The Chaco Project Book - Asociación Escuelas Lincoln

The
Chaco
Project
Celebrating 20 years
of Lincoln
Community Service
Compiled by Phil Giansante

A book presented to Lincoln students by kindergarten students, 2008
He told us that we are the people
that have been blessed with the
opportunity to help the world, to
help the people of Chaco. He was
letting us realize that we are the
ones who can change the world.
- Greg Hawley, 2009
recounting a conversation with
a village leader

If given an option between doing something
and not doing it, you have to do it;
because you’ve already done the “not do it” part.
- Sam Sheridan, “A Fighter’s Heart”
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world; indeed,
it’s the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
Service to others is the payment you make for
your space here on earth.
- Muhammad Ali
Never before has man had such a great capacity to
control his own environment, to end hunger, poverty
and disease, to banish illiteracy and human misery.
We have the power to make the best generation of
mankind in the history of the world.
- President John F. Kennedy

Twenty Years of
Community Service
by Silvina López Fernandez
The first community service trip to Chaco occurred in 1991 but the liaison with the
Chaco community was established in 1989 by former CAS Coordinator Matilde Flesc.
For the first two years, the school simply sent donations of food, clothing, shoes, toys,
school supplies, etc.
Subsequently, a yearly one-week trip to Chaco was established. During this trip,
students visit the schools we built to paint, complete the buildings, repair what
was broken, distribute donations and play with the children. We also take part in
cultural exchanges with the Toba aboriginal community.
Over a twenty year period, Lincoln students have built five schools so that children
living in the most isolated Toba and Criollo villages of “el Impenetrable” could
attend school.
Thanks to our work in Chaco, 194 families are now sending 682 kids to school.
Lincoln community service also supports the local hospital, particularly the
"Niñas Madre Toba" program which assists teenage mothers.
Recently, we began supporting the “Gotitas de Amor” orphanage, whose task is to
shelter, raise and educate orphans and abandoned children.

The Early Years
by Matilde Flesc
When I started the Community Service Project at Lincoln in 1988, I never thought that
it would develop into such a complex program that continues until present — thanks
to the work of Silvina López Fernandez.
We began, in 1989, by sending boxes of donations to rural schools through
sponsorships offered by the Asociación de Escuelas Rurales (APAER). After two years
of written communication, I decided to ask permission to take a group of students
to Castelli, Chaco. It took a lot of time to plan and raise the money for the 40
students and 4 teachers who would go on the trip. We hired the biggest bus we could
find and gathered donations during two months.
To visit the Toba neighborhoods for the first time was a very shocking experience
for all of us — one knows about poverty because you see it on TV or read about it,
but when you see if first hand, it is something that will stay with you forever.
The fourth year of our trip, we started to build one room schools in some very
forsaken villages of the Impenetrable where we couldn’t imagine how people survive
with so little in the middle of nowhere, with almost no communication with the
outside world.
This project was something very special that started from the need to teach our
students to share with those who have less and to show a little of Argentine’s true
struggle to survive to the students that would, one day, be in positions of power to
change the lives of those who need their help.
I was overjoyed to know that when I left Lincoln, Silvina would continue with the
program and that the commitment was not only a personal one but an institutional
one as well. One community helping another community. We began twenty years ago
with this commitment and that is what this is – a commitment of affection and trust
that exists between Lincoln and the people of Chaco.

About Chaco
Population of Chaco:
1,052,185
Population of Castelli:
28,000
The population of Chaco consists of ...
20 percent “Gringo”
(descendents of Europeans who reached
Argentina after World War II).
40 percent “Criollos” (gaucho).
40 percent Toba/Wichi
(living in adobe/straw rancho houses)
Life expectancy is 69 years, six years less
than the average of the country.
In 2007, fifteen Toba chaqueños died from lack of food.
Over 50 percent of the Toba/Wichi community’s young population have not
finished elementary education.
In 2008, the NGO “Study Centre Nelson Mandela” warned of worsening hunger
conditions and poverty among Aboriginal communities in Chaco.
In September 2009, while we were in Castelli , the “Marcha contra el hambre”
brought together 3000 chaqueños, who traveled 200 km from Pampa India
to the provincial capital.
Sources:
centromandela.com.ar
jjcastelli.gov.ar
unicefninezindigena.org.ar

The Toba People of Chaco
The Toba are an ethnic group in Argentina, Bolivia
and Paraguay. As of 2005, there are 47,951 Toba in
Argentina, living mainly in the provinces of Chaco,
Formosa and Santa Fe.
The Chaco region in the north of Argentina and
part of Paraguay was formerly covered with forests.
The Toba were originally nomadic hunter–gatherers
who, upon the arrival of the Spanish, adopted the
horse and resisted colonial encroachment and
missionization for several centuries.
In the 1880s the Argentine government began a
campaign to occupy new territories, defeating the
last organized attempts by the Toba to defend
their lands. The Argentine Chaco was divided up
in large portions and exploited, especially for
the valuable quebracho tree, used for its tannin
and its extremely durable timber. This devastated
the ecosystem in a relatively short time. The
private owners of the Chaco then turned to cotton
production, employing the Toba as a cheap
seasonal workforce; the conditions did not
change substantially for decades.
Beginning in 1982, the region suffered unprecedented floods, which caused crops to
be ruined; and in the 1990s, mechanical harvesters imported from Brazil left many
Toba without jobs. The provincial government of Chaco resorted to pay a one–way
ticket to the Toba willing to migrate south into Santa Fe.
Source: Toba (Tribe), Wikipedia.org

Tobas Suffer Neglect
by Daniel Schweimler, BBC News - Argentina, September 27, 2007
The Toba are one of the few remaining
indigenous groups in Argentina. They live
in “The Impenetrable Forest”, the poorest area
in the poorest province of the country. The
early Spanish settlers wrote about the Tobas
saying they were a fierce people, hardened by an
inhospitable terrain.
The Toba are a tiny minority in Argentina, with
only 18,000 people. Argentina has one of the
smallest indigenous communities in the Americas,
making it difficult for them to find a voice and
maintain their language and customs.
Poverty and Malnutrition
Many look much older than they are, and are suffering from tuberculosis or the
effects of Chagas disease, caused by a parasitic insect. These are illnesses with
their roots in poverty.
Many Toba still live in primitive mud and stick huts. The straw roof provides
little protection from the relentless heat that batters Chaco province in the
summer. The Toba hunt and gather wild fruits. But the growth of soya production in
recent years has enticed farmers to the region in search of new lands to cultivate.
Deforestation
The local branch of the environmental
organization, Greenpeace, has warned
that massive deforestation is
threatening some native groups with
extinction. To make matters worse,
the traditional cultivation of cotton
in Chaco, which used to provide the
Toba with seasonal work, is being
replaced by less labour–intensive soya
production.
The impenetrable forest is becoming
less impenetrable and with it the
Toba are losing their lands and
livelihoods. Many have emigrated to
the cities where large communities
struggle to earn a living in
burgeoning shanty towns.

Agony of the Toba People
Translated from sections of the article “El Impenetrable o la agonía Qom“
by Mempo Giardinelli, Página/12, September 25, 2007
These days the Chaco attracts the attention of
everyone. Global print and television come to watch
the ravages of malnutrition affecting thousands of
aborigines in the woods known, improperly nowadays,
as “El Impenetrable”.
First we stopped in Saenz Peña, Chaco’s second
largest city (pop. 90,000), for a clandestine visit,
not requested, nor approved, to the Hospital Ramon
Carrillo, the second largest in the province.
Although the front of the hospital is freshly
painted, there is a garbage dump behind. Glass and
broken furniture, radiology and surgical “debris”
give frame to the rooms where patients are only
bodies ravaged by diseases such as tuberculosis and
Chagas disease. I’m shocked by the many people who
are lying on the floor, not knowing if they
are patients or relatives
An hour later, on the way to the city of Juan José
Castelli (pop. 30,000) that calls itself “Portal del
Impenetrable” - the distress and anger are perfected
as I observe what remains of the Chaco forest.
A forest that was once ruled by hundred year old
quebrachos trees and wonderful fauna are now
burned fields of sandy soil and desert, with stumps
everywhere waiting for the bulldozers to prepare
the ground for soybean.
Again in Castelli, we enter the hospital through
the back door; we were not invited. This hospital
supposedly serves 90 to 95 percent of the Aboriginal
people throughout the Impenetrable. What I see
there hits my chest: at least two dozen people in
inhumane conditions looking more like “ex-people”;
just skin over bones, looking like pictures of bodies
in Nazi concentration camps.
A 37 year old woman who weighs less than 30 kilos
looks over 70. She can not raise her arms and does
not understand what is asked to her. Five yards
away an elderly woman (or so it seems) is just a pile
of bones on a rickety bed. The musty smell is

unbearable, the buzzing flies seem to be the only
ones that are healthy in this hospital. There
are no doctors in sight and there reigns a heavy
silence, heavy and accusing. Family members wait
beside the beds, or lie on the floor in the hall on
filthy blankets, as if they are waiting for a death
that is taking too long to come.
I feel a new and growing anger, an absolute
powerlessness. I ask a young nurse who is
cleaning a glass if the same situation is common.
“Always,” she replies, “although lately they have
taken away many, since the reporters started
coming.”
I walk down another hallway and get to obstetrics
and pediatrics. Here, everyone is Toba. A girl cries
with her son, a brown bag of bones with two huge
eyes. Another young woman says she does not know
what is wrong with her baby but she does not want
him to die; but clearly the baby is dying. There are twenty beds in the sector and
each one bears witness to extreme malnutrition; the sheets are filthy, flies buzz
constantly, desolation and fear are in the eyes of everyone.
“El impenetrable”, over three million hectares, was sold with the Aboriginal people
inside. There are several thousands and they have always been there, but without
titles to their property. The result is the devastation of the Impenetrable; when
the forest is cleared, the animal species disappear, become extinct. Human beings
also. And while some good urban souls
say otherwise, and certain leaders are
offended by the thought, harsh words
such as extermination and genocide are
valid.
Unintentionally ironic, I evoke the poet
Atahualpa Yupanqui: “Here, God did not
pass.” That evening I am heartbroken
and only manage to scribble these notes,
indignant, conscious of its uselessness.
About 400 miles from here the final
election count progresses slowly.
Officials of the provincial Health
Minister continue to deny all this, while
the governor prepares to move to Buenos
Aires to be a senator, far from Chaco, as
almost all legislators.
Never before has this country and Chaco
hurt me so much.

Severe Drought
Chaco has been affected by severe
drought conditions over the past
years. This has led to failed crops
and has devastated the agricultural
economy.
Toba communities lack safe
drinking water and are forced to
drink from puddles or dams that
they share with animals, adding
to malnutrition and resulting in
high health risk.

Student Experiences
Chaco is a good experience and a
crucial one, when attempting to
comprehend our society. We were able
to see, to some extent, the poverty
surrounding us everyday and how
important it is to work together in
order to solve this problem.
- Juan Estrada, 1999
I knew Chaco would be a big event,
I just wasn’t expecting this event
to change my life. I hold Chaco in
my heart, my head, in me, and I am a
changed person because of it.
- Johnny Bree, 1999
I think the best part of the trip
was getting the hands-on experience
helping the people and learning
from them while at the same time
they were learning from us.
- Shaleen Alisa Somji, 1999

When we returned to the kindergarten this year,
I saw a little girl I met last year and she was
wearing the same shirt as the last time I saw her.
I know that this was probably the only shirt she
owns. It was dirty and not her size.
- Lea Golisch, 2009
We give them hope; hope that they live off and
depend on. If we stop now, what will happen
to the communities, the people and their
education, their lives?
- Lea Golisch, 2009

Early in the morning we went to the
Cemetery to plant a tree for Leo Yulan´s
three year old daughter who had died in a
car accident four days before we arrived.
Leo is the mayor of the city and has
been our guide and liaison for the last
nine years in Castelli. It was very sad
especially for those of us who went last
year and knew Leo and his little girl.
- Suzanne Barrozzi, 1999
I’d never been on a community service
trip where everything was so handson
before. Dealing directly with the
people you are helping changes things
considerably.
- Gabi Ziomek, 2009
It was an experience that changed me,
and helped me discover certain things
about myself. I am very grateful for
having had the chance to take part
in this amazing trip.
- Gabi Ziomek, 2009
Lincoln provided me with an
education, but Chaco awoke in me
an awareness of the real world.
- Natasha Knechtel, 1993

All these kids want is to be loved and
cared about. Chaco is not just a trip;
it’s a life changing experience. I feel
honored to be a part of a twenty year
legacy that hundreds of kids have
formed. The bonds we build with the
people there are much more than a
simple donation.
- Mary McClain, 2009
I think what separated it from any
other community service oriented
trips was the fact that we were able
to establish relationships with the
people, and actually be around them
most, if not all, of the time. There
are countless occasions in which
I can say I was deeply moved or
developed an important connection
with a person there.
- Sergio Hurtado, 2009
Chaco is a place where a smile
leads to a new friend, where an
object as common as a crayon
gifts new paths of creativity
that lead oblivious children
to uncover their own abilities,
and where our presence is in
higher demand than ever before.
- Mariah Cushman, 2009
One of the things that impressed
me was the way people welcomed us.
When the bus got to on the schools,
people would clap and cheer.
- Linda Chung, 1999

A family comes in. Three young boys take their
seats in our little corner, anticipation in their
eyes. Most likely this will be the first time they
get new shoes since the last time we came. And the
last time they will get any more until we come
back next year. The two older brothers each get a
pair of shiny new soccer cleats. The happiness in
their eyes is contagious, we smile. The smallest
brother gets no shoes, there are no more shoes of
his size. We ask the people passing us shoes to
look better. We ask again. And again. He cries.
- From “96 pairs of shoes” by Julian Modiano, 2009
Silvina once said to us that a
little boy she sees every year, when
we visit the community, said to her:
“The only happy day of the year for
me is when you come.”
- Lea Golisch, 2009
It is an experience which few
people are given the opportunity
to feel. But those select few
which are allowed to go, will
forever remember it.
- Carlos Sevilla, 1999

What began as a long, sweaty and tiring
journey to the small province of Chaco,
Argentina, ended as one of my favorite
community trips. We were all oblivious
to the heart-warming experience that was
to take place. Although some had already
visited the province before, the rest were
new to the ‘Chaco’ experience filled with
kids, painting, building and bonding. I
had never seen poverty to such a scale,
in front of my eyes.
- Garima Batra, 2009
One of the highlights of the trip for
me was the religious ceremony, where we
observed how the local Aborigines let go
of their sins by running in circles,
and praying.
- Garima Batra, 2009
Chaco is so much more than a community service trip,
it’s a lifelong memory that a person will hold onto
forever. It creates a relationship and a connection
with the people of the Toba community, one that should
be shared with the people around you.
- Kaitlyn Duplak, 2009

Donations

Building

Maintaining

Group Pictures
Building at Telasco
2004
Opening Ceremony
at Puerta Negra
2004
Pampa Argentina
2007

Posing at the newly
finished kitchen at
El Estanque school
2007
2008
2009

Dedicated to Silvina López Fernandez
and Matilde Flesc.
Special thanks to the hundreds of Lincoln students who
have given of their time and energy to making the
Chaco community service project a reality
over the past twenty years.