InsightArgentina is the HelpArgentina volunteer program that facilitates the connection between international volunteers and Argentine non profit organizations.

"Working with HelpArgentina I learned how effective and rewarding volunteering could potentially be. The volunteers are given genuine responsibility and the freedom to implement their own suggestions" - says Heath, a volunteer from a community center.

The Indigneous Community La Estrella, in the province of Salta, had to be urgently and permanently transferred to another location due to a severe erosion produced by the River Pilcomayo.

Half of the Community Garden has been lost and it has been calculated that the next erosion will destroy what remains of the community.

Due to these circumstances, the community has been moved four kilometers away from the river while having to dismantle their school, the women's home, agricultural warehouse, houses, and all that they have worked so hard to build.

If you want to donate to La Estrella, follow this link.

After an arduous process to select from among more than 100 projects presented, the members of the Panel selected 4 winning projects in the Our Elders Competition.

HelpArgentina, Navarro Viola Foundation, La Nación Foundation, and Noble-Clarín Foundation, the organizers of the competition, would like to thank the more than 100 Social Sector Organizations of our country that joined this initiative, answering the call to initiate change in the view we have of our elders and their role in society, and to promote their integration, to include them in the spaces and activities of their communities.

The four winning projects of the Our Elders Competition are:

• "Integración, Calor, y Calidad de Vida Sustentable" (Integration, Heat, and Quality of Sustainable Life), presented by Julio Palacios Foundation (Neuquén)

This project seeks to promote the integration of older adults through the production of "ecologs". The elders, working with youth from the community, will prepare and launch a microenterprise for their production and commercialization.

• "Nuestros Mayores el Monte y sus Riquezas" (Our Elders, The Mountain and its Riches), presented by Pilotos Solidarios Foundation (Santiago del Estero)

This initiative tries to tackle the issues of malnutrition by spreading the use of culinary flavors of the elders of the Santiago Mountain. Some of the health problems identified in the area are the result of the loss of culinary customs. Because of this, the older adults will prepare youth to produce and prepare traditional foods, passing down their knowledge and promoting changes in families´ diets.

• "Manos que recuerdan, ojos que ven más lejos, Buscando la tradición del trabajo y la organización social" (Hands that remember, eyes that see farther. Searching for the tradition of work and social organization), presented by the Foundation for Social Inclusion, Asociación contra Viento y Marea, and the La Ronda Cultural Center (Lomas de Zamora, Provincia de Buenos Aires)

This project seeks to promote the transmission of work experience and the social memory of older adults, to improve the education of youth living in situations of poverty. To do this, older adults will create a Traveling Trade School that provides assistance in the trades to youth in middle schools in Lomas de Zamora.

• "Rescate de los Alimentos Ancestrales y los Productos Andinos", (Recovering the Ancestral Foods and Andean Products), presented by the Catua en Crecimiento Foundation (Jujuy)

The objective is to recover the ancestral foods of the Andean region. In recent years, the area has been losing these customs, and it looks to incorporate older adults in various activities to restore and spread the ancestral customs in various Andean communities

The hury was comoposed by: María Julieta Oddone (Researcher, CONICET; Director of the Program on Aging and Society, FLACSO; Professor of the Sociology of Aging in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires), Ernesto Aldo Isuani (Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, UBA; Lead Investigator CONICET), Laura Golpe (Coordinator of the Institutional Gerontology Program; Director of Research Group on Social anthropology of aging at the National University of Mar del Plata), María Eugenia Herrera Vegas (Executive Director, Navarro Viola Foundation), Milagros Olivera (HelpArgentina), Javier Comesaña (Executive Director, La Nación Foundation) and Mirta Tundis (Journalist, Todo Noticias; representative of Noble-Clarín Foundation).

Recognizing and honoring the individuals around the world who dedicate their time and energy to promoting change in Argentina by supporting Social Sector Organizations. Anyone can nominate candidates. Find out how by following this link.