Pediatric Services in Remote Areas of Argentina

“She is Florencia”.  She is 4 years old and attends Kindergarten at School # 939 "Francisco Cáceres" at Cuarta Legua, Pampa del Indio, Chaco.  Her teacher told us.  “At school, Florence is cheerful, very active and intelligent, just like her classmates, but she lives, like many underprivileged children belonging to this community, with great deficiencies. The help from Fundacion Sumando Manos and all donors worked so that Florencia can attend the garden every day. She received clothing and indispensable footwear, since during the cold season she did not go to school because she did not have overcoat, or she did it in sandals and t-shirt. Also, thanks to the support for the dining room, she receives a glass of milk daily and a plate of food at noon, so necessary for the child to achieve an adequate performance in her school’s tasks. Because, as in most cases, the school provide the only meal that they have daily.”

Thanks to the generosity of each one of you, Florencia attends the kindergarten every day and has completed this stage with great happiness. Today she prepares to continue her schooling next year.

Florence shows us the true impact of our task, thanks to her attendance at school, she has the possibility to feed daily, can learn and dream of a different future.

She represents the reality of thousands of children attending rural schools in Argentina, where currently there is a nutritional emergency in rural schools located at  isolated zones in Argentina.

This situation is aggravated by the lack of sanitary and education attention and the precarious infrastructure located in places with difficult accesses due to their geography and climate, where children walk barefoot more than 10 km to go to school and return to their homes (Please see panoramic picture showing where the schools are located)

The School # 939 "Francisco Cáceres" in Cuarta Legua, Pampa del Indio, Chaco is part of our campaign to provide food for rural schools in Chaco and Misiones in a monthly basis.

The food that underprivileged children receive at the school usually is their only daily meal. Communities under the poverty line are extremely vulnerable to hunger, and they can’t provide what children need to grow and learn. 

Children living with food insecurity lack a stable, reliable means of getting the meals they need.

Reduce malnutrition related to lack of food (quantity and quality), lack of hygiene and nutrition education, sickness and risk development is the objective of this campaign that along with other projects run by our organization to provide drinking water and pediatric and dental services has dramatically decreased extreme cases and infant mortality due to malnutrition in the places where we arrived with help.

Our campaign started in 2010 providing food for rural schools in Pampa del Indio. This campaign actually covers 7 rural schools providing food for around 600 children from Qom, Guarani and Wichi’s communities.

Schools Information:

• E.E.G.B.Nº 239 “Pedro Inchauspe”, Paraje Pampa Chica, Pampa del Indio.(150), Principal: Hugo Baricheval
• Jardín de Infantes #8 “I. P. Bufano” Turno Tarde, Pampa del Indio. (23), Principal: Isabel Giménez
• Escuela Nº 916, El Gramillar, Pampa del Indio. (17), Principal: Ruben Alfonso
• Escuela Nº 395, Paraje Pampa Ombu, Pampa del Indio. (17), Principal: Elias Jovanovich
• Escuela Nº 1015, Paraje Campo Nuevo, Pampa del Indio. (75), Principal: Mario Perez
• Escuela Nº 939 “Francisco Caceres, Paraje Cuarta Legua, Pampa del Indio. (262), Principal: Alicia Diez
• Escuela Nº 373, Paraje El Botón, El Soberbio, Misiones. (42), Principal: Osvaldo Bordón.

Thanks for supporting and trust on our organization to be the liaison between your generosity and the children in need.

Thanks to you and leveraging the partnership with other organizations, we have made the kids who are part of our plan look at the world with a smile, because that's what we work for: "For the smile of a child"

Happy Holidays for everyone and your families, and the wish that for 2017 all of us have the conviction,enthusiasm, understanding, commitment, compassion, patience and above all love, to do everything possible to make a better world.

Links:

• Picutres provided by school 939 Paraje Cuarta Legua-Chaco