In 2022, every time Benjamín, then 8 years old, passed the land in front of the plateau of the municipal landfill in the capital Neuquén, which was made of pure dirt and stones, he was excited. He stared at the ten boys and girls his age who kicked a ball against a simulated two-brick arch Monday through Friday; that they were running; Who did stretching exercises? who played football under the direction of two sets of parents from the neighborhood. Afterwards, I saw everyone gathering around a small table and eating a snack: tea and bread.
The boy had recently arrived in this neighborhood, Manzana 34, in Colonia Rural Nueva Esperanza, 20 minutes from the center of the capital, Neuquén. Among the unpaved streets, the houses made of tin, wood and some material, a lot of earth and stones stood out as a background: The garbage dump takes up almost the entire horizon.
Benjamín passed this small field on the way to school and also on the way to the landfill where He went with his mother to rummage through the sacks and collect aluminum cans that were sold to scrap dealers.. His father stayed at home because he began to suffer from deforming osteoarthritis of the hip and the pain made it impossible for him to walk. They used the money they received to buy groceries for the day at the neighborhood store.
Once he found a saw. It is the wood with which they cut the firewood, which they put in the salamander, which they use to cook and heat the house. The thing is There is no gas network in the neighborhood. Neither sewers. Electricity and water are shared as they do not reach all houses.
Despite this panorama, the boy had the worst behind him: the day on which his parents, his 11-year-old sister and he They had to sleep in the car for 30 cold nightsa 1979 Renault because they had to leave their home in the city of Neuquén. They didn’t renew their lease and her father couldn’t even pay for a hotel room with the money he earned from odd jobs and as a street vendor.
But now he lived on a small piece of land that the community had given to his family in this neighborhood, Manzana 34. 300 meters from the municipal outdoor dump. And even though he lived in a shack, didn’t have his own room, and constantly smelled the smell of the dump, there was something special about this neighborhood: the illusion that arose every time he passed that mass of pure dirt and stone, a block from his house, and He dreamed of playing football like his idols: Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez and Leandro Paredes.
It’s a sunny spring afternoon in Manzana 34 and one by one dozens of boys, girls and teenagers arrive on the field. They are welcomed with a smile by the “teachers” Katy, Roxana, Gonzalo, Santiago, Federico… In total there are eight adults, most of them parents from the neighborhood, who, in parallel with their work, many of them in the construction industry, have joined the small football school that was founded in 2022, when Benjamín arrived in the neighborhood.
Benjamín is now 11 years old and has been playing as a five-man at what is now Club Deportivo La Colonia for three years. While he waits for training to start, he chats and laughs with some friends. It’s never missing.
In these three years, the small school that started with ten boys has grown into 140 girls and boys. Thanks to the efforts they made together with the community, The pure earth and stones are now artificial turfhas fencing, lighting and white iron arches. The field seen from a drone It is a green rectangle between the landfill and the gray-ochre grid on which the houses are spread out..
“The football school is the heart of the district, where around 400 families live. We have made it so that the children are not on the street or on the garbage plateau“So that they become friends with each other, so that they can have their own space and be who they are, children,” Katerina Hoyos or Katy, founder and president of the place that everyone calls “the little school,” tells LA NACION.
“When Benja started coming, He grew from a sometimes grumpy child to a calm and happy child.“says his mother María, who stopped going to the dump a few months ago because she got a job in a warehouse in the neighborhood. “In the first days he was angry with the teachers, but he always came back.” He understood that you have to follow the rules. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because he’s a great teammate at home and feels like he’s part of the team here too, doing what he loves,” he explains.
Katerina notes that many parents tell them that their children are happier and that they behave better: “Here they learn to be teammates, that you have to treat others well, because we are all a team on and off the field. They learn to dream about winning a game, a championship, and they see that it is possible.” We just give them the opportunitythey do the rest.”
María, who will soon go to work in the camp, says that they have gradually enlarged their house so that her children each have a room. “Benja never complained about the difficult situations we went through, she understands. And I will always prefer him to be here, at school, rather than at the dump with me.“.
Some of the kids who still go to the club They work with their parents at the landfill or simply accompany them because there are no places where they can be cared for.says Katerina. “Unfortunately, the need in the neighborhood is great, but the children know that they can come and play while their parents go to the dump. Sometimes they come from there late and we happily greet them at all times. And They always have their snack, which is dinner for many children.“, says.
The container in which they gave the snack, which the community gave them, was too small for them. So they divide the children into shifts. In winter everything is more difficult, the temperature can reach 10 degrees below zero.
Katerina says that They plan to add another container to create a large space where they can hold support classes and trading workshopsReading and drawing so that children “have more opportunities and dream of progress.”
As a recent investigation by LA NACION found, what is happening in Neuquén is happening in almost all major cities in the country: 150,000 children and young people grow up less than 300 meters from a landfill and in houses where there is not enough money for the bare necessities, namely food.. These are children who are most likely to go hungry, skip dinner, drop out of school, or finish school without learning the essentials. In a report released earlier this year, the country’s Office of the Ombudsman for Children and Youth states categorically: “The work of boys, girls and young people in landfills is one of the worst forms of child labor”.
On this spring afternoon you can see a few clouds of smoke on the garbage plateau from the small school. Anyone who goes there burns cables to get to the copper threads.
While preparing a chocolate pastafrola made by one of the mothers, the club teachers notice that luckily there is no wind. “If it blows a lot, we don’t play because the field and the entire neighborhood are full of garbage, smoke and dirt,” explains Benjamín.
“The kids can’t run and breathe in the dirt and the acidic smoke that gets into their guts. So everything but the snack is exposed. We give it to them so they can take it home and lock themselves in. Yes, we all have to lock ourselves in.” There are many children with breathing problems“It’s difficult to live with the dump,” says Roxana, another mother and teacher.
Everyone wants the landfill to be moved. It is a project that the city administration has been pursuing for years. In Manzana 34 they want there to be “more work and good pay” so that garbage does not have to be the livelihood of some families.
“We were used to hitting the ball so that it hits the stones and where we want. Now with the artificial turf we shoot it directly,” comments Benjamín seriously. He says everything is nicer now. When asked what he would like for the club, he thinks for a moment and says: “Standers and a changing room with toilets.”
María talks about her son, she says that he dreams of becoming a footballer, “but he has many opportunities to do what he wants because he is a good student.”
Benjamín says that he was happy to accompany his mother to the dump, but they didn’t eat the food they found there. About school he says that he likes mathematics and laughs: “I enjoy numbers.” He gets even more excited when he talks about participating in all the tournaments, that they have already won four cups and that they will soon play a new championship with other districts.
About what he dreams of as an adult, he says with enthusiasm: “As a football player, my idol is Messi. I like playing as a five-man, like Paredes, because he is the one who helps those who defend and those who score goals.” This way I can also help my family“.
Later, yes, before he goes out on the field to play, he thinks again and says in a slower, more serious voice: “And if I don’t have the opportunity… I can be a singer or a bricklayer.” What I don’t want is for my parents and sister to lack food.“.
The La Colonia Sports Club (IG and Facebook) needs toilets and a room to offer school support courses and cultural workshops to the children. If you want to collaborate with the project or are a company that wants to be a sponsor so that it has materials, loot or food, you can:
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