How do we invest in our future without our own capital?

That was the first question, our door into the world of cooperatives.  That was how the journey of a group of seven professionals recently graduated and with the greatest desire to work began to farther into this World. Our guides were a branch of national network of Employment Service Offices located in San Lorenzo, a neighbouring city, and the Sub-secretary of Cooperatives and Benefit Societies of the Province of Santa Fe who gave us the answer and the bases that made it possible for the Cooperativa de Trabajo Rosetta Stone Limitada to take its first steps.

It was not easy, since there were many obstacles, both external and internal. One of the biggest difficulties that we encounter despite having such experienced guides was to go pass the bureaucracy that seemed to truncate each step. It is hard to explain but, in spite of all their history, cooperatives are somewhat new in this country and those who actually know about them are few. Although we went through some discouraging moments, we had the support of each associate and among all we manage to cover all the bases and needs that appeared during this new beginning. We believe that we are lucky because we found amidst such governmental bureaucracy great people, professionals, true civil servants who carry the cooperative movement onward with a lot of work and little recognition. It is due to them that this project based on the intellectual capital of its associates, today is a cooperative. On the other hand, we went through several internal processes. We came to realize that not everyone is ready to be part of a cooperative. The human factor is to our belief of the greatest importance, because we believe that the foremost important capital of a cooperative is its associates. The cooperative takes its strength from them, their effort and the time that they give to it, from the differences that make us individuals and the wish to grow as one that makes us go beyond those differences to reach a consensus. Cooperatives are one of the purest expressions of democracy, for all and to all.  Unfortunately, some are not ready to accept that their voices are not the only one that should be heard, that they do not walk this path alone. It is in young people that we found a great ability to adjust and may be that is the reason for our latest additions to be between 22 and 24 years old. It might be a generational phenomenon; they may be ready to enter this new century trough the path laid down in the world by the cooperative movement.

We certainly hope so, because this movement can reach social strata that others do not even contemplate.
Cooperatives teach how to fish and they do not simple give out fishes.
They are work.
They are hope.

My name is Romina Fiorella and I am a Technical, Scientific and Literary Translator in English and Spanish.  I was born in the Province of Santa Fe in Argentina and lived until my eighteenth birthday in the city of San Lorenzo. Then I moved to Rosario to attend the Instituto Superior Nº28 "Olga Cossettini" (a Tertiary Education Institute) and then the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (National University of Rosario) where a completed my grade studies in Translation.

As I completed such courses, I started to work. I translated texts from medical, legal, educational and technical fields.  Besides, I started to give private English lessons and to work as a customer service representative at Sykes - Argentina.

Once graduated, and with some professional experience, I decide to be part of a Project that we used to call "Team". It is this Team that we decided to formalize both in a legal and fiscal manner. Having such purpose in mind, we consulted the national network of Employment Service Offices located in San Lorenzo that gave us the first bases and requirement and we joined under the Cooperativa de Trabajo Rosetta Stone Limitada, of which I am president.

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