WELCOME !

Project: 

"Let´s give them a better future"

We invite you to know our project to support  students and schools in Boqueron

Dear friends,

We are presenting to you the project „Let´s give them a better future“ which will make it possible for you to contribute towards the development of the region of San José del Boquerón in Santiago del Estero.

 Youth education is beneficial to all society. Not only is it essential to one´s personal growth, it also has an impact on the whole family. Despite the fact that most young people don´t have the opportunity to return to Boquerón because of the lack of working possibilities in the region, they still have a better future ahead in other regions as far as fulfillment of their professional and personal lives is concerned. The results of this will be multiplied in the next generations, having in mind the fact that those who have studied will do their best to encourage their siblings and/or children to study as well.

 These young people can study thanks to people like you. We are grateful for your generous help. We in the Boquerón Association are convinced that those who give, also receive. We all learn from the people from Boquerón – from their dignity, their ability to overcome difficulties, their way of understanding life. We hope that this experience will also enrich your lives.

 The Boquerón Association was founded in the Czech Republic in 2002 with the objective to help the people who live in a remote region of San José del Boquerón.

San José del Boquerón is located in the province of Santiago del Estero, one of the poorest and most marginal zones of Argentina. What used to be an old jesuit mission in the XVII century, has become a desolate place. Its natural resources have been destroyed by lumber companies resulting in radical climate changes and by means of unlimited exploitation of resources in the past century. Lack of water prevents the cultivation or breeding of cattle in sufficient quantities. There are no sources of work in the area. The lack of attention given to this area by successive governments contributes to its poverty. A fatal and incurable disease, the Chagas disease, transmmited by an insect that lodges in the mud walls and the thatch roofs of the houses, increases among the dwellers who receive no medical care.

In 1975 the jesuit missionary Juan Carlos Constable arrived there. The most basic things were not to be found there: work, adequate housing, medical care, roads, electricity, potable water, education, land ownership. He began to work immediately and in 28 years, with the help from cities and the effort of the inhabitants, the living conditions start to improve: perforations are made in the soil for obtaining potable water, cisterns and water canals are built to enable larger areas of land to be cultivated; seventeen elementary schools are created, the continuation of secondary and further education for the youth, made possible by a system of scholarships; attention is paid to health care, achieving a reduction in the percentage of people afflicted by the Chagas disease, from 86% to 45% made possible through the progressive replacement of dwellings and the installation of a medical clinic in the area; the nutritional needs of the population are taken care of, especially those of the children, through the opening of school cafeterias; productive efforts are made to stimulate the self-sufficiency of the inhabitants.

All of this is a lot, but much more can be done for the people of Boqueron to have a more dignified life. To cooperate in this effort is the task that the Boquerón Association assumes.