Raise your glass to the kids of La Boca!

You have enjoyed the festivities of the Holiday Season and you welcomed in a Happy New Year.... now join me, and all the volunteers at Club Union de los Pibes (The Kids’ Union), and raise a glass to the children of la Boca!

You can start 2011 by making a positive difference to the lives of the kids of La Boca; click the buttons below now and donate the cost of a New Year’s drink to celebrate a brighter future for the kids of Barracas and La Boca with Club Union de los Pibes. The proceeds of donating your drink will go towards renting a new home for the club and towards activities for the kids.... and it might even help you keep that New Year's resolution you made!

You can donate in any currency with your debit/credit card using the PayPal donation buttons below. You do not need to join PayPal to use these buttons; look for the link near the card symbols on the left of the page that the button takes you to. (See notes below about Gift Aid and matched giving.)

Donate your glass: 2.50 GBP (approx 3.50 USD / 15 pesos)

Donate your bottle: 10.00 GBP (approx 15.00 USD / 60 pesos)

Donate a round from you and your friends: 25.00 GBP (approx 35 USD / 150 pesos)

Don't forget to ask if your employer runs a matched giving scheme. If you live in the UK, you can add Gift Aid to your donation: insert the message "This is a Gift Aid donation" in the optional message box on the confirmation of payment page.

If you’d like to make a donation of a different amount please use the buttons on the ‘donate’ page of our blog; http://uniondelospibes.blogspot.com/p/donate.html

More, less, whatever you can manage - we're all working together and it all counts!

Send a link to this page to your friends and family and ask them to join you in raising a glass to celebrate and support a new year of new possibilities for the kids at Club Union de los Pibes.

*** Our current fundraising total stands at 1106.27GBP: 69% of our target ***

***You and your friends can help us reach our target ***

Thank you for your support and Happy New Year!

Volunteer for free in Buenos Aires in 2011

Happy New Year from everyone at Club Union de los Pibes!

We wish all our volunteers and supporters - past, present and future - all the very best for their adventures and aspirations in the coming year. It is solely thanks to your continued efforts that Club Union de los Pibes will be able to help improve the lives of the kids of Barracas and La Boca during 2011... and beyond.

Club Union de los Pibes is your family in Buenos Aires. We have lots of experiences to offer you and we are looking forward to hearing from you!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I really enjoyed my time volunteering at the club. I was able to get to know some really amazing kids, a lot of great people from around the world and actually improved quite a bit with my Spanish. I liked the volunteering experience with the club because I was able to see how a community volunteer organization works and how it impacts the kids that are involved. It also helped me figure out my skills as a volunteer and what I'd like to improve on in the future."
Hannah Fox

La fiesta de Navidad!

The Chistmas Party!

Last week we held a Christmas party for the kids at the club... and it went very well! All the kids made Christmas cards and here are a few photos that we took at the party. All the volunteers donated a little money and we were able to raise enough between us to buy each of the kids a present... I can't tell you how happy they were!

They were happy but, at the same time, sad because the club will be closed during January for the summer break. Also, they were scared that the club might not run next year. The kids really want the club to continue and to not be left without it.

We have a huge responsibility to the kids of Club Union de los Pibes and we need your help. Please be so kind as to donate a little bit of money to the club so that we can find and rent a new place for our kids in the new year... think of it as your Christmas present to the kids!

Many thanks and Happy Christmas!

---------------------------------------------

La semana pasada hicimos una fiesta de Navidad por los niños del club... y salió muy bien! Todos los niños hicieron tarjetas de Navidad y aqui tienen ustedes algunas fotos que tomamos de la fiesta. Todos los voluntarios donamos un poquito de dinero y reunimos suficiente para comprar regalos para todos los niños... No hay palabras para describir la alegría de nuestros pibes!

Los pibes estaban felices pero, en el mismo tiempo, tristes porque teníamos que cerrar durante enero. Tambien tienen miedo de que no volvamos. Los chicos quieren que volvamos y no los dejemos!

Es una gran responsabilidad y necesitamos su ayuda. Por favor, sean tan amables de donar poquito de dinero para que podamos encontrar y rentar un lugar para nuestros pibes en el año nuevo... como un regalo de Navidad para los pibes!

Muchas gracias y feliz Navidad!

'Vos amis' son nuestros amigos

Read a short piece about Club Union de los Pibes, published online today at the following link:

http://www.lepetitjournal.com/buenos-aires/breves-buenos-aires.html

Thanks to Le Petit Journal and its readers for their support.

Merci beaucoup!

(Le Petit Journal is an online newspaper. They have page aimed at the French speaking population of Buenos Aires.)

Taekwondo at Union de los Pibes

Here are a few photos from the Taekwondo classes that one of our volunteers, Rafa, has been leading at the club.

We are always happy for our volunteers to pass on their skills and enthusiasm to the kids. The kids enjoy the opportunity to take part in activities that they might not otherwise have access to.

Thanks Rafa!

Un evento para recaudar fondos... en Inglaterra

¡GRACIAS JOHN!!! Por hacer este pro-fondos en Inglaterra para ayudar a nuestros pibes, me emociona cuando cada uno de los voluntarios pasa por nuestro club y regresa a su país llevando el corazón de cada uno de los niños, esto hace ver a todos que nuestro club tiene un encanto especial.

A fund-raising event... in England

THANK YOU JOHN!!! for organising this fund-raising event in England in order to help our kids. I am always moved to see that each volunteer who comes to the club, goes home carrying with them in their hearts a place for each of the kids. This just goes to show that our club has a very special charm.

Very many thanks to the Hampden Way Children’s Centre of the London Borough of Barnet; they very kindly welcomed John to hold the fund raising event for Club Union de los Pibes at their centre in Southgate, North London. You can find out more about the children's centre at their website: www.barnet.gov.uk/hampden-way

A comment from a recent volunteer:

"Pibes is such a lovely and friendly organisation and it has been a privilege to be a part of it. The atmosphere created by Rossi and the team is very warm and the kids are fantastic."

Sarah Hall

Hablas ingles?

With many of our volunteers coming from America, Australia and Europe, English and Spanish are the common languages of the club. Some basic English is also very valuable for the kids (and their parents) especially when the time comes to look for work. We aim to provide regular English lessons at the club; one lesson for the older kids and one for the smaller ones. Recently, one of the mums has even started taking lessons.

Whether you have teaching experience or not, your help will be appreciated; even if you are not leading the session, a few extra people to assist is always extremely helpful and gives the kids a bit of the one-on-one support they need. If you are interested to help adults learn English, we may be able to put you in touch with the kids' parents or other adults in the community so that you can help them outside club hours. They are often interested in the opportunity as English lessons can be prohibitively expensive for them.

Most of the older kids do learn some English at school but the age range, ability and concentration levels (!) vary widely so we try to keep it fun and simple.

Learning colours by singing a song....

... and colouring in!

A well earned snack.

Of course all the kids are fluent in the international language of football!

Tenes tarea?

At the start of every club session, our volunteers sit down with the older kids to help them with their homework.

Large class sizes, a lack of resources and difficult family lives mean that it is easy for the kids to fall behind at school; we hope, by regularly spending a little time with them on their school work, that we can help to remind them of the importance of their education and, through taking an interest in their progress, to encourage them to keep trying.

Not to mention that however much they protest, and however slowly the books and pencils are drawn out of their bags, I think they all secretly enjoy having a bit of one on one attention!

One of our kids enjoying being better at maths than our volunteers... yes we remember doing long division, we just don't remember how! Back to school for us before the next session!

Ah yes... the answer is 4. Or is that some sort of hand gesture that I'm not cool enough to recognise...?

Yes, always good to keep the hood up - it helps warm the brain.

And for those too young for homework, another volunteer helps to keep them occupied.

Very studious... although I'm not sure those glasses are yours....

Many thanks to all our volunteers for their patience (!) and for providing this support to all the kids at the club.

Club Union de los Padres...?

Last Thursday we invited the kids' parents along to show them what we've been doing at the club and to share a snack with us.

Thanks to all our volunteers for organising all the activities and of course to the kids for taking part!

The kids were proud to show off their work...

...and they performed some songs they're learning in their singing classes.

Later everyone had a well deserved snack...

...and one of the mums certainly enjoyed herself...

...or perhaps she was just impressed at the size of the cake!

More photos on our flickr site.