José C Paz, Argentina. The cities of Jose C. Paz in Argentina, and Oñati in Euskal Herria signed their sister-city agreement on July 15, 2000 [situated some 35 kilometers from the city of Buenos Aires, Jose C. Paz and its surrounding area are one of the zones hardest hit by poverty and unemployment in the entire metropolitan area]. The agreement was the result of an historic question as the founder of Jose C. Paz, Jose Vicente Altube, was from Oñati. It didn’t take long to bear fruit between the town of Oñati and the Toki Eder Basque Club, with a first container with 50 cases loaded with essential items arriving to Jose C. Paz at the end of 2001, during the largest economic crisis experienced by Argentina in the last years.
During these two decades, and thanks to the tireless work of the Toki Eder Basque Club in Jose C. Paz, and the NGO Hermansoloña, that over time would be established in Oñati, a total of 35 containers arrived to Argentina containing not only essential items, but also machines, tools and accessories to create small factories and workshops.
The donations from Oñati were not limited to Jose C. Paz but with the club’s intervention, with Maria Angeles Oñederra at the head, were distributed throughout Argentina going even to Jujuy where they collaborated in the construction of water mills in the community of Queta.
In 20 years the Basque-Argentine program has adapted and although containers are no longer shipped, Oñati’s solidarity continues firm and today is manifested in the collaboration with Projects in Receiving Aid Centers - especially those attended by young people with different abilities - and through scholarships, to facilitate young people's access to study in the trades.
In the words of Oñederra, after 20 years of Sister-Cityhood, “We are happy because it became more than just words. The collaboration that we have received and continue to receive is countless, but not only that. In Oñati they remember each one of the people they have met here, and most importantly, communication is daily. Whatever need we present, we immediately receive a response,” the reference for the Toki Eder Basque Club said, happy about the anniversary.
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