The Chaco Project Book - Asociación Escuelas Lincoln

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.