Changing their childhood, transforming their future
Through our Home-Based Early Education Program, (ETEC)we reach remote areas of northern Argentina where families do not have access to early childhood centers or daycare services that ensure adequate development during the first three years of life.
We are aware of how crucial the early years are, which is why, within our Family Child Development Program, we promote the ETEC area to strengthen the comprehensive development of children living in situations of social risk. The conditions faced by these children often reflect challenging contexts such as mothers who are illiterate or have disabilities, lack of documentation, overcrowded households, and situations of violence, among others.
Families receive support from our early stimulation facilitators, who monitor the children’s development and provide training to mothers on positive parenting. Through play, we promote moments of learning that strengthen the bond between mothers and their children. Each family receives home visits from community leaders, who are also mothers that previously participated in our programs and have demonstrated strong leadership and mentoring abilities. During these visits, they provide activity booklets designed to stimulate fine and gross motor skills, language development, and personal-social abilities in children. All community leaders are guided and coordinated by a professional specialized in early childhood development to ensure the highest quality support for families.
Healthy development during the first years of life is essential for children to learn how to think, solve problems, communicate, express emotions, and build relationships. For this reason, we provide tools adapted to each stage of development through 60 activity sheets covering different developmental areas, along with educational materials such as puzzles, books, chalk, balls, puppets, dolls, and rattles. These resources allow families to stimulate their children appropriately at home.
The story of Celeste, her partner Franco, and their daughter Cristal reflects the impact of ETEC on families’ lives. Celeste is 25 years old and joined the Family Child Development Program at the Añatuya Center in Santiago del Estero when her daughter was eight months old. At that time, Celeste lived with her parents, her partner, her sisters, and her daughter.
Through continuous accompaniment, and thanks to the work of her partner and the jobs she herself carried out, they were able to build their own house, where they now live with Cristal. They participated in the Home Based Early Education program, receiving a visit every two weeks from a community leader who helped them learn how to stimulate and support their daughter’s development.
Thanks to her dedication and long-term commitment, Haciendo Camino offered Celeste the opportunity to become a community leader herself. In this role, she now has a stable job and supports other mothers by sharing the knowledge she gained through the program. Celeste is an inspiring example of perseverance and growth for other women.
“I’m very happy with what I do and grateful to Haciendo Camino for giving me the opportunity to become a community leader in a program that I was once part of and where I learned so much. Everything we achieved to slowly build our home came through work and a lot of effort. It isn’t easy, but we always try to give our daughter the best we can,” Celeste shares.
Cristal eventually completed all the activity modules and finished her participation in ETEC as a child whose development is fully aligned with her age—curious, attentive, and very bright.
The creation of ETEC is based on strong evidence showing that home-based guidance strengthens early childhood development and improves long-term learning outcomes in school. At the same time, we encounter a difficult reality in which many children—even those not living in extreme vulnerability—still urgently need support during their early years.
For this reason, we reaffirm our commitment to early childhood, providing families with the tools and support they need so that every child has the opportunity to grow in an environment that nurtures their development and lays the foundation for a future with greater opportunities.
