Year 2, Volume 2: SANTA FE AFFILIATE: The Lands Project in Recreo

The transformation of one community

Last May in the city of Recreo, a province of Sante Fe, the Lands Project began and it has since developed well, giving great satisfaction. It has been transforming the lives of 7 families, offering them not only the possibility of owning their own home and land, but also the possibility of learning what it means to have a real sense of community.

We have been much helped in developing this project by the cooperation the Municipality. Its predisposition to collaborate with the work of Habitat for Humanity. Our preliminary discussions with them, and their advice, helped us very much and we were delighted to be offered very cheap land in a great location! Moreover, the Municipality provided us with “Housing managers”, from the social plan, as well as night watchmen, tools and equipment, teams of volunteers and structures to enable us to teach and train the beneficiary families.

We are very encouraged when new volunteers join us each day to help develop this project. This also re-enforces the efforts of Recreo’s inhabitants to develop their community. Within the context of tasks corresponding to the periods of pre-construction and construction, we were pleased to see different sectors of the community participating. Volunteers from a local church entertained the children with new activities; a 10-year old girl also helped by teaching other children how to make handicrafts that will later on be donated to the local subsidiary of HPHA in order to help raise funds.

The fruit of the community engagement and the reciprocal helping work done by HPHA is expressed by the testimony of Ana Müller (a beneficiary): “Before, if something bad happened to one of my neighbors I would – to be honest –not be interested, but after participating in the tasks that Habitat for Humanity Argentina gave me for beneficiary families, where we had the opportunity to get to know the other beneficiary families, we understood that we could transform our lives by working together in community, I felt that if today something happened to a child of another family, it would hurt me a lot. Moreover, I am more aware that the problems of other families’ teenagers may also be those of my children in the future and I can learn from their experience and share prevention ideas for the well-being of all.”

We are convinced that the effects that our project had on the Recreo’s locality will bring us the real possibility for collaboration in the construction of not only homes but also of a community that brings back the hope for living in worthy conditions.

Please join us in this challenge to develop Recreo!

Erika Amsler

Social Worker

Santa Fe Afiliate – Habitat for Humanity Argentina