La Esperanza Neighborhood Project

This year, at Chela we have participated in this beautiful solidarity project. We have raised €1,173 that has already been sent to Argentina and, thanks to our contribution and that of our clients, we have achieved that, although in principle it was raised for the construction of 4 houses, our contribution has made possible the construction of a fifth house.

We are happy to be able to help and we thank all our clients for their generosity, so necessary in today's world. THANK YOU in capital letters. This has been the project:

THE HOUSES OF THE VIRGEN DEL ROCÍO - "La Esperanza" neighborhood, Buenos Aires.

CONSTRUCTION OF SIX EMERGENCY HOUSES

Our help is requested by the priest and resident of the "La Esperanza" neighborhood, Paco Olveira Fuster, from Malaga by birth and Argentine by adoption, a country in which he has lived since 1987.

Father Paco is one of the architects of the Isla Maciel Foundation, an organization that mobilizes solidarity from the priesthood, in stigmatized enclaves of the suburbs, with populations that suffer violations of rights and live in conditions of risk and discrimination. Its main objective is, through solidarity, cooperation and work, to ensure equitable access to people's rights, resources and opportunities, with particular emphasis on childhood.

€14,190 and everyone's help are needed. See budget .

The project will be implemented in the "La Esperanza" neighborhood of Mariano Acosta, Merlo, province of Buenos Aires. It is what they call "popular neighborhood" there, which was born from land seizures that were later regularized by the National State.

Latin America is not a poor continent, but absolutely unequal and Argentina does not escape that reality. Sumptuous mansions coexist alongside miserable shanties, where families who cannot access credit live poorly and, if they do, it is in conditions of true usury, which makes them vulnerable, homeless or overcrowded.

The project aims to build at least SIX EMERGENCY HOUSES for six families, who will return all or part of the value of the home without interest (in Argentina it is currently 100% annually) in small installments according to their possibilities, generating a circle virtuous, by becoming a revolving fund that will allow other families to stop living in shanties.

These homes are built in a weekend with members of the benefited family, the help of volunteers and a team of construction coordinators, who have the necessary experience.

They are prefabricated houses, made of wood plus insulation, of 24 square meters that are built on 15 piles of recycled material that insulate from the ground and therefore protect it from humidity, floods and pests. They are equipped with an electrical kit, running water, sanitation, toilet, shower, sink, etc...

All materials and products come from a social factory, created in 2013 and which has manufactured more than seven thousand homes.

These homes respond to an EMERGENCY SITUATION, always with the same size and format.

Check all the information here

MEET THE FAMILIES

CRISTIAN AND MIRTA'S FAMILY

The family is made up of Cristian (48), Mirta (44), Tomás (12), Bahía (11), Triana (10), Radamel (9) and James (5). They were violently evicted from their precarious home, losing everything. Since March they have lived in Barrio Esperanza. Without water, without kitchen, the seven of them live in an absolutely precarious shack. Cristan, without work, goes out to look for it every day. The children who were at school are missing from the photo.

FAMILY OF IVÁN ARIEL AND LUCÍA

The family is made up of Ariel (25), Lucía (22), Elian (3) and Natanael (1). Two years ago they arrived in Barrio Esperanza. They lived in their brother's house, then they went to rent something that they could not afford and they were given the opportunity to buy the land where they now live at a small cost. They have a very precarious septic tank and have water drilling. Iván is a cardboard collector, that is, he goes out with a cart to collect bottles, cans...

DAVID AND EVELYN'S FAMILY

The family is made up of David (31), Evelyn (31), Luna (12), Julieta (6), Catalina (4) and David (2). David has been fighting his drug addiction for years, his wife always accompanied him. The Chapel works close to the family. During the last rain they had to leave the shack because everything flooded and when they returned they had been robbed of the little they had. They started renting but they couldn't sustain it and they returned to the Chapel.

BRUNO AND JAQUELINA'S FAMILY

The family is made up of Bruno (33), Jaquelina (27), Zaira (9), Estan (7), Fiorella (6) and Paloma (5). They came to Barrio Esperanza four years ago, when they found out about the seizure of the land. They have gone through a lot to be able to have the little they have. No water, but a very precarious blind well from which they get what water they can. They carry the pain of the death of Paloma's twin.

JUAN AND CAMILA'S FAMILY

The family is made up of Juán (26), Camila (24) and Danilo (7). They lived in their sister's house and arrived in Barrio Esperanza a year and a half ago, buying the land where they now have their shack, and for which they are still paying. They have no water nor a blind well. Juan Simón does not have a permanent job, he does what in Argentina is called "changas", which is temporary work as a bricklayer or whatever, without a contract.

YANINA'S FAMILY

The family is made up of Yanina (34), Camila (18), Joaquín (16), Karen (14), Juan (12), Nicolle (9), Ian (7) and Agustina (3). Yanina suffered gender violence (she has large burns on her body), she lives alone with her children and her only financial income is from her eldest daughter, who is a bricklayer's assistant doing "changas." Parents do not contribute financially.