Why Salta?
There are obviously strong emotional ties with Salta as this is where David met his untimely death and where his brother, Gareth, and his family live. As explained on the Our Inspiration page David wanted to help peoples on his travels far less fortunate than himself. However the choice of Salta as a target for our efforts is far from emotional. This is why the Foundation is addressing a real problem:
• Higher education and poverty in Argentina
• The right to education
• Overview of Salta
Higher education and poverty in Argentina
Poverty and unemployment rates fell in Argentina in the years following the economic crisis of 2001, but the north has been excluded from this growth. Half a million people – about a fifth of the population – live in the critical region that includes Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Chaco, Misiones, Formosa and Corrientes. More than 60 percent of the population in these nine provinces lives below the poverty line, far above the 44 percent national average. In Salta, there are around 87 ‘informal neighbourhoods’ in which thousands of families have occupied land. Around half of the plots are not yet regularised, leaving families with little access to basic services.
Government policies recognise the importance of higher education and aim for equal access. Equal access requires a system of student grants, but in 2007 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) found few cases of these grants in practice. Argentina has a 97 percent literacy rate and schooling is compulsory for ten years. Almost half of the population between the ages of 20 and 29 has access to higher education but this access only benefits 1-15 percent of indigenous groups. In the Jujuy and Salta provinces, under 6 percent of the Ava Guaraní and Kolla people aged 15 years and over attend university.
The serious problem of equality and inclusion in Argentinian education is not only that of access. It is estimated that only about 15 percent of those who enter university graduate. The socio-economic problems of poorer students oblige the majority to work for 35-40 hours per week, often with a lack of vocational guidance. Improving access and guidance through university can help to address the poverty which affected over half of the population after the 2001 crisis, and is expected to increase again as a result of the 2008 global economic downturn. It is this poverty that caused David, in Salta, to question the gulf between his life and theirs. Helping individuals to realise their ambition has long-term and far-reaching potential.
The right to education
Education is the key to individual progress, and is also important for the development of families, communities and societies. A lack of it maintains a structure of inequality, injustice and poverty. Developing countries lose their greatest resource – people – as they emigrate to earn a living, or stay and fail to reach their full potential. Without access to quality education, it is difficult for individuals and their families to escape from hardship, which continues through generations and severely restricts life choices.
Overview of Salta
Salta is a fantastic tourist and traveller destination. Salta sits in the foot hills of the Andes mountains with a desert like climate. Within the city there are many historic and cultural sites. Around this beautiful part of Argentina there are are really beautiful landscapes, local indigenous culture and numerous adventure opportunities.
The summers are hot and the winters cold but bright in the day and very cold at night. The rainy season runs from January to March. We would recommend that you visit Salta.
As with many tourist locations that are many harsh realities that the tourists do not see, though. Families live on plots in shanty towns on the edges of Salta with no sanitation, light or other services in the hope that they can keep the land and finally build a home of some kind. Young people who live here still go to school until the age of 18.
Families often start on the land with a tent or cloth shelter for the first year or so, moving on to tin or mud as and when they can afford it. The final homes are usually 1-2 room with little privacy making studying difficult.
Many schools are falling apart and have little in the way of facilities and equipment. Despite the conditions they live in parents send their children to school in clean white coats (a cheap uniform) and with a decent bag to carry books. They wish their children to do well. Despite these aspirations many young people are sent out to work during the time they should be in school, to help make ends meet.
