Fostering community in Argentina
Scouts in Argentina are creating meaningful experiences for marginalised children, youth and adults, bringing communities together to improve people's quality of life through Community Involvement Centres in vulnerable neighbourhoods' across Argentina. The Centres were realised with support from local and national partners and BP Fellows via the World Scout Foundation as part of the Messengers of Peace Initiative.
Has anyone ever told you that they want to change the world but don't know where or how to start? How would you answer them? If you asked me, I would first invite you to join Scouting and right after, I would introduce you to our nearest Community Involvement Centre!” says 23-year-old María Florencia “Flor” Cagliero, a passionate Scout leader and International Commissioner of Scouts de Argentina, who coordinated the Córdoba Community Involvement Centre throughout 2021.
“It makes me very proud seeing that this initiative is led by young Scouts, who carry out projects creating enormous social impact, always with the aim of building a better world for everyone”, says Federico Abancens (21), a member of the project planning team and National Youth Advisor of the National Board of Scouts de Argentina.
Flor and Federico were just two of the passionate young Scout leaders involved in this project to connect communities and transform lives, made possible thanks to generous support from local and national partners and BP Fellows via the World Scout Foundation as part of the Messengers of Peace Initiative. They shared the story of their motivation and unwavering action in our 2021 Annual Report and in this uplifting video at our recent Impact of Scouting Seminar, during the 74th Baden-Powell Fellowship Event in Dublin.
Our Centres provide a unique way to transform vulnerable communities, working not for but with society. These places allow you to explore the local reality and needs of each marginalised neighbourhood and address issues with a lot of compromise and responsibility. Our Scout values and service drive this project. This is our way of creating a better world.” Flor Cagliero
Argentinian Scouts designed the concept following their experience of the pandemic. They had led many community actions alongside key local partners, preparing and distributing food; collecting much-needed clothing and blankets for people in need, promoting awareness of human rights and mental health, and more, yet it soon became clear that a more cohesive and sustainable approach was needed to tackle more than just the immediate problems facing isolated and vulnerable families. Their response was to set up the first pilot Community Involvement Centre in Liniers in the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires towards the end of 2020, and the momentum has built from here!
Vulnerable children, young people and adults are welcomed to and supported at the Centres where available services include:
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Trade schools to give young people and adults skills in work.
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Support for young people’s schooling.
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Access to healthy and nutritious food.
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Tools and support to help people lead a healthy life.
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Free legal assistance.
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Recreational game libraries to “promote childhoods free of labels and rich in rights”
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and, of course, information on and access to Scouting.
Scouts involved locally have been able to serve their communities, share Scout values and propose valuable activities to children, youth and adults. It has taken a lot of effort, but we can see big outcomes already such as in a child's laugh or drawing or the response from elders who now know how to send an email on their own and are proud of themselves.
This project keeps strengthening Scouts de Argentina and all of the stakeholders involved, who trust the Scout Movement with this important task to change the local reality”, says Flor.
At the time of publishing, Argentina Scouts had just opened a seventh Community Involvement Centre in the most southern province of Argentina. The project is proving sustainable, and the momentum and impact keep growing!
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600 Scout and 1500 non-Scout Participants
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Over 6000 direct beneficiaries and their families
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1.7M hours of service delivered through this project
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Supporting SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 16, 17
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Project funding: USD 25,000 of total USD 101,000
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Funding sources: WSF Imholz Messengers of Peace Fund alongside funding from the Provincial Government of Cordoba, the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Rosario National University, the Civil Association of Scouts of Argentina, and Fundemos.
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62,635 Scouts in Argentina (2020 census)
To discover more impactful Scout projects, visit our 2021 Annual Report.