Why this Project?

The Arco Iris Community Center struggles to live up to its potential.

For the past twenty years, this center has served families in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of Villa Elisa, Argentina. Each day Arco Iris provides over 90 children with two meals along with educational and social activities outside of school. The center also supports microenterprise development, such as baking and sewing cooperatives, run by community members. A source of hope, inspiration, and opportunities, Arco Iris makes the best of limited resources while facing constant challenges.

Arco Iris´ lack of security is the principal challenge that hinders its growth and expansion. At night, youth drink and participate in high-risk activities in the unprotected, trash-filled, and weed-infested yard surrounding the community center; during the day, overgrown grass hides broken beer bottles and drug paraphernalia. Dogs roam the area where the children play, bringing in garbage and disease. Without an enclosure-a protective secure fence-vandalism and wandering neighborhood animals prevent the community center from creating a garden that could supply the children with fresh produce. Underutilized, contaminated, and dangerous, Arco Iris’ yard exists as a constant reminder that the center currently lacks the infrastructure and resources to serve the community to the best of its ability.

A well constructed fence would provide Arco Iris with the security to create a soccer field, playground, garden, and other community-based development projects. It would also ensure the ongoing success of its sewing and baking cooperatives. A fence, while exceedingly simple, is an important step for a rural community to build a more sustainable future.

A Day in the Life at Arco Iris

More on Community Needs

One of the most developed countries in the world at the opening of the twentieth century, Argentina encountered major hurdles in its efforts to keep pace with the international economy [1]. The financial crisis of 2001-2002 greatly exacerbated political and economic obstacles, and official unemployment levels soared to nearly 20 percent [2]. Though unemployment has fallen in the country of 39.9 million, 31.4 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line [3]. Located within greater La Plata, the provincial capital of Buenos Aires, Villa Elisa and its population of 20,000 exemplify the dichotomies of Argentine society and the challenges that the country faces [4]. Wealthy, gated communities exist alongside great poverty [5]. Walking from the main road into Villa Elisa, one passes blocks of beautiful homes before crossing a grassy field and entering a neighborhood with trash-lined streets, makeshift homes, roaming dogs picking at the garbage, and shoeless children wandering around without supervision.

A government assistance program, Plan Familias, reduces the severity of poverty by financially supporting families with children [6]. Yet payouts of $4.17 to $6.67 per day ($1.34 to $2.15 USD) barely guarantee survival. Available jobs usually involve cleaning homes, for $4 to $9 pesos per hour ($1.28 to $2.90 USD) [7]. Though the government has stated its desire to reintegrate the poor into the working class, the families of Villa Elisa constantly confront challenges in their efforts to become politically and economically active citizens. Chronic underemployment and prevalent unemployment make it difficult for families to envision a better future, as they do not have the opportunities to gain skills needed to pull themselves out of poverty. Moreover, this focus on day-to-day survival precludes the formation of a cohesive and vibrant community.

[1] UN Human Development Report 2006 ranks Argentina 36 of 177. hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/ (5 March 2007). [2] Commanding Heights: Argentina Unemployment. www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar (5 March 2007) [3] The CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html (5 March 2007). [4] This figure was obtained through discussions with community members, as official information is difficult to find. [5] Argentina performs better than its Latin American counterparts on some indicators, but its high Gini Index of 52.8 demonstrates that it too must focus on equitable economic growth. UN Human Development Report 2006. [6] In 2002, the Argentine government introduced Jefe del hogar as an emergency measure to combat the effects of the economic crisis. This was replaced by Plan Familias in 2006, with financing from the Inter-American Development Bank and a $350 (USD) World Bank Loan. See Project AR-L1006 Support for Plan Familias, www.iadb.org; www.worldbank.org (5 March 2007). [7] Figures for the payouts from Plan Familias and the average local wages were obtained through interviews with sewing cooperative members, mothers who help cook, and staff of Arco Iris. (February 2007).

Sustainability and Expected Outcomes

The successful implementation of this project will allow Arco Iris to better serve the community as a whole. Designed with the staff of Arco Iris and local individuals, this project will improve community cohesion by encouraging members to participate more in Arco Iris activities. The creation of an enclosure for Arco Iris will give the children a safe place to play and learn, provide security for the nascent sewing and bakery cooperatives, supply produce for the kitchen, and create a much-needed space for outdoor development activities. Specifically:

Partnership & Participation: This proposal is a collaborative project that incorporates the results of extensive conversations with Arco Iris staff, Architect Pedro Tirado, and the FSD Site Team. The community event held prior to construction will not only provide support for “Constructing to Create Opportunities,” but will also raise awareness about the daily work that Arco Iris has done for the past twenty years. The Villa Elisa neighborhood served by Arco Iris suffers from high unemployment and low social cohesion; this project will provide employment and provide a forum for community dialogue. Furthermore, after the project has been completed, the garden will become a space that will be shared by the community as a whole.

Youth Empowerment & Education: Many children of Villa Elisa are forced to work or travel to La Plata with their parents to beg for money on a daily basis; in their homes, they cook, clean, and care for younger relatives. But at Arco Iris, they can be children and participate in the social and educational activities offered by the community center in addition to receiving two daily meals. This project will allow the center to live up to its potential, as it will allow Arco Iris to provide outdoor activities and teach gardening skills. A playground will also benefit these children in more specific ways, as the process of play increases a child's self-esteem, improves dexterity and physical fitness, and opens a young mind to new possibilities by developing social, verbal, and problem-solving skills.

Community Development: This project will utilize the skills and labor of community members who live in the marginalized sector of Villa Elisa. It will bring together parents, children, and the Arco Iris staff and improve community cohesion. The individuals involved with the project will be less likely to vandalize the community center after having worked so hard to improve its facilities and they will help to prevent vandalism by others. Moreover, this project will bring attention to the community center and increase the number of families participating in Arco Iris’s capacity building and micro-enterprise outreach programs.