Pichanal Children’s Soup Kitchen
ArgentinaCONTEXT
The Ava Guaraní are one of the oldest indigenous peoples of Latin America, spread in communities between Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. For centuries, Ava Guaraní families sustained themselves through hunting and particularly through farming and gathering nature’s produce. Today these communities are squeezed to the margins of society by colonization aimed at occupying their lands for economic speculation. This has led the Ava Guaraní to a condition of severe social marginality and, as a result, to face widespread poverty.
FRANCISCAN’S PRESENCE
For more than 30 years, the Friars Minor of the Province of St. Francis Solano have been working in various locations in northern Argentina to protect young people, indigenous communities and the most vulnerable people. The friars of the Pichanal Fraternity, in particular, assist the Ava Guaraní with various initiatives to foster education for the youngest, aggregation, and to combat hunger.
THE PROJECT
More than 10 years ago, the friars of Pichanal started a canteen designed to combat malnutrition among children, a problem particularly prevalent among the Ava Guaraní. Usually children do in fact receive one meal a day at school, but during the vacation months not all families have enough to feed them. The canteen sees the friars working together with local people to provide about 800 meals a day. However, this service entails a considerable effort for the fraternity, which has made a request for help to the OFM Fraternitas Foundation.
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