The Amancay Centre opened its doors in 2010 in Maquinista Savio, a town of humble, hard-working people in Buenos Aires in Argentina. Through its workshops for women, its entrepreneurs’ fair and other activities and services, a very strong community spirit has been created. This encourages creativity, joint effort and the desire to move forward at a difficult time for the country.
In Maquinista Savio, the word survival takes on a special meaning because bringing home an income is an arduous task and much more difficult than in other parts of the world. About fifteen years ago, when the Amancay Centre -- a Teresian Association social project which is part of the Nuevamérica Foundation -- was created, there were problems that then increased after the pandemic and ‘we have not yet come out of the slump,’ says Alicia Moltrasio, Coordinator of the Centre.
Pre-school and workshops
This space has gained fame over time, thanks to the efforts of the members of the Teresian Association, volunteers and those dedicated to it. Although the workshops offered by the Amancay Centre are very important, the truth is that when it was created in 2010, they intended to open an early childhood centre.
‘When they learned about the Teresian Association, they asked us to open a place to welcome pre-schoolers (aged three and four) as these were lacking. So we did, and it is still running,’ explains Marta Olmedo, a member of the Teresian Association in Argentina.
To make use of it in the afternoon, the idea was to offer workshops for women, and this was also achieved. Currently, there are workshops on sewing, knitting and crafts, etc. They make everything from bags to decorations, pendants, dolls (cloth dolls), along with painting and yoga workshops.
‘Here, women learn, and for many of them, it is a way to support themselves, as they sell what they make with their own hands,’ says Marta Olmedo.
Three years ago, they came up with the idea of an Entrepreneurs' Fair and, as they receive a lot of donations of clothing and books, they organise another fair to sell these items. The proceeds are used to purchase materials, repair damage to the premises, etc.
Growing together
The current coordinator of the Amancay Centre was a student at the Instituto Hispano Argentino Pedro Poveda and has been giving knitting workshops for some time, so she is very knowledgeable about how the centre is structured. She said, "When I moved to this area of Argentina, Mabel Quintero, a member of the Teresian Association and my teacher, contacted me to see if I wanted to give a craft workshop. I started by teaching knitting and then began to help Mabel with setting up projects until I finally took over the coordination of the Centre together with Norma Estela Díaz."
Throughout this time, they wanted to expand, but space is somewhat limited because the building, which is a small old chapel, prevented them from offering their services to everyone who needed them. Then they found a way to reach more people by dividing the workshops.
From that moment on, there was an increase in the number of people who came to the centre, so now they are working in this direction to enable it to grow while working around the limitations.
Life change
The women who give the workshops are also from the neighbourhood and are very connected. ‘There is a very nice community atmosphere with a certain empowerment of women. They encourage each other,’ says Marta Olmedo.
One of the people who can best speak about this sense of community and unity is Estela Díaz, a volunteer and coordinator of the Centre together with Alicia Moltrasio. She says that her life was transformed from the moment she joined the Amancay Centre. "It changed my life a lot. Since I've been here, I've met a lot of people and many people have got to know the real me.‘
Alicia Moltrasio said that for her, coordinating the Centre is a challenge and a great responsibility, but she assures us that it is also very rewarding.
For her part, Estela says she is proud to be there and to be useful to women. She said that ’Last year they said so many nice things to me! I didn't know I had given so much; if they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have been aware of it."
The Amancay Centre is made possible financially by the InteRed Foundation, the Teresian Association's NGO, and funds from Adveniat (a Catholic aid organisation in Germany serving all people in Latin America and the Caribbean). However, they are not discouraged, and Alicia Moltrasio conveyed this very clearly when she said, ‘Like Poveda kept up the fight, we too will succeed.’
Would you like to know more about this project or collaborate? Check out more information of the project here.
If you are familiar with this or other social projects of the Teresian Association, you can share your experience in the comments.
Teresa Rey. TA Info.
Published in News