Newsletter – September 2017

• Building with love

 

On July 30, a very special construction event took place in Los Ceibos.

 

Conductor Horacio Cabak joined a 20-person brigade which included P&G and DIA supermarket employees, volunteers, and 10 winners of a contest sponsored by the supermarkets. They set the foundations for the home of Johana and Pablo, thus playing  an important role during a critical time in the life of the family.

 

During the event, various tasks were undertaken by the brigade including rebar assembly, transporting sand, concrete mixing, and laying foundation block. But most important of all was the love shown to the family and the human interaction; everyone working together towards the common goal of transforming the house that’s beginning to take shape into a home for Pablo, Johana and their children.

 

About the Contest

Proctor and Gamble (P&G) celebrates its global alliance with Habitat para la Humanidad Argentina by helping more families get access to proper housing. Through a joint promotion with DIA Supermarkets, they launched a campaign through which buyers of P&G products were automatically entered in a draw to win a chance to be part of building a home for a family in La Matanza.

 

Through this beautiful shared journey we render special homage to Horacio Cabak, to P&G, to DIA Supermarkets and to SMW Marketing, who joined together to promote and make possible the reality of adequate housing for more and more people.

 

• Nanum Village Center, development engine in Paraje El Quebracho

Within the framework of our joint project with Samsung and as part of the Gran Chaco Nanum Village initiative, HPHA produced housing solutions for 52 families through an intervention that reached 314 people. The project included construction of the building where Centro Nanum Village would operate, using appropriate and sustainable construction techniques and a design that can be adopted by the local population.

 

Already in full function, Silvina Sampastu, General Program Coordinator for Gran Chaco Nanum Village, tells us about the activity that takes place there and the Center’s role in the community.

 

What activities take place at the Center?

The Center’s principal objective is to strengthen the AQPEPROA producers through TIC’s and at the same time, promote encounters with other local communities and integrate mixed (criollo) and native communities equally. We are introducing digital technology into daily lives and facilitating business through its use. Examples include greater business generation and simplified commercial transactions including the possibility of digitizing stock auctions.

 

Another advantage of the Center is its ability to facilitate access to government services. For example, through an arrangement with the retirement agency ANSES, once a month the neighbors can apply for and obtain national identification cards, tax ID cards and other documents. Previously, the trip would have taken 70 km to Ingeniero Juarez or even 500 km to Formosa.

 

What is the Center’s role within the community? What situations can it influence?

The Center joined an ongoing community dynamic trending towards greater coexistence that had been developing for some tid, thus strengthening the integration trend. Different cultural groups live together at paraje El Quebracho; criollo (mixed race) cattle producers, represented by AQPEPROA, and native communities. Historically, these groups have been in conflict and have tried with limited success to achieve peaceful solutions that respect and safeguard each other’s interests. Nanum Center seeks to build a collective space that suits that purpose. Women have been key players in this process. Their participation includes looking for new récipes to innovate upon traditional staples, such as algarrobo flour and native berries.

 

These participants contribute their particular knowledge and interests and encourage greater youth participation, recognizing that the region lacks job opportunities and that young people are likely to be in a state of vulnerability. Nanum Center seeks to attract youth and provide them space: we listen to their motivation and their goals and we try to address their concerns.

 

In the case of women, training is the engine through which solutions are conceived at individual and group level. Youth need more time.  By providing them a safe space and showing them alternatives and possibilities we help open doors to their future. Helping the community helps us see the wealth of their land and its potential and how it might translate into economic activity and better wages.

 

Nanum is a Korean word that means “share” and in that sense it brings together a network of people to consider possibilities that may come up. The Center is the nucleus to strengthen “The Future is up in the Wilderness” with new players and proposals for local development.