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ICA CHILE
September Sun Keeps Shining

By Isabel Rodríguez Ruz

Sol de Septiembre (September Sun), 30km from Santiago, was established in 1967. Over the years, the settlers acquired basic services such as drinking water, electricity and transportation. They organized community groups such as a sports club; a youth group and a mothers’ centre, and established a chapel, a primary school and a parents’ association. In 1976, they set up a Neighbours’ Association which is still active, with a board that changes once in every three years.

Sol de Septiembre was selected by the ICA for a pilot human development project in Chile in 1978. The ICA had been working in Latin America since 1973 from Caracas, Venezuela, holding various seminars, consultant services and training programmes. Some of its Chileans participants suggested the ICA set up a permanent team in Chile.

The pilot project
George and Elise Packard, Father Rafael Dávila and Exequiel Rivas, all staff of the ICA, consulted Chileans in the public and private sector about the possibility of doing a Human Development Project (HDP). They visited several communities and chose Sol de Septiembre after consulting the Regional Intendent and the Mayor. The community sent 10 residents to an eight-week training programme at the ICA’s HDP in Caño Negro, Venezuela. Upon their return, they, along with volunteers from other countries, began the project with George and Elise Packard as directors.

Four leagues were organized. The agriculture league built a greenhouse and bought a tractor and variety of other implements. The structure league set up a bakery with 22 partners. Although some have since died, their daughters have stepped into their shoes and the bakery is still running. The education league set up a preschool for children aged two to four and appointed some members of the community as teachers. It also set up a programme called Children of the Sun for those aged from seven to 16. They would take part in it from 3pm to 6pm after school. A culture/community league taught English, presented plays and other shows and visited the elderly. It also published a bulletin featuring community and world news in both English and Spanish. This bulletin has now been restarted and is published every quarter. All these activities were planned by the community. Its meetings featured group conversations, workshops and action planning using ICA methods.

Sol de Septiembre, then and now

Although the project is over, Sol de Septiembre is still a united community where people help each other in times of need. It already had the community spirit before the ICA arrived, says Ms Aurelia Rodriguez Ruiz, 62, who manages the local bakery. “But after the project started, people were able to develop leadership abilities, self-esteem, community relationships and new enterprises.” Community leader Juana Tobar Arenas, 66, credits the project for several schemes such as home orchards, health workshops and street reforestation. Another community leader, Pablo Carreño Riquelme, 50, recalls the founding of the community in 1967. “We had 10 houses to start with, 67 parcels irrigated with the water of three wells. The income came from working at the parcels,” he says. The activities that followed the ICA’s arrival helped to integrate the development and broaden participation to children, youth, women and elderly inhabitants. “The key to it all was the follow up and monitoring of the different projects,” he says.

The community is continuing its development. The Neighbours’ Association is still running and collaborates with ICA: Chile. This included taking part in a Group Facilitation Methods (GFM) course in 1992 and 1997. In 2007, the community hosted a Women’s Forum facilitated by Joaquina Rodríguez (ICA-Guatemala) for women from different parts of the nearby Lampa Commune. Last year, the community began work on a book featuring the history of Sol de Septiembre and is interviewing the founders of the community and collecting photographs.

Isabel Rodríguez is a member  of the Board of Directors in ICA Chile.




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