Native Peoples' land struggle - Santa Rosa Community

Volunteering Placement Code: 004-AR-CHT-ESQ-PO

City/Province/Country: Esquel - Chubut - Argentina

Host Organization Description: Santa Rosa is a small Mapuche community in the Chubut province of Argentinean Patagonia. Since 2002 it has been struggling to recover a piece of land about 500 hectares, or 1235 acres, in size. The Compañía de Tierras Sud Argentino (CTSA), owned by Edizione Holding of the Benetton Group, claims that this piece of land belongs to the Estancia Leleque, which is about 90,000 hectares (almost 222,400 acres) in size. In 2002 the company sued the Mapuche family for “misappropriation of land” and later evicted them from the territory. In February 2007, the Mapuche community returned to the land, which has become a symbol of the struggle for the recovery of the Mapuche land and identity. The day the Mapuche community recovered their land, they made public the following proclamation: “Santa Rosa witnessed decades of plundering, of violence, of intolerance, of illegal seizures, of disappearances, and of death… In the year 2002 a Mapuche family tried to make its dream come true in these lands. This was not possible. The repression monster immediately showed its teeth. Despite all this, they continued dreaming until this cause became collective and today we come back to this land to give ourselves an opportunity of community life”. They are still resisting and struggling with the giant multinational Benetton.

Volunteering Placement Description: MAPU Association cooperates with the Santa Rosa Mapuche Community to nationally and internationally promote their struggle for their historical right to this land. To this aim, MAPU has developed a website, www.santarosarecuperada.com.ar, which gathers the news and information of different media related to the Santa Rosa Community.

The activities related to this volunteering placement include: researching, gathering and publishing relevant information; regularly updating the website; translating the most important information of international relevance into English and/or German; and assisting in the organization of events.

Objectives: The objective of this volunteering placement is that you contribute to raising awareness about the land issue of the native peoples of Patagonia, raising awareness about the detrimental actions of giant corporations like Benetton that violate the human rights of marginalized sectors of society, and to building support groups in different parts of the world.

Requirements: For this volunteering placement you need to be flexible, proactive, creative, sociable and self-sufficient when carrying out activities. You need to have good command of the Office package (Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Word) and of the internet. There are no specific requirements regarding studies and/or experience.

Languages: Advanced level of Spanish, and English, German or Italian

Minimum and Maximum Length: Minimum 1 month – flexible maximum

Ideal Start Date: Flexible

Timetable: 20 to 25 weekly hours, from Monday to Friday, normally during the afternoon

Last Page Update: June 2008

Comments from Former Santa Rosa Volunteers

During 1.5 months I worked as a volunteer with Asociación MAPU supporting the Santa Rosa community in its land struggle. My tasks included translating texts and updating the website. During my volunteering I learned a lot, I was able to use and refine my language skills and I learned how to update a website.

I can warmly recommend this volunteer placement to anyone who is interested in human rights and other cultures and who would like to contribute to the struggle against exploitation through giant multinationals. Through this volunteering with its diverse range of activities I gained valuable experience for future occupations.

Sarah - Switzerland - July/August 2007

I found my five weeks in Esquel with Asociacion MAPU to be very rewarding, both personally and professionally. I appreciated the small scale and flexibility of the organization, and Fernanda and Juan were great to work with. They provided assignments that fit well with my interests and prior experience. I also enjoyed getting to know Esquel and nearby areas. The natural surroundings are stunningly beautiful, there are hiking opportunities all around in the summer and skiing in the winter, and a top-notch national park is just an hour's drive away. Thumbs up.

Hal - USA - July/August 2009

Pictures of Santa Rosa and Native Peoples