Brazil Santa Terezinha
The SAD 2BRST project – Brazil Santa Terezinha was launched in 1994 thanks to the collaboration between AFN and AACA, a Brazilian non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the Ilha Santa Terezinha community, in Santo Amaro (central area of Recife), state of Pernambuco. The association’s objective is to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the community – formerly called “Ilha do Inferno” – through the promotion of active citizenship and the strengthening of the skills of minors and adults. The SAD project supports the school and professional training activities carried out by the AACA association within its educational center.
DEFINITION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
In recent years, Brazil’s GDP has grown, driven by private consumption, still supported by a strong labor market, social benefits, and an external environment favorable to exports. Poverty also decreased in 2023, driven by improved economic conditions and social protection policies. However, the Human Development Index (HDI) still remains below pre-pandemic levels, and the country’s ranking has worsened, from 87th in 2021 to 89th. The main reason is deep economic and social inequality: racial and gender discrimination persist as a systemic barrier that limits the opportunities of many individuals and families to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. In particular, Afro-Brazilians and indigenous peoples have less access to good-quality schools and health services than whites, and women face employment discrimination that limits their earning potential. In terms of education, according to UNICEF, in 2020 over 5 million girls and boys between the ages of 6 and 17 did not have access to education in Brazil; of these, over 40% were children between the ages of 6 and 10. In Recife, the capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco, we find the same contradiction: although the region is one of the poorest in the country, Recife is destined to become one of the richest cities. A tourist center par excellence – the “Brazilian Venice” – the city, fourth in population density, is surrounded by favelas, where the poorest and most marginalized groups are crowded together. There are around 60,000 families in Recife who do not have a home to live in or live in unsafe and precarious conditions; some cannot even afford the rent in a favela, so they end up occupying a piece of empty land and building their own home. Among these favelas, we can mention the island of Santa Terezinha, in the Santo Amaro neighborhood, a destination for many migrants from the rural areas of the hinterland, attracted here by the –unfulfilled- prospect of a better future.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest in the world in terms of area. Therefore, despite being the seventh most populous country in the world, with its 220 million inhabitants, its population density is low: most Brazilians are concentrated along the coast, while the interior is relatively sparsely populated, mainly due to the presence of the Amazon rainforest.
It is characterized by a multi-ethnic society, formed by the descendants of Europeans, indigenous peoples, Africans and Asians. 50% of the population belongs to the middle class, 40% to the poor class, and the remaining 10% are rich or millionaires. Pernambuco, located in the northeast of the country, is among the poorest states in Brazil: its population – estimated at about 9.2 million people – presents great socioeconomic disparities, and is vulnerable to environmental (drought and floods) and social (disease, crime) risks.
In comparison, the metropolitan area of Recife is a relatively wealthy city on the east coast, an important cultural, tourist and commercial center of about 1.5 million inhabitants; many of whom live in favelas, such as the one on Ilha de Santa Terezinha.
The community has approximately 4,250 inhabitants, mostly from families with low levels of education, whose main activity is informal trade. In the community there are two municipal schools, a health center, a Catholic chapel, evangelical churches, a naval hospital, a public hospital, a Shopping Center and the Companhia Pernambucana de Saneamento – COMPESA (a company that has a concession for public sanitation services).
COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT
The AACA educational center is located on Santa Terezinha Island, and has 9 classrooms, 1 library, 1 computer lab, 1 music and percussion room, 2 dining rooms, 2 full bathrooms and 6 toilets, 1 room for cultural activities and meetings and 1 industrial kitchen with pantry, 1 outdoor recreational area, with garden, 1 storage room and 2 access stairs, 1 multipurpose courtyard. It also has a courtyard provided by the City Council and the “Espaço Ciência” area for scientific research.
The AACA staff consists of 14 people, namely: a President, a manager/coordinator, an administrative assistant, a secretary, an educational consultant, a pedagogical coordinator, an administrative supervisor, 4 social educators, a trainer, a custodian, a cook, a kitchen assistant and a maintenance man.
ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES IMPLEMENTED
- Extracurricular activities for minors (socio-educational, pedagogical, cultural, recreational, artistic, musical, sporting and computer activities)
- Distribution of a daily meal to the minors of the center
- Distribution of food parcels to families
- Environmental awareness for families
- Neighborhood cleanup campaigns
- Civic education course
- Vocational training courses and promotion of income-generating activities for adults
BENEFICIARIES
The direct beneficiaries are: 220 minors and approximately 183 families in situations of vulnerability and social risk.
The indirect beneficiaries are approximately 90 minors and 732 families from the community.
ACTIONS
- Support at a Distance
This is an ongoing commitment to support a school-training and food program aimed entirely at the individual minor and his family, both of which are included in the AFN project.
- Support for the project
This is an ongoing commitment to support a school-training and food program aimed at the entire group of minors and their families who are part of the AFN project.
- Donations
These are payments at an unrestricted rate and amount, to support a school-training and food program aimed at the entire group of minors and their families who are part of the AFN project.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- Distance support for a child. Contact the coordinators in your country for confirmation of the annual amount and payment details.
Causal “New Support at a Distance Brazil Santa Terezinha” and in subsequent payments “renewal of Distance Support Brazil Santa Terezinha”
- Contact the coordinators in your country for confirmation of the annual amount and payment details.
Causal “New Support to the project Brazil Santa Terezinha” e nei successivi versamenti “renewal oj Distance Support to the project Santa Terezinha”
- Donations – Causale “Donation to the project Brazil Santa Terezinha”