“Qué
hora son, mi corazón…What time is it, my heart...?"
The music of Manu Chao sounds in an old kiosk on a crossroads
1,000 kilometers north of Buenos Aires.
"If the bus does not come today, we’ll have to walk
to the soup kitchen,” says 17-year-old Nico to a group
of young people living in Barrio Esperanza, on the outskirts
of Corrientes.
But Nico keeps smiling, reciting the proverb: “It is better
to travel full of hope than to arrive."
It is lunch time at the soup kitchen hall. A group of children
wait for their turn under a walnut tree. "Today's menu
is mashed potato, meat and an orange," says six-year-old
Carla, playing with her plate and a metal tumbler.
"The soup kitchen has become the heart of the community.
Any activity has to take into account mealtimes at the dining
hall," explains Gabriela Bissero, a Red Cross communicator
in Corrientes.
Eating a hot meal once a day is a cause for celebration in many
Argentine neighbourhoods. Statistics show that 4 million children
under the age of 14 suffer from different degrees of malnutrition.
They have been the worst affected by the country’s social
deterioration.
By the end of 2003, 57 per cent of the Argentine population
were below the poverty line, while 26 per cent were below the
destitution line.
The Red Cross community health programme in Corrientes includes
activities for the proper handling of water and food, and workshops
on the importance of a balanced diet and family hygiene.
“As a requirement for entering the dining hall, we insist
that people have a clean plate, a clean glass and clean hands,”
explains volunteer Verónica Pizarello.
Enhancing communication
When Nico and his friends finally arrive at the soup kitchen
hall, a group of smiling children greets them. They have just
finished the meal and are calmly playing football. The Argentine
Red Cross (ARC) volunteers quickly clean up the area so they
can begin an HIV/AIDS prevention workshop.
"The aim is to get participants to pay attention to their
sexual health; to be able to recognize how HIV and other sexually-transmitted
diseases and passed on; and to use condoms correctly,"
explains José María Dibello, ARC national AIDS
coordinator.
The workshop also manages to get young people to talk openly
about their problems. "We realized that before speaking
about AIDS, many young people needed to talk about their own
bodies and to break taboos. The most important achievement of
the meeting, besides prevention, is that now young people meet
friends, drink tea together and create an open discussion group,"
says volunteer Griselda Orial.
According to the Health Ministry, about 27,000 people are living
with HIV in Argentina.
"A great deal of virus transmission is from men to young
women. Last year's trend in Argentina shows that HIV transmission
is on the increase among poor young women," adds Dibello.
The Red Cross, supported by the United Nations Global Fund,
has started a prevention programme with 144,000 people in 15
vulnerable communities of 10 provinces. On this occasion, volunteers
Verórica and Gabriela are implementing a workshop as
part of the programme in Barrio Esperanza.
Nico emerges from the gathering in a good mood. He spends what
remains of the daylight hours playing football with his friends.
Soccer and volleyball are two activities organised by the Red
Cross volunteers as a way of reducing juvenile violence rates
in the neighbourhood.
The group of young people look at the road out of the corner
of their eyes, just in case a bus arrives to take them back
home. "Hope is the last thing to die," says Nico.
The saying was never truer than in the Esperanza neighbourhood
of Corrientes.
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Almost
60 per cent of the Argentine population is below the povrty
line, and children have been among the hardest hit by
the social crisis (p0425)
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The
Barrio Esperanza project has an important HIV/AIDS component.
Ninety-eight per cent of HIV/AIDS transmission cases in
children under 13 years old are from mother to baby (p0408)
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Sport
is an activity used by Argentine Red Cross volunteers
in Barrio Esperanza to reduce the youth violence rates
(p0409)
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