01 Grupo General CTC

Organization Objectives

Todos Damos Una Mano’s mission is to provide capacity building and material support for the free and low-cost daycare centers (comedores) throughout the province of Buenos Aires that serve over 6,000 children daily. Its goals are to:

• Provide daily food for 58 comedores
• Supply toys and clothes for the children who attend local comedores
• Increase the capacity of local comedores to develop micro-enterprises managed by the parents of the children who attend the centers

 

Program Information

 

1.Research

Todos Damos Una Mano has never had the resources necessary to carry out research initiatives and is excited about the prospect of developing research projects to further the goals of the foundation. Todos Damos Una Mano welcomes participants who are interested in developing and carrying out one of its several research ideas.

 

Opportunities

• Develop and carry out a research project based on Todos Damos Una Mano’s priorities
• Conduct comprehensive needs assessments with the comedores served by Todos Damos Una Mano
• Create and compile a database with information from needs assessment interviews that can be easily updated
• Research ways to obtain more funds for the Foundation’s projects
• Write and submit grants to potential donors
• Conduct research on opportunities for micro-enterprise development within local comedores

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish (spoken)
• Ability to take initiative and work independently
• Experience in international development, research, grantwriting, compiling data, forming databases, and/or related fields

 

2.Business Development

Todos Damos Una Mano is always in need of support to strengthen and expand its existing programs. Currently, the organization receives funding from 800 donors who pay two pesos each month, as well as from periodic individual community donors. The Argentine government provides nonperishable foods, which are given to the comedores. In the future, Todos Damos Una Mano hopes to increase funding so that it can expand its resources, provide better assistance to the comedores, and increase the number of comedores in the marginalized areas of Argentina.

 

Opportunities

• Develop and improve the Todos Damos Una Mano website to make it more informative and professional
• Create and implement new outreach campaigns to garner community support
• Network with other local NGOs to share resources, information, and support for the comedores
• Write and submit grants to potential donors
• Compose print materials for marketing Todos Damos Una Mano’s programs
• Evaluate organizational structure and help develop a strategic business development plan

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish (spoken)
• Experience in business consulting a plus
• Creative, detail-oriented, excellent organizational skills
• Ability to take initiative and work independently
• Experience in web design, graphic design, and/or marketing

 

3.Micro-enterprise Development

Todos Damos Una Mano is very interested in starting a micro-enterprise of its own. The income generated could be used to support the micro-enterprise initiatives in comedores throughout the province of Buenos Aires. It already has the funds needed to buy machinery to start a small shoemaking business; however, it still needs to find a production site and raise funds for initial materials. The shoes would be donated to local comedores and also sold at a reasonable price to people in the community. The small profit would allow Todos Damos Una Mano to continue to grow and expand.

 

Opportunities

• Help establish a shoemaking micro-enterprise
• Work with Todos Damos Una Mano staff to formulate business plan and long-term goals for micro-enterprise
• Develop marketing materials for shoes
• Aid in establishing a distribution method for shoes in local comedores
• Create and implement workshops for micro-enterprise staff on business and financial management, marketing, quality control, and other relevant topics
• Assist local comedores to set up their own micro-enterprises. Potential micro-enterprises could involve activities such as:

o        Raising chickens

o        Sewing

o        Baking goods

o        Housecleaning services

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish (spoken)
• Experience in business consulting a plus
• Experience in management, international development, micro-enterprises, and/or related fields
• Creative, detail-oriented, excellent organizational skills
• Ability to take initiative and work independently

 

Program Supervisor (All Programs)

Malvina Cabezón is a professor of Social Psychology and the program director for Todos Damos Una Mano. Before her work with the Foundation, Malvina spent four years working with local comedores throughout the province of Buenos Aires. Her hands-on experience with comedores allows her to be an effective and knowledgeable leader of Todos Damos Una Mano.

 

Note: Responsibilities offered to each participant will be proportionate to their level of experience. Participants who are new to development work may predominantly support and assist current project agendas, while those with much applicable experience may be able to assume greater responsibility. Research projects are strongly encouraged by this organization to support each program’s objective because minimal resources are currently allocated for research.

 

Working Conditions

The amount of time spent in the office or out in the field will vary depending on the participant’s project. S/he may be required to travel to nearby cities to support project research initiatives. Up to 75 percent of his/her work may be done in the office if the participant focuses on grantwriting, website design, or database construction. Participants interested in research are advised to bring a recording/taping device, which will be helpful while conducting interviews and talking with supervisors at local comedores. Three interns can work at Todos Damos Una Mano at any given time.

 

The Todos Damos Una Mano office is located in a semi-rural setting with easy access to public transportation. The commute to work varies from 20 to 40 minutes from the city of La Plata. The organization’s building consists of one small office with two computers. Surrounding the office are larger rooms, which are used mostly for storing the nonperishable foods given by the government. The staff is comprised of one permanent full-time member, and six part-time employees who work four hours a day and receive a government subsidy of 150 pesos (about USD $50) per month. The staff is very friendly, energetic, dedicated, and hardworking.

 

Organizational Background

Todos Damos Una Mano was established on June 25, 2002 during the major economic crisis of Argentina. At this time, more and more Argentine families turned to local comedores for much-needed support. A group of friends, who saw local comedores swamped with the increased demand, came together to form Todos Damos Una Mano. Initially, the organization assisted only four community comedores; since then it has expanded to serve almost 60 comedores in the marginalized areas of the Buenos Aires Province. To date, it estimates that the local comedores it supports serve close to 6,000 children between the ages of 1 and 12.

 

Todos Damos Una Mano serves a tremendous need to the community, but is unfortunately under-funded and understaffed. It needs interns or volunteers who have a high level of personal initiative and the ability to assume a large amount of responsibility.

 

Currently, Todos Damos Una Mano offers free baking courses; students become certified Industrial Bakers and can apply for work in one of the 360 local panaderías. In 2005, an FSD intern purchased a sobadora (industrial-sized mixer) for Todos Damos Una Mano, which has allowed the Foundation to increase the number of bread-making courses offered. In turn, this has increased the amount of baked goods delivered to local comedores.

 

About Todos Damos Una Mano’s Clients

Todos Damos Una Mano provides support to 58 comedores in marginalized areas of the Buenos Aires Province. Most of the children who attend these comedores come from families with very few resources, and some come from situations of abuse and neglect. In other cases, the parents of these children do not have the financial resources to provide daily nutritious meals for their family. Thus, many of them rely on local comedores to provide much-needed food and daycare services for their children. The comedores’ primary goal is to serve the children from these marginalized areas; though, some of the comedores also aim to support the parents of these children through the development of micro-enterprises.