Just a few days ago-last June 19th -the New Argentina celebrated the sixth anniversary of the "creation" of the Eva Perón Foundation.
            Strictly speaking, what we have commemorated has simply been the... date in which the institution...was legally constituted as a Foundation.
            Evita’s work did not begin on June 19, 1948, but rather during the second half of the year 1946;  ... it actually began to show tangible results just after General Perón was inaugurated as President on June 4, 1946.
            How did Evita’s work of love begin?            Evita herself explained in chapter 29 of La Razón de mi Vida   when she refers to the beginnings:
            "But before just wages and worthy working conditions could give their fruits of comfort, it was necessary to remedy the grief of so many years.
            "Everywhere homes, clothes, health were lacking.
            "That is why I had gone out into the streets to say:
                        ‘Here I am. I want to be of some use to my people.’
            "When I noticed that my country’s descamisados had listened to my then timid voice; when I began to see that letters arrived, and more letters, and men and women, youths and children and the elderly began to knock on the doors of our private residence, only then did I realize what the "appeal from my heart" would signify.           
"Although I had already foreseen that it was an almost impossible undertaking, I was convinced of it when the full meaning of the task became apparent to me.
            "Yet Perón had already taught me many things, and among them was to delete the word impossible from my dictionary.
            "He, who flew "high and alone like the condors" (I use the words he is wont to apply to the men of genius he admires: San Martín, Alexander, Napoleon), had taken me out of the "flock of sparrows" and had given me my first lessons.
            "One, the first perhaps, was to make me forget the word impossible.
            "And we began. Bit by bit. I could not say exactly on what day. What I do know is that at first I attended to everything myself. Then I had to ask for help. And finally I was obliged to organize the work, which in a few weeks had become extraordinary.
            "It is true that from the first day I relied on the moral and material help of the President, but it was never a case of leaning too much on him who had other and much more serious problems than mine.
            "I remember at one time we were wondering whether it was expedient that I undertake the task, or whether perhaps it should be handled by some State organization.
            "And it was Perón himself who told me:
                        ‘Peoples much smitten by injustice have more confidence in persons than in institutions.
                        ‘In this, more that all the rest, I am frightened  of the bureaucracy.
                        ‘In the government it is necessary to have much patience, and to know how to wait for everything to get going.
                        ‘But in works of social welfare it is not possible to wait for anyone.’
            "This reasoning, logical and simple like all of Perón’s, confirmed me in the post which he, the descamisados and I together had chosen for me."
             In those days the foundations of the future Fundación Eva Perón were laid in the small garage of the Presidential Residence, later nicknamed "Las Delicias" or "The Delights."
            Everything began simply and without ceremony.
            Just as Evita said: " And we began. Little by little. I couldn’t tell you exactly on which day. What I can tell you is that at first I took care  of everything myself."                                                                      ........
            Why was the place called "Las Delicias"?
            A modest man, one of the workers who was with Evita from the beginning, tells us.
            "Evita’s Social Work began immediately after General Perón became President... One of the garages of the Presidential Residence was the first Foundation warehouse. There the first shelves were filled with the first articles of clothing that Evita bought and the first donations that she received."
            "And why was the place called "Las Delicias"?
            "Because of something the General said... I remember it was a Saturday afternoon in September or October of 1946... There were two or three of us Residence employees helping Evita classify and pile up clothes on the shelves when a beaming General Perón approached us and we heard him say, "Let’s see how the Social Work is coming along." We started to show him the different things we were storing. Pleasantly surprised, [he] exclaimed,  "But this is all new clothing!"
            "Naturally," Evita answered happily. "This is all clothing I buy myself or is bought by people who want to help."
            Then the General said,  "This is a real delight for the needy!  Son una verdadera delicia para los necesitados!"
            From that day forward Evita and all of us called the old garage "Las Delicias" and we could count on one more enthusiastic helper:  General Perón, who constantly  worked next to us and helped us open up packages...."
            ...[In] the actual warehouse of the Fundación,  an imposing building located at José Evaristo Uriburu 920,   six large stories are totally filled with all kinds of merchandise. There, on the first floor, is an exact reproduction of "Las Delicias," with the shelves placed in the same way that they were in the garage of the Presidential Residence. The maintenance of this replica is the responsibility of one of those employees who [first] worked in the garage... .
            "For how long has this storehouse been here?" we asked the man in charge.
            "When la Señora [Evita] returned from Europe in September of 1947, the old place "Las Delicias," was too small to hold all the donations which were coming in, so we moved here. Even this large space was soon filled up... but in this corner we have conserved... an exact  reproduction of "Las Delicias." For us it will always be "Las Delicias."
            We looked up... [at] a big sign on top of a pile of boxes:
            "Las Delicias":  the Fundación Eva Perón began under  this name in the Presidential Residence."
            And he adds, his eyes looking towards the horizon of his memories, "I was there from the beginning with Evita.. . I worked together with other employees in the "Delicias" at the Presidential Residence. We received the orders signed by Evita during her exhausting days  of social work first in an office of the Central Post Office and later in the historic office of the Secretaría de Trabajo y Previsión. How many things we have given to the poor at [Evita’s] indication!"
            He accompanies us as we visit the different stories:the ground floor is for housewares and toys;  the first floor is the women’s section;  the second and third floors are for boys and girls; the fourth has men’s clothing;  the fifth has shoes and the sixth has books and articles destined for international shipment.            Even in the midst of her exhausting daily schedule, Evita always found time to inspect the works under construction and to inaugurate the Shelters, Schools, Polyclinics, and other establishments which are unique in the world... .
            On April 3, 1948, the Hogar de Tránsito #1 (Women and Children’s Shelter) was inaugurated at 102  Carlos Calvo Street.
            On June 19, 1948, the Hogar de Tránsito #2 was inaugurated at 2988 Lafinur Street [the future site of the Museo Evita].
            On August 14, 1948, the Hogar de Tránsito #3 was inaugurated at 2562 Austria Street.
            On October 7, 1948, the Senior Citizens’ Home Coronel Perón was inaugurated in Burzaco.
            On December 30, 1949, the Women Employees Home General Jose de San Martín was inaugurated at 809 Avenida de Mayo.
            On July 14, 1949, the Children’s City was inaugurated at 955 Echeverría .
            On September 13, 1959, the Nursing School was inaugurated at 1218 Callao Avenue.
            What is the Eva Perón Foundation today?
            The central office of the Foundation is in two huge buildings on Paseo Colón, one at 533 and the other in front of it at 568.
            The first one has eleven stories and is where the Consejo meets [as well as other administrative offices]. The medical and tourism offices are on Colón 568.
            Also,the Social Action and Sports Departments, Construction, and Cinema are located in the building at 591 Avenida de Mayo; and the Supplies Warehouse is on the sixth floor of  501 Diagonal Norte.
            The headquarters for the grocery stores is at 340 Almafuerte;  this headquarters manages the 140 grocery stores that the Fundación Eva Perón has established in different neighborhoods of the Capital.            The Fundación also has storage places... in the Buenos Aires Port.
            Besides the establishments already mentioned, the Fundación also has the following:
            The "Student City President Perón" in the Buenos Aires suburb of Belgrano; the Polyclinic President Perón in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province;  Polyclinic Evita in Lanus, Province of Buenos Aires;  Polyclinic Eva Perón in San Martín, Buenos Aires Province;  Polyclinic August 22nd in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Province; Children’s  Polyclinic "President Perón" in the province of Catamarca; regional polyclinics in Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca, La Rioja, Mendoza, San Luis, Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Corrientes and Entre Ríos; Burn Institute at Viamonte 2189, Buenos Aires; Home School "Evita" in Ezeiza; Home School "Coronel Juan Perón in the capital city of Jujuy; Home School "Evita" in Termas de Reyes, Jujuy;  Home School "Juan D. Perón" in the capital city of Salta; Home School "President Perón" in Tucumán; Home School October 17th" in Catamarca; Home School "Coronel Perón" in La Rioja; Home Schools "Coronel Juan Perón" and "Governor Ruperto Godoy" in San Juan; Home School "October 17th" in Mendoza; Home School in Santa Rosa, Eva Perón Province; Home School "August 22nd" in Mercedes, San Luis; Home School "President Perón" in Santiago del Estero; Home School "Coronel Perón" in Córdoba; Home School in Resistencia, President Perón Province; Home School "Coronel Juan Perón" in Granadero Baigorria, Santa Fe Province; Home School "President Perón" in the capital of the province of Corrientes; Home Schools in Paraná,Entre Ríos and Comodoro Rivadavia; International Hotel in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Province; Tourism hotels in Chapadmalal; Hotel Puente del Inca, Villa Eva Perón, Mendoza; Hotels and Cottages in Embalse Río Tercero, Córdoba.
            Works that are under construction and will be inaugurated soon: "University City" in Mendoza;  "University City" in Córdoba; "University City" in Ezeiza; Children’s Polyclinic in Warnes, Buenos Aires [this hospital for children, which would have been the largest in Latin America, was abandoned by the military after the 1955 Coup d’Etat and was taken over by derelicts and thieves]; Regional Polyclinics in Paraná, Entre Ríos and in Neuquén, and the Senior Citizens Complex in Santa Fe.
            This is an outline of the Fundación Eva Perón now.
            It is an enormous enterprise ... and its work to promote social justice is far reaching.