Young Argentines, especially those living in the outskirts of cities, are faced with situations that put their hopes for a dignified life to the test. What possible horizons can these generations look to when they imagine their future? This question gave rise to the experience of the Sendero Joven training project.
Finding an answer to this question is certainly not an easy challenge for those who live on the margins of Argentine society. Not only because they often lack the concrete means that can guarantee a decent life, but also because there is another obstacle to overcome: that of a widespread culture that relegates these kids to the “cage” of the impossibility of changing their living conditions.
Instead, it is possible. And it is precisely from this perspective that the training proposal of Sendero Joven was born.
The project, part of a feasibility study, was born from the desire to provide tools that allow these young people to guide their own destiny and then gradually acquire skills and competences that pave the way towards a more open social life.
Sendero Joven also has another equally important objective: to accompany these kids in thinking about spirituality and living brotherhood as the basis of being a community.
This training proposal was born in 2022 from the collaboration between the AMU and the “Fazendas de la Esperanza” for the accompaniment of 34 young people, in the phase of recovery from drug addiction, in the shelters of Buenos Aires and Tucuman. The educational path consists of 70 workshops: 35 concern human formation and 35 spirituality. The workshops are divided into four major themes: identity, relationships and conflicts, ethics and communication, life choices.
The pilot project carried out in 2022 has yielded very positive results. Young people, tutors and managers of the shelters involved – the Fazendas – were able to carry out an initial evaluation of the results, making available data that will allow for the improvement of the different methodologies and approaches applied so far for the recovery and reintegration of young people.
