Suardi’s Telephone and Public Services Limited Co-operativist Youth Centre
Date of Incorporation:
The Centre was officially formed in January 2004.
Activities:
We are primarily concerned with disseminating the co-operative’s services. We develop training programmes and workshops for the young people in the region. We hold meetings and activities with different institutions in the area to make people aware of the main issues that concern us and to help plan our activities in the short and longer term. We organize clothing and food collections for distribution among the most needy in the community. We organize regional meetings for co-operativist youth.
Membership:
We have 18 members.
Organisational Form:
We are an association without legal registration because we are organized within the Suardi’s Telephone and Public Services Co-operative Limited. We co-ordinate our activities with other co-operative centres and youth groups belonging to the co-operative telephone movement of the Federation of Telecommunications Co-operatives Limited - FECOTEL Ltda.
Area of Service:
Suardi, town of San Cristobal, Province of Santa Fe. The town has 6,229 inhabitants, 79% urban.
Identified Needs:
- Lack of adult interest in co-operative projects and ventures carried out by the young people
- Shortage of spaces in which to undertake the co-operatives’ activities
- Lack of work options in the community
Antecedents/Context:
Suardi’s Telephone and Public Services Co-operative Limited was founded in 1958 as an electrical co-operative. In 1964 it started to provide urban and rural telephone services and installed 1,540 lines. It functioned until 1978, when the generation and distribution of electric energy passed into the hands of the Provincial State. Presently, it offers other types of services, such as: free Internet for schools, libraries, and other institutions, and assistance in health facilities and in the hotel business industry. In the year 2000 the co-operative called a meeting with the town’s young people to discuss how they could be integrated within the field of co-operative work. In 2004 the Centre was launched as a way to associate several co-operative activities with the development of projects for the community.
Vision:
- Consolidate youth action to develop future leadership for the community
- Actively participate in the co-operative movement at local, regional, and national levels
Mission:
- Encourage youth participation in co-operatives
- Organize events that will contribute to local development
- Raise awareness of, and care for, environmental issues
- Promote co-operative training
- Instil the co-operativist spirit and encourage solidarity
Organisational Structure:
A Board of Directors made up by ten permanent members and four substitutes provides leadership for the Centre.
Links with the Community:
Our programme builds on the links traditionally held by the telephone co-operative with institutions in the area, especially in education, in both rural and urban districts. Our co-operative interests facilitate relationships with the traditional co-operatives in the farming and ranching sector.
Resources:
Since our work is associated with co-operative activity, we can draw on resources provided by the Co-operative Education and Training Fund, implemented by the Law of Co-operatives.
Future Plans:
- Develop and promote activities oriented toward youth, especially those encouraging work within our area.
- Concentrate on our training activities.
- Help expand and improve green spaces in the Suardi community.
Present Issues:
- Improve employment opportunities for young people in rural and urban areas.
- Strengthen training activities for youth oriented toward communal promotion and participation.
- Improve the capacity of young people to make decisions and communicate effectively.
- Encourage new members to participate in the Centre’s activities.
Messages:
- Help mobilize youth who now are indifferent to the problems of the community.
- Demonstrate with action that change is possible.
- Show those who believe problems are insolvable that, through solidarity much can be accomplished.
- Discover the true role of the young people in the community and communicate that to the adults.
- Learn to work in teams in order to reach objectives, goals, and ends among youth and adults, thereby bridging generational differences.
