2008

Development in the Commune of Curarrehue, Xile

The context

The commune of Curarrehue is one of the 31 communities that comprise the 9th region of La Araucanía, which goes from the Pacific Ocean to the border with Argentina. It is the region with the highest percentage of population in situation of poverty in the country (an 11.7% in 1998), a fact which is explained by the low level of education and training and the scarce productive dynamics of the agricultural sector. The community has mainly a mapuche origin and the main economic activities are agriculture, livestock, especially cattle, and in recent years the wood industry. More recently the commune has started to develop its tourist attractions by the beauty of its landscape.

In education there is a continuous process of improvement in the access to the different educational levels, both quantitative and qualitative. In terms of public health, the regional Government highlighted their plight because of the difficulties that the municipalities have to finance a municipal health system.

The project to evaluate

SETEM Euskal Herria and the Parróquia de Curarrehue initiated a the Commune of Curarrehue, a local development Project, integrating five components:

• Agricultural production: with a bee-keeping project and one of horticulture.
• Education: creation of a "city children and youth", construction of classrooms for infants and preschool education, technical training, creation of a space for reflection and discussion within the framework of intercultural bilingual project, among others.
• Environment: creation of a nursery and training of young people in forest management.
• Rural tourism: construction of three rural cottages served by indigenous families.
• Marketing of agricultural products and handicrafts: opening warehousing and stacking in the centric points of communities, and opening a centre of handicraft.