Melchor Villanueva and Susana “Chana” Flores are co-workers at DAD – a sports-based youth development program in a slum called La Cava on the Buenos Aires periphery. Just five years ago, neither had imagined themselves working there. And given their remarkably disparate backgrounds, it would have been hard for anyone to imagine them working together at all.

Melchor was born to a father in the military and member of the Argentine, land-owning elite. Before the age of 30, he was running his own events management company and approaching his first million dollars. Chana was born into a low-income family in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship. As a child, she and her family fled the political oppression and economic woes of the country and moved to Argentina. She settled in La Cava, the same slum where she continues to live and now works with Melchor.

DAD (short for Fundación Desarrollo A través del Deporte, or “Development Through Sports Foundation”) is most easily recognized by the field hockey and soccer training it provides to 220 boys and girls from La Cava. But its relationship with the participants and the community runs deeper. In addition to sports, it also has family, personal development, and education components, which include home visits and a weekly advisory for the participants.

Despite the separate paths that led them to DAD, Melchor and Chana each play an equally critical role at the organization. While Melchor was one of the organization’s founders and Chana joined the staff later as a counselor and family liaison, each describes it as horizontal, with no “boss” per se. In many ways, it is their differing roles and relationships within the community that have helped make DAD the growing institution it is today.

MELCHOR
I met with Melchor at the University of San Andres in downtown Buenos Aires where he was taking classes toward a Master degree in Non-Profit Management. We sat at one end of a large wooden conference table in an empty classroom and discussed the organization’s history, and the unlikely journey that led him to help found DAD.

Before becoming involved in youth development, Melchor was, as he put it, “a total yuppie.” “I was married and had my own company. Every suit I owned was a top label – I even had a ’48 Harley. But at some point, I started asking myself, is this all just about making more and more money? What comes next?” While many contemplate the emotional and spiritual value of monetary wealth, Melchor’s questioning actually led to a personal and emotional crisis. Depression, and then a divorce, soon followed. In his search for guidance and support, he was directed to La Cava’s parish priest, Aníbal, who took him under his wing. Read More...