More people are joining, more communities are getting involved

As this year ends our country, with the rest of the world, is undergoing an economic and financial crisis. In HPHA we realize that there are more and more people in need of our help so during these last months we have organized events and activities in order to reach not only our usual families but also the rest of the community.

Nationally we organized a “More than Houses” dinner, in which over a hundred people were involved in different ways. In Santa Fe an event called “Sing and Build” took place, when volunteers from different provinces of the country and different countries of the world got together to build. In the evenings the public were invited to join in music festivals, which again publicized our organization. In Luján the “Tienda Hábitat” also took place in addition to the work to improve the soccer field, allowing HPHA projects to reach out to the community.

We know that the challenge of alleviating the country’s housing problem is getting more and more difficult but we do not despair for we see, day by day, as hundreds of people join us that we are on the right track!

Ana Cutts, Directora Nacional.

“More than houses” 2008 Dinner

On October 1st in the Marriott Plaza Hotel, Buenos Aires, Habitat for Humanity Argentina organized its annual Dinner with the theme “More than houses”. The dinner was one of its main fund raising events as well as a way to share and celebrate our achievements, and to recognize the people, companies and institutions that collaborate with our mission. with dedication and commitment.

The Master of Ceremonies was Mariano Peluffo, it was sponsored by Banco Provincia Fuerza Solidaria and there were many guests from different companies and organizations.

The evening began with a welcome cocktail, followed by the presentation of the new HPHA video and the game “Let’s do more than houses”, in which each table turned into a construction team to be part of a great “building work”: constructing small houses with little bricks sold by a group of volunteers! Guests were able to be creative and imaginative showing that faith and love have no limits when you build with commitment. While houses were being built at each table, a screen showed how an abandoned building was slowly turned into a new and refurbished home. The money raised was earmarked for the “Recycling Urban Homes” project.

In recognition of their help, a symbolic “golden brick” was presented to Accenture, Citi, Ford, General Electric, IFC Argentina, Intel, Nortel, Novartis, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Sheraton Hotel Buenos Aires. The evening concluded with an acrobatic act and dancing.

The success of this event was, of course, due to the participaltion of guests, volunteers, donors and sponsors demonstrating again how, with everyone helping, great things can be accomplished!

Sing and Build

“Sing and Build” took place in Recreo and Santa Fe from November 17th - 23rd. Over 50 local, national and international volunteers got together to build in the site of Recreo, next to the families. During the day they worked very hard, in spite of Santa Fe’s extremely hot weather; while during lunch and in the afternoon, families and volunteers sang together with music from guitars. On Saturday there was a music festival in the Luz y Fuerza Theatre in Santa Fe City.

This special event aimed to show, through singing as well as building together, the joy of volunteering. Each working day started with prayers at 9:00a.m, followed by a reminder of the safety measures. During lunch there was singing and dancing and at 4:30p.m the working day ended with more music, singing and dancing. A volunteer from San José, USA taught everyone a Hawaiian “hula-hula” and the local families taught the international volunteers how to dance Santa Fe’s “cumbia”; in addition, Vienna Teng, a volunteer and professional singer and composer from New York entertained everyone with her music skills.

Other donors and sponsors made “Sing and Build” possible thanks to their generous collaboration. These were: Global Village Program from Habitat for Humanity International, San Cristóbal, Casa Martín, Puig y Compañía, Agua Pura, Basani, Hotel Zavaleta, Servicios Integrales and the Iglesia Bautista Nordeste.

On Monday we held the first outdoors show, in the San Martín Park in the Center of Recreo. Two groups of folk dancers from Recreo, a group from Santo Tomé, a group from bossa nova from the Nordeste Church, a folk singer, the brigade singer accompanied by a pianist and the local group “Los del Camino” were part of the show, which lasted for two hours. Recreo’s Mayor and the entire municipal department co-operated and Carina Valli, on behalf of the municipal council, officially declared “Sing and Build” an event of municipal interest.

On Thursday, volunteers were invited for dinner in the homes of the different families. Each family was able to proudly show their new houses and entertain them with home- made food. These were intimate moments of sharing.

On Saturday afternoon, the kids from the families participated in the “Little Bricks” workshop and presented a small play to all the helpers. When the working day was finished the children gave each volunteer a small notebook with a fridge magnet, made with small hands decorated by them, helping everyone to remember their saying “We can also put our hands to work”.

The day closed with an event in the Luz y Fuerza Theatre in Santa Fe City. The folk ballet “Grupo Yapeyú” and “Agrupación El Prado”, the groups “Vocal Santafesino” and “Alta Tensión” took part. At the end of the evening the folk group “Los del Camino” played some “chacareras” with Vienna Teng, the American volunteer who learned the local songs especially for this event.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon “Sing and Build” ended the “build” with a meal of “choripanes”. After a week’s hard work, two complete houses had been finished. It was clear that “Sing and Build” was “more than houses” and that everyone had learned and enjoyed a lot together!

Building community development

On October 4th Habitat for Humanity Argentina organized a brigade in Luján of a group of young people from St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Olivos. These young people not only helped with the construction of houses at the building site, but they also worked to improve a small soccer field for “El Trebol” a community soccer school.

The group was divided into two: half the brigade helped with the construction of houses and the other half helped in the soccer field. There they sanded and painted the goalposts and seats, they marked the boundaries with lime and put up a surrounding fence. “One always wishes to help, but I’ve never thought we could help in this way, coming and putting our hands to work… so that children can have a soccer field that is so important for them” said Jennifer Moeller, one of the volunteers.

This kind of initiative enables HPHA to reach out to more of the local community by helping in community projects.

When the working day was over, heat and tiredness did not prevent some of the brigade from joining youngsters from one of the Church groups in a short soccer game, using the newly painted goalposts!

The soccer field is the place where over 100 youngsters from low income families in the neighborhood get together to play around four times a week. Juan Giovanetone, who belongs to one of the “Incremental Improvements” families, has worked with the children for the past 14 years. Seven years ago he got some disused land donated by the Municipality, and with the help of many parents of the children, friends and neighbors, the soccer field was inaugurated.

One of Juan’s sons plays in the club “Ferrocarril Oeste”, and at weekends he helps his father with the training. Furthermore, when the youngsters grow up and no longer play, most of them keep helping, thus teaching the younger ones from their own experience.

Surprisingly for many of us, Juan is not a fan of any professional soccer team, but the explanation he gives is quite convincing: “Professional soccer is all about the money; here the game is just an excuse for the kids to leave the street and for everyone to learn together about commitment and team work”.

Tienda Hábitat in Luján: technical and legal assessment to the community

On November 8th Tienda Hábitat was held in Luján in Los Gallitos neighborhood; it was a day of activities with workshops, assessment, and time for specific questions and consultations related to housing problems and solutions, and it was open to the whole community.

The aim of the event was to share Habitat for Humanity Argentina’s program with the wider community and, with the help of specialists who volunteered for the occasion, to offer legal and technical assessment. Architects answered the questions of families who were constructing their own homes, and lawyers gave a Legal literacy workshop. In addition, there was a “Little Bricks” workshop for the youngsters of the participating families.

A tent was erected to create attention, and volunteers from Citi handed out fliers to promote HPHA’s activities with the rest of the neighborhood. We showed the video of HPHA so that more families could get to know what HPHA is doing.

3.5 million families in Argentina are in need of help with housing problems; 33.4% live in derelict houses which need improving, repairing or completing. HPHA’s projects are a small, but important answer to the housing problems in Argentina.

Many poor families have begun to build their own homes but have not been able to finish the building: others have houses that are inadequate or overcrowded and don’t know how to improve them. Most of the families work alone doing as much as they can with the income they have. They usually do this alone, or with the help of friends, and the possibility of assessment by a volunteer architect would be a great opportunity for many.

But the problem for most low income families is that they have no Land Titles and do not know how to legalize their situations. Legal experts can provide support, awareness and education in these matters.