Blanca Batencourt, a 27-year-old woman from Puerto Vallarta, took up her position as the administrator of the Cruz Roja Chapala Delegacion just three months ago. She’s in charge of the day-to-day operation of the organization with its four ambulances (in two stations), the 24-hour-a-day clinic, 35 employees, at least some of the bookkeeping and collecting money. Certainly, the graduate of Centro Universitario de la Costa (CUC) in Business Administration is not a stranger to hard work. The eldest of seven children, she began working in her uncle’s tortilla store every day before school when she was 11 years old. She put herself through each level of her education. Her position before she decided to relocate to Lakeside was as a manager of the Deportenis sports equipment company in Puerto Vallarta. The change from her hometown is a big one, but she’s excited about what she’s doing. She managed a couple of hours away from her job this week to talk about it with Jeanne Chaussee.
How is working for a non-profit organization like the Red Cross different from working for a commercial company like where you worked before?
The big difference is that here we have to work constantly to collect the money that we need to operate. We have to go not only to our patients, but to businesses and ask them to help us. Here in the Chapala area a lot of people don’t bother to pay because they think that the Red Cross is free; but it isn’t free for us and when we go to companies to ask them to help we need a lot of information to document our needs. They say that they will help but that they need special receipts so that they can deduct donations from their taxes. It requires a lot of preparation. With a regular business, you present a bill and that’s that.
Do you actually go out to collect money?I’m starting this week. We’re having a ‘colecta’ (a fund drive) on Sunday. (See story, page 16) It’s sort of an emergency colecta because we need money for everything — the ambulances, gas, salaries, everything; but definitely, collecting money will be a big part of my job. We’re also going to be more strict about presenting a cost sheet to each patient that we see, listing the costs of the medications and treatments that we, the Cruz Roja have expended on them. We hope that people begin to realize that though we can’t force them to pay, we can’t exist unless they do pay. We know that some people can’t afford to pay anything — but others who can pay, don’t pay. If they go to another (private) clinic, they will be charged a lot more, and those bills they will have to pay. Another thing that we want to do is to make sure that money that is collected here stays here in the Chapala delegation. We are aware that last year some people made donations in Guadalajara that they meant to come here and we have not yet received all of that money.
How is it for you, a young woman to be in charge of so many male employees, especially in this ‘macho’ culture?
Sometimes it’s hard. There are times when I ask them to do something differently than they have been doing it, that they challenge me. They say “Who do you think you are? You’re a woman and you’ve only been here for three months. Why do you want us to change?” Some of them are angry all the time and don’t want to do what I ask them to. I know that I have to be really tough; but I don’t let their bad remarks or attitudes keep me from my work. When they start in, I don’t get angry. I just point out that they must have something else to do. I don’t let them make me cry — I make them cry.
What about the women? Women don’t always like working for another woman.
Actually, women can be very catty and talk behind your back. Sometimes they are harder to read than the men. It’s probably easier to work with the men because you usually know what they are thinking.
If you knew that you were going to work for Cruz Roja for a long time, what are some of the changes you would make?
We need a lot of changes in communication — communication between the different entities — the clinic, the doctors, the paramedics, the administration, the office, everybody. We’ve already started to make those changes. We’re trying to come together as a family — a whole family. My last boss pointed out to me that when a business wasn’t functioning the way it should, the problems come from the inside — not from the outside. The boss is responsible for learning more about his or her employees, not the other way around. The boss needs to help them become better and more satisfied at their jobs.
There was a rumor going around town that the clinic was not open anymore. Is that true?
No. It’s not true. We are open — but we are in great need of funds to keep it going. I’ve arranged the collection coming up this weekend to utilize the energy and talents of the two Mexican groups who are auxiliaries to the Cruz Roja — the Damas and the Juventud. We’re really well organized into teams and I expect them to do a great job to help us keep going.
I know that you are lonesome for your family in Puerto Vallarta. Do you think that you’ll stay here for long?
Yes. Of course I would like to see more of my family — especially my new nephew; but I have a passion for whatever I’m doing — whether it’s school or work or whatever it is. I’m very focused on Cruz Roja Chapala and anxious to streamline the operation, make it more efficient and keep it providing this essential service to the community. I mean — if the Cruz Roja closes, what will you do?