With a heart for his people and town

Tierra del Fuego and its southernmost town of the world - Ushuaia - is a place surrounded by stormy seas, dramatic mountains and ancient forests. It not only attracts people with its nature and wilderness, but also with the many work opportunities, since Tierra Del Fuego is one of the economically most developed provinces of Argentina.

Javier (41) arrived in Ushuaia as a backpacker at the age of 19. He left his hometown Rio Quarto near Cordoba to follow his ideals and passion for nature and wilderness. For the first 8 months he did not have a permanent residence and stayed in a tent in a forest. He remembers that time with a smile in his face: “During those months I grew a lot, matured as an individual, formed a perspective for my life and learned to value family and comfort,” he says. Ushuaia became his home.

Origins of Ushuaia are found in a Christian mission that was started in the area around the Beagle Channel in 1850s. Early missionaries came with their faith and ideals. They were first foreigners to settle down in this area, back then populated by yaganes, an indigenous tribe. The town started as a community formed on basis of the Christian values. 30 years later government of Argentina founded Ushuaia as a city, bringing all the blessings and curses of the contemporary lifestyle that only quickened the extinction of yaganes as a separate ethnic group.

Right now Javier works for the provincial government of Tierra del Fuego. He has two responsibilities - youth and religious organizations. He is respected at his work and society as a man who lives according to his words. There have been times when the governor himself calls Javier to ask for his opinion on different matters. Javier wants to keep working in the government not only in a local, but later also in a national level: “At some point I would like to work for the state government. I think it is very important that people with principles and values are in places where decisions for the whole society are made. It is not an easy work, but it is a needed one.”

Once Ushuaia was a small town, with people who love the place and feel that they belong. During the past 30 years town has grown incredibly, and the economic developed has attracted thousands of people from all over the Argentina. People come with different mentality, thoughts and attitudes, some of them - just to stay for a while to earn some money and then return back home. “Short term thinking has brought crisis of values in Ushuaia and it affects everybody,” says Javier. “The biggest crisis is the not the one of economics but the one of values, and it is happening right now. I want to spend my energy on making the society aware of the values that have been neglected – family, friendship, companionship.”

Javier knows what he is doing and why. He dreams of a social transformation and a change in how people see and treat each other. He would like to involve more people in decision making process in Ushuaia so the provincial government would become more people oriented; he would also like to see people working together more, including everyone in the process. There are many more ideas Javier would like to carry out for his city and his people. This is just the smallest part.