Engineer leaves Buenos Aires to bring hope to deep Chaco communities

Juan Chalbaud, an industrial engineer, left Buenos Aires to dedicate himself to improving life in Argentina's remote Chaco region. In 2016, he established the Monte Adentro foundation, aiming to create local opportunities and halt the forced emigration of residents.

Chalbaud's journey began with a school trip to Chaco during his high school years. He continued returning to the area with missionary friends while studying engineering. In 2015, he assisted the Haciendo Camino organization in Monte Quemado, Santiago del Estero, before settling permanently in Chaco the following year to launch Monte Adentro.

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The bond with the communities from that first year until today has been one of more and more trust. It is a relationship of great transparency, where we can share what we feel, what hurts us, what we need. The communities have seen almost everything in my life. And I have seen children and adolescents grow up who are now professionals or fathers and mothers. It is almost a life shared side by side.

The foundation works to reverse the demographic decline in the region, which suffers from geographic isolation and a lack of planned public policies. Communities often lack basic infrastructure like potable water and electricity, and face critical health services and transportation issues. Chalbaud notes the deep trust built with these communities over nearly a decade, describing a shared life where he has witnessed children grow into professionals and parents.

Despite the residents' strength and self-sufficiency in managing daily challenges, Chalbaud expresses grave concern over the accelerating deforestation. "The communities of the monte are disappearing and the Chaco forest is being destroyed day by day, with clearings, with bulldozers, at a speed that is chilling," he warns. He estimates that at least eight million trees are lost annually in Chaco alone, destroying habitats and traditional livelihoods, concentrating land in fewer hands, and exacerbating poverty.

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The communities of the monte are disappearing and the Chaco forest is being destroyed day by day, with clearings, with bulldozers, at a speed that is chilling. On average, the last ten years we have been losing eight million trees per year, at a minimum, just in Chaco. This destroys their habitat and their way of producing, leaving the monte in very few concentrated hands and with much more poverty around it.