Benitez Marcela
Organization: Social and Economic Recovery of National Rural Villages at Risk of Disappearing (RESPONDE)
Year Founded: 1999
Country: Argentina
Website: www.responde.org.ar
Video RESPONDE promotes the recovery of small rural villages in Argentina at risk of disappearing by motivating villagers to work for their future. Focus: Education, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Argentina Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1.48 million (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 200,000 (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 0% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Argentina, 2006 Background Rural to urban migration is rapidly becoming a global pattern, and Argentina is no exception. Approximately 90% of the country’s population lives in large cities; many of these people had to migrate from rural areas in search of better living conditions, only to find they were worse off than before. According to Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census, over half of the country’s rural villages are at risk of extinction – about 600, home to half a million people. Many of these villages suffered economically with the massive growth of agribusiness and the closing of railways. Roads also have deteriorated and basic infrastructure provided by the government has collapsed, including health services and education, which is only offered though primary school. Violence and crime are increasing exponentially in big cities, and public services are diminishing with the constant demand from the arriving population. Innovation and Activities RESPONDE designs and implements strategies aimed at improving social and economic opportunities of rural communities at risk of disappearing due to depopulation. Its programmes foster the entrepreneurial spirit of rural villagers and the sustainable development of their communities. Working with interested companies, universities, private citizens and local government, RESPONDE builds the capacity of townspeople to engage successfully in new avenues for generating livelihoods and economic and social projects. RESPONDE pursues three major programmes. The programme on tourism in rural villages promotes local development, favouring the participation of the villagers as service providers of bed and breakfast inns, local restaurants, tourism and sale of local artisan products. The education and technology programme offers the possibility to enroll more than 500,000 adults who live in rural villages to earn high school degrees via the Internet. And, the programme on environment and development works to attract new families to small rural towns offering them an alternative lifestyle in a natural setting. RESPONDE promotes and facilitates the bonds between small villages willing to change their situation and new social actors interested in supporting them. In this way, the organization creates social recovery models that can be replicated in other villages in Argentina and other countries. The Entrepreneur Marcela Benitez, a geographer and sociologist by training, spent seven years traveling throughout Argentina as part of her work as an academic researcher for the National Research Council for Science and Technology (CONICET). During this time, she observed first-hand the economic and social problems that were arising in the small, isolated rural villages outside of Buenos Aires and other parts of the country. Putting her research on small rural villages into action, she established RESPONDE, which has galvanized people to become involved in generating new opportunities for these villages. Benitez was named in 2002 by Diario La Nación as one of 100 True Argentine Leaders of Today.
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