La Máquina de los Sueños

 

The association was formed in 1997 by a group of teachers that had already worked for many years, either individually or in group, to improve the education and especially make possible that children with lesser cognitive abilities or affected by difficulty of various kind, were offered the opportunity of receiving school training same as others in better conditions. Initially the name chosen was "Amanecer" (to dawn) but on March 1998, during the activities carried out to obtain the "personeria juridica" (official recognition of the Legal Person), it was decided to adopt the name of the book published in Italy “La Màquina de Los Sueños” (The Car of Dreams) whose royalties had been yielded by the author. So the non-profit “The Máquina De los Sueños" Association was born. Besides teachers, psychologists and social assistants also persons of good will joined the association in order to improve the conditions of the childhood and especially support their education. The association has no connection whatsoever with any religious or political entity.

 

The necessary funds for the operation of the association come from the contributions donated by the associates but mostly from the activities of the "Pedagogical Advisory Office” formed in 1999. This gathers specialists of the association and others called for specific subjects with the purpose of giving advanced training courses to first-level and compulsory-school teachers for which a contribution is required. Such courses are officially recognized by the Ministry of Buenos Aires Province and permit at a national level (enrolment in the Teaching Staff Training Network) to increase the marks of teachers’ own national ranking. Sometimes the courses are organized like "Teachers Days of Improvement" that allows the participation of more than one hundred teachers to courses and group trainings. Furthermore they organize choir performances, children shows, dinner shows, raffles, etc. whose proceedings sum up to the sale of handicraft objects (made by the members of the association) and the "The Máquina De los Sueños" book. On top of that it also includes the funds deriving from the activities of the association in Rome, Italy and those coming from the sale of the "La Macchina dei Sogni" and "I giorni dell’Ombù" books in Italy. Also in 1998 the Cultural ASSOCIATION “La Macchina dei Sogni” was born in Rome in order to support, spread and centralize the helps from Italy. Since then the Distance Adoptions Project called "Padrinos Escolares" was initiated to provide the children found in difficulty (and indicated by the central institutions or the association itself) with all the necessary for the scholarship and the cognitive and psychological support from the volunteers of the association by means of the contributions of one or more "Padrinos" (Sponsors). At present about sixty boys are being sponsored in this project (amongst which two attend university studies), which includes also three handicapped children (visual, auditory and mental handicap).

The association develops its activities mainly in an area called "Las Quintas" that is located in the extreme suburbs of La Plata. The activities consist in supporting the work of the schools as well as giving private lessons, applied arts, English classes and pedagogical and psychological assistance in the Nursery building. The area is characterized by precarious constructions over a degraded urban centre with dirt roads that become almost impassable with the rain. Similarly the schools buildings are in bad conditions and most of them were built up thanks to the initiative and the good will of private citizens or priests. Schools were born as private but then were officially recognized from the Ministry which absorbs the costs of the salaries and gives a monthly contribution for each pupil’s school meal. The schools operate with two shifts of pupils both having the school lunch prepared inside the house (which often is the only daily meal for these babies).

 

The residents of this area are mainly constituted by national immigrates coming from the provinces of the inland or neighbouring countries (especially Paraguay and Bolivia) and looking for a job; amongst them a community of Toba indios (about 30 families) is present. Furthermore it also includes familiar groups who were pushed to the outskirts by the impossibility of affording the cost of living in areas closer to the city centre. At the moment the unemployment is the main problem as the economical crisis causes many people to lose their job thus leading to a situation of extreme poverty.

The Association operates not only into the above mentioned area but also in other areas of the town, mainly involving in the distance adoptions those children who were signalled by schools, social assistants, etc. or because of direct knowledge of the association itself. The association manages a piece of land that was donated from a private citizen and where the first module of its head office structure was built. Initially they were realized the infrastructure works, the fencing, the slip road, the drainage of waste water, the pavement, the water plant, the electrical system and the construction of a prefabricated house for the resident family, etc.

During these first years, the Association benefited from the helps coming from both italian and foreign groups. Amongst these the most significant was given by 1% FUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT GROUP constituted by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) staff members who decide to donate 1% of their salary to development projects. Similarly other groups from FAO, i.e. U. N. W. G (Women' s Guild of Rome), F. F. F (Fastin For Food) group and the FAO STAFF COOP, internal association of staff members, made a contribution. This latter from one side periodically publishes the articles of the association in the FAO Internal magazine and from the other one it sells (on behalf of the Association) the products to raise funds. Some economical support was also given by COOPERATIVA UNICOMONDO- THE BREAD TREE (fair trading association in Vicenza) that sells the products of the association, besides the worthy support of private citizens who embarked themselves into the engagement of distance adoptions.

Finally the association is also funded by the proceeds derived from the sale of the following books 
• LA MACCHINA DEI SOGNI (Il Calamaio edition - Roma) jointed to its spanish version LA MÀQUINA DE LOS SUEÑOS (Al Margen edition - La Plata), 
• I GIORNI DELL'OMBU' (Il Calamaio edition - Roma) ,
• LITERNAUTA poem book (La Macchina dei sogni edition) 
all written by José Luis Cavalieri.

Since 1998, the “La Macchina dei Sogni” Association in Italy is involved in disseminating and promoting the project for distance adoptions as well as centralizing the financial support and organizing cultural events and sales of products aimed to sponsor the project. In 2009 the association decided to expand its field of action and promote the development of projects from Italy by urging the recognition of the association as ”ONLUS” (Italian official title for non-profit associations involved in social projects). The aim is to concentrate its work into the "distance adoptions" of children, the development of projects to improve the general life conditions of poor areas and the establishment of relationships with official authorities and voluntary associations in the educational, social and health service fields.

The construction of the first module started in 2000. Its surface is about 60 square metres with two rooms and three small bathrooms, including one for disabled people, and it was opened in December 2001. From that moment on educational activities that were first organized externally, were moved inside the new premises: English and Italian Language courses are held but also computers, tuitions for students up to the High School, visual arts; besides a daily snack and a weekly hairdresser for children is provided; and more activities are coming thanks to the work of the volunteers that is increasing. As being also a point of reference for the local community, the association started to organize hand-craft activities to involve the families and especially women. 
The second module construction, similar to the first building, began in late 2001, when a severe economic crisis breaks out. To cope with this emergency this module was aimed to develop activities meant for adults. Thus the project "Manos a la Obra" (Let's get to work) was initiated to organize the community work of the land and hold professional training courses such as cooking, pastry, cutting and sewing. Nowadays more than 30 people have graduated and obtained a health card because of these courses. Furthermore a small marketplace for the sale of clothing was initiated and a popular library opened to public.

In 2003 the Association, which since 1998 has kept and preserved the adjacent park (also installing playground, benches and gazebos) obtained from the Town Hall the assignment of the rights of use the area as public park. This is the only park area available within a radius of several kilometres. The new keepers, a couple no longer young coming from the distant province of Misiones, take care of the maintenance of the park and its opening during the day. 
In these early years, the teachers of the association observed that, with the worsening of the crisis, a great deal of school-age children (five or six years old) have already many cognitive abilities compromised because of the poor conditions of the very first years of life. To meet these needs it was decided to develop the third project "Jardin Maternal", a structure to accommodate for free children from the earliest days of life and inform and monitor pregnant women in all different aspects.
That same year, thanks to the contribution of the "Avvocati per Bambini" (Lawyers for Children) association in Rome and the funds raised by the activities of the Italian Association, it was started the construction of the first classroom of the Pre-School and Nursery Structure that was finally inaugurated in correspondence of the 2004 school year. The structure was initially meant to host children of 2 and 3 years old.
In order to meet the growing needs, the works to build the additional classrooms sped up in the subsequent years so as to achieve the objective of accommodating all of the age groups ranging from two to five years. The project funds were mainly raised by the association in Rome thanks to the enduring collaboration with the amateur actors of the Italian Drama Group of FAO (from 2005 part of the Association itself). On this purpose two or three musical and theatrical performances were organized per year that always achieved a great participation and consensus of critics and audience.
10 years after the Association was born, the "Jardín Maternal" inaugurated the 2007 school year boasting a total area of 240 square metres, operated by 5 teachers, a director and a janitor who, in two shifts, receive for free 120 children ranging from 2 to 5 years old. In parallel, thanks to the work of the volunteers, the training activities for 56 children up for distance adoption progress, as well as the education for over a hundred children living in the community who participate in courses and/or use the material of the popular library built by the Association.
The public park is mostly used by the local community but it is also required by institutions and schools for their activities. So it is very much appreciated the work of the caretakers who lovingly spend their day to maintain the property in the best way possible and, by their presence, help to settle an ongoing relationship with the local community. This gives a familiar touch to "La Maquina" so that every visitor can unequivocally feel the vital energy between these walls, as result of the work and dedication of those who work there.
The aid received by the institutions are limited to the weekly delivery of few litres of milk, a bag of fruit and few kilos of sugar or flour which volunteers try to make an optimal use with thousand of expedients. Currently we are finalizing the papers for the exemption from VAT and some other city taxes. 
The work of the Association then accomplishes its first 10 years. These have been very difficult years on which the Association has earned the trust of local citizens and has become a landmark and a centre of aggregation, where to find and learn to use the tools to know one self and one another and where to try to reconstruct the conditions of a civil and supportive community. While working on the social environment, the Association has educated many children, some of which now attending the University, thus bringing hope into their souls of adults to come and showing them perspectives for a brighter future, not conditioned and marked by difficulties but open to the possibility of getting different and better.