"Pancita llena, corazon contento", or "full belly, happy heart"

That’s the name and the slogan of the communitarian kitchen where we work as volunteers in Buenos Aires. We offer creative activities to children who come in this “comedor” (the canteen), between “merienda” (afternoon snack) et “cena” (diner). Unfortunately we need more funds in order to buy equipment which would allow kids to draw, paint, and create without being frustrated by the lack of materials.

The project originated with us three, Margaux, Paula and Sophie, european students who came as volunteers for a few months in Buenos Aires.

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Margaux, 19 years old (on the left)

I've decided to go to Argentina before begining a bachelor in "human and social sciences" in Lyon. I wanted to do volunteering in education and creation. Even if I'm really motivated, it's difficult to organize artistic activities with children, because of the lack of materials.

Sophie, 22 years old (on the right)

I’m from Paris, where I study urban planning. I decided to take a year off to travel to Argentina to learn Spanish and work as a volunteer, as I already do in France. Coming from a family where both creation and instruction are really important, I can think of countless activities to do with children, but the lack of resources stops us repeatedly.

Paula, 19 years old (below)

I am from Austria. My main reason for working as a volunteer was my desire to do my bit to make this world a better place and help, where support is needed. Furthermore, I wanted to get to know another culture first-hand, also the inhabitants and it affords me the opportunity to make friends around the world. And last, but not least, I wanted to break out of my daily routine and learn about myself. And actually till now I learned a lot in Buenos Aires and still are learning new things every day, especially from the kids and parents in my project "pancita llena, corazón contento".

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The fundation

The « comedor comunitario Pancita Llena corazon contento » is a communitarian kitchen created by Marcela, a really strong, dynamic and generous woman. Having known extreme poverty during her childhood, she decided to offer snack and diner every day to the kids of her neighbourhood so they would never know a situation like she had to.

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Around fifteen children from 2 to 15 years old come daily to the comedor and many like to take part in the activities we offer. All of them are full of kindness,enthusiasm and creativity. They can make a work of art with a piece of cardboard and a little bit of paint.

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Why we need your help...

We have a lot of ideas we would love to carry out with the children. Sometimes we would only need a few paper-plates, some thread, a few staples, and our problems would be solved !

But the most urgent thing is basic equipment : sometimes eight children have to share two pairs of scissors we had to buy ourselves, or the only glue stick we brought from france.

5 centimeters long colouring pencils, two paint cans almost empty, three old paint brushes in the unique plastic glass we found… That’s the reality we have to deal with every day, taking care of 8-10 children. Sure, it’s possible to create beautiful things, with not much and it develops imagination too: instead of blank sheets of paper we use recuperated books, cartboards, old journals... We take and use what we find. But sometimes a little bit more of equipment would make life a little bit easier and allow us to diversify our activities and make the children more independent : a pair of scissors and a glue stick for one and not for six would be enough to manage it !

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Thank you so much for your support!

Education, création et solidarité en Argentine