The Need - Pasos Sureños

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    In a study that was recently done by the government of Chile, covering at least 1,800 Mapuche communities, all in rural areas, found "that there were five key areas in need of development: infrastructure, productivity, culture and identity, health and education." In another study done at the Institute of Indigenous Studies, Univ. of Temuco, Chile - March 1998, states; "among youngsters ranging from 20 to 24 years old, only 73.22 percent have finished elementary education . . . only 10 percent of the Mapuche houses have electricity, . . . in terms of employment, according to the 1992 census, 43.53 percent of the active population are subsistence farmers, . . . meanwhile 31.43 are hired as laborers, mostly outside of their communities."

     Pasos Sureños operates from an area that directly connects to over 150 different communities and serving a population of 146,778 Mapuches according to the 1999 census report.

      We have also discovered that health care and health awareness are another necessity that is lacking, and because the major population lives in rural areas, mobile health units to care for basic eye, dental and general check ups is essential.

Pasos Sureños is a non-profit organization