The economic crisis has hit the children of the poor in Argentina particularly hard. In July 2000, a group of middle-class women founded the “Personitas” (little people) project in Pilar, a town of around 230,000 inhabitants 30 km outside of Buenos Aires. Through “futuro sí” – initiative for children in Latin America e.V. “Brot gegen Not” became aware of this project. The aim is to give the children at least one warm meal a day.

Almost all families have many children, the fathers are unemployed, often without training and a not inconsiderable proportion of the parents are illiterate. The unemployment rate in Pilar is very high as many industrial plants have closed.

Many of the poor children have to go to school hungry – if they go at all. They often suffer from chronic bronchial diseases, dermatitis, parasites, etc.

With a lot of persistence and commitment on the part of the initiators of the project, it was finally possible to obtain a plot of land from the community in Manuel Alberti.

In cooperation with the unemployed parents, “Personitas” built a two-story building on their own. The building material was donated by local companies.

In addition to the daily meal, 100 children are currently receiving school support and a medical check-up. The project includes a tailor shop, a hairdressing salon and a kitchen. Not only are young people trained here, but their parents are also trained and encouraged to start small businesses.

At the beginning of November 2005, the Heiner Kamps “Brot gegen Not” foundation set up a training and production bakery in the new “Personitas” building.

In addition to German baked goods, mainly local products are baked, which sometimes pose a challenge for the master bakers. Very popular with the Argentines is the “Stollen” at Christmas time or the German speculoos, which is even demanded all year round.

Some of the baked goods are sold directly, the larger part is delivered to the surrounding residential area by bicycle or with the newly purchased car.

In 2015, after coordination with the project partners, the project ended and the bakery building was converted into a kindergarten.

Our cooperation partner in this project is ¡ futuro sí ! – Initiative for Children in Latin America e.V. and the UBS Optimus Foundation Germany.