspects and the contents of the Meeting. Personally, I have spent these last two years taking care of hotels, food, the basic infrastructure in general, and haven't had the chance to discuss the orientation of the Meeting which is fundamental.

Efforts should also be made to have all the workshops in one place, suitable for small groups, like a school, so it should take place in the school holidays.

W in A : Thank you very much. When will there be a summing up?

M . T . : When we've caught up a little on our lack of sleep.... We are also going to edit the Memories of the Fifth Meeting which is a commitment we took on and we are going to fulfill. We would like to do it in the form of a book, with photos and all, but I don't know if the money will run to that. If not, we'll do it on ordinary paper, but one way or another we'll do an evaluation and conclusion of what has taken place here.

CGD.