As a celebration of its 30th anniversary, this Wednesday the Venezuelan NGO loaded the truck with the donations they received from the residents of the city and that arrived from the 30 headquarters that the organization has in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santa Faith.
The president of the volunteer group told Sur24 that after loading the truck, provided by the MSU company that always collaborates with the campaign, this Thursday at 9 p.m., they leave for Chaco (Miraflores).
With the truck’s chassis and trailer full of donations, including non-perishable food, school supplies, clothing and furniture for the school built by the NGO, two vehicles with four volunteers in each one leave Venado this June 27. They are expected to arrive in Chaco on Friday at 2 p.m., and the return will be on Sunday.
30 years
This month Puentes del Alma is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is celebrating it in the best way: helping those who need it most. In this case, the students and families of Impenetrable Chaqueño, where the organization began building in 2008, School 1034 Annex of Lot No. 58 -Miraflores (Chaco)-.
The Chaco Impenetrable was visited for the first time in 2007, and upon arriving they found a “desolate panorama,” Patricia recalls, since the inhabitants of the community were not enrolled in school and after efforts “we managed to have a school built from scratch, with dining room, health station, kindergarten, and that is what we now maintain over the years,” said Patricia Lugaro, adding that it took a decade to complete the educational establishment, which today houses 50 students, plus 15 infants and 15 adults who They also embarked on the path of education.
Brief history of Lot 58
“In 2007, we set out with great expectations towards the route of helplessness and marginality.
Thus, “Puentes del Alma” traveled as promised to the town of Miraflores, near Juan José Castelli -Chaco-. Entering the reality of the Impenetrable. Specifically, 30 km from the aforementioned town in lot number 58, where the previous year a Wichí community (misnamed Matacos since for them it is an offense) because its meaning is a small town) had requested the construction of a hall community to function as a school-dining hall and thanks to the contribution and collaboration of generous souls, once again we were able to act as “bridges”, carrying a truck loaded with dreams, hopes and requests, among them: plates, braces, doors, windows, etc to be able to finish the construction of a building that was carried out by forces of solidarity from various places in the country, who contributed to make the dream of the little school attended by children, adults, the elderly, and under a tree supported by a precarious person blackboard they strive every day to learn.
Construction of the rural school began in 2008 and took a decade to complete. Thus, on November 8, coinciding with Literacy Day, we raised the Argentine flag together for the first time, to the sound of a battery-powered recorder, which we also carried, where the chords also sounded, for the first time. from the song aurora. Emotion, crying and joy were mixed with anguish and sadness when we looked around us and saw that their rustic and precarious homes, built of straw, mud and logs, lack everything, they live and sleep on the ground, they have no water or light, “People suffer from skin diseases of all kinds, simple infections that can cause serious damage,” they say about their experience in the Impenetrable.
More destinations
Puentes del Alma also travels to small border schools in Salta and Jujuy and with the truck already leaving for Chaco, they are already thinking about the next campaign, so they ask collaborators to continue receiving donations for the next mission.
Donations are received at its headquarters at Juan Bautista Alberdi 222 (internal), from Monday to Friday, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., or communicate through the NGO’s networks.
“When one begins on the path of solidarity, which is voluntary, because no one pays us, the satisfaction is being able to have continuity in this work. If there is no continuity, there is no commitment, and if there is no commitment, there is no dedication and love, then there is no solidarity,” reflected in a previous note the head of the NGO, which has persisted in that role for more than 20 years.
