Whilst in Buenos Aires Valeria and I met with a man who is coordinating projects within a poor district of Buenos Aires. He works for one of the local councils. This man spoke of great projects that he is involved in and the possibility of us starting our project in this area. We liked what he was describing and also appreciated his willingness to allow us to work with him, but…. he worked for the council.

The only problem (from our perspective) is that the projects that we were informed of are 100% governmentally funded. Now this is great for the underprivileged families as they are guaranteed some sort support and it is ongoing (or at least until these types of projects stop being funded). But for us (SOG) we are a little apprehensive about aligning ourselves with these types of projects as there are a lot of restrictions and regulations around them. We need autonomy! From our perspective we need the ability to start from the bottom and progress in which ever direction we see fit!

Stripping it right back and looking at SOG’s mission. Our aim is to create sustainable social change. To achieve this we would like to start a simple food and activity program. Nice and simple, feeding and educating children. From there we are creating relationships with children, families, communities and those working within these communities with similar goals to ours in mind. Through these relationships we can assist in making the right decisions that are directed at social progress. Our independence as an organisation and the ability to make our own decisions based on community needs is imperative to maintaining our core principals. In maintaining our core principals we see the best opportunity to achieve our mission!

Phew, well there you have it. Maybe not such an exciting post but an important part of the journey for SOG.