Voluntario Global
A photography placement to document the different departments of the organisation.
This NGO organisation is based in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires.
The Soup Kitchen
The 1980s were a time of increasing unemployment and hard times for people to provide for their families. Because of this there was a huge movement towards grassroots charities and numerous community initiatives were put together to try help the people in the area. Many of these groups were set up by women from the neighbourhoods and it was these women who initiated the childcare, taking it in turns to care for the children while the others prepared meals for the community in this kitchen. Al Afrarero was initially set up as a soup kitchen by Luci in 1994. To this day this centre is predominately run by women with Luci is at the helm as both the founder and the director of the project. The women range in age from early 20s to over 70 and come from all over South America. They are volunteers who live within the Vila and, in return for working in the kitchen, receive food for them and their families.
Over the 20 plus years this centre has seen great growth and has evolved into the multifaced centre in which it is today. The soup kitchen alone feeds between 90-100 families every day. The nursery takes care of the young children of the workers and other children up to the age of 4 from the area. It has a current capacity of 51.
The garden recycles the crates in which the produce arrives into growing boxes which produce salad, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers and other vegetables. These are an important supplement to the ingredients which are delivered daily to the centre to be turned into that day’s meal.
The Radio Station
A safe space centre for homeless people to go two days a week. Funding was initially for four days a week that has been cut to two days, with further plans to cut more days. This centre is vital for the people that are homeless- for various reasons- where they can have hot food and activities such as art, music and a podcast where they can speak freely about different topics.
The Community Garden
A community hub where the locals are educating the people with healthy eating and how you can grow your own food. A beautiful project inspiring people how they can change small things in their life can make a huge difference. The community hub has a kitchen where they cook the food grown, a small shop where the local home grown produce is sold and a building where activities for the local people can take place.
