Empowering Young Brazilians - Art and Mobilization

Dear Friends and Supporters

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Our first GOOD NEWS of the year, is that, due to your generosity, we have nearly reached our fundraising target! We’re happy to say that the work goes on, so this is a heads up that we’ll be increasing our fundraising target over the next few days, so that we can carry on receiving the amazing support of all our donors.

ACTIVITIES in 2023

I. CEO Circle Retreat 2023: Learning, Connecting and Dreaming Forward.

And now to our latest Success Story, this time about our involvement in the Global Fund for Children’s (GFC) CEO Circle Retreat 2023: Learning, Connecting and Dreaming Forward.

We had the great privilege of participating in this meeting of NGOs leaders from around the world, which was organized by GFC. It was a unique and extremely important occasion for us at Viva a Vida.

The invitation really frightened me, I don’t speak English and it was a great challenge for me to participate. I felt like a project beneficiary attaining a very distant dream.  I come from a context very similar to that of our participants and this was a moment that showed me how 15 years working at Viva a Vida has given me opportunities and invested in my career.

Évelin, General Coordinator

The meeting took place between 25 and 27 September in Istanbul, Turkey. Sixteen global leaders and the GFC team came together to share their challenges, experiences and ideas. The meeting objectives were: to create a space for connection, reflection and well-being; to celebrate resilience and the group’s achievements; to foster stronger inter-personal relationships and partnerships; to connect with the context, history and social movements of Turkey; and to discuss how to influence global philanthropy.

The recent CEO meeting in Istanbul helped us to properly understand our work within an international context, allowing us to see that our work is valued and valuable beyond our local context.  It was a fantastic affirmation of what we do and gave us and the team renewed energy on our return.

Cressida, Consultant for International Relations

Viva a Vida was one of the few organizations asked to run a session - Connecting young people to their aims: the leadership and transformation process. We talked about the process of building leadership to transform young participants into community leaders and leaders of their own organizations. We discussed the tools that can be used and the importance of involving young people in social organizations, how significant it is for them to participate in the democratic process, which influences their own autonomy, and which can support the sustainability of their own communities.

The session was mediated by our General Coordinator Évelin (with translation provided by Cressida) and by Muhammad, from the Chanan Development Association (CDA).

We presented a video about three beneficiaries who have become part of our team – Thiago, former Human Rights Workshop participant and Social Educator; Ana Clara, former member of our Theater Group and Education Assistant; and Lucas, also a former Theater Group member and Administrative Assistant.

The video described their trajectories and demonstrated the importance of training young leaders, showing how providing an opportunity to experience community and administrative processes in practice is a hugely important part of this training.

To encourage the retreat participants to reflect on their own practice, we connected them to their previous aims, what led them to become educators, leaders, what motivated this pathway, why they chose to be there. We gave each participant a mirror and asked them to connect to their image, as they listened to a song.

The session was full of emotion and reflections and helped them to return to the feelings and motivations that led these normal people to become people who transform lives. 

We would like to thank musician Paulo Dantão, whose composition Plataforma inspired us with its narrative of childhood memories, full on yearning, connection and links to his ancestry. This song made a huge contribution to our activity – despite not understanding the words, the melody helped everyone access their feelings.

II – AFROTECA MUVUCA – AFRO-LIBRARY

a) Literature Workshops: At the end of the year, we finalized our assessments of the kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd year classes who have used the library. We applied instruments (completed by the children and including educational assessments from our Educators) designed to monitor the children's learning about the topics discussed over the year. We were very pleased with the results:

       i.          Self-esteem, ethno-racial relations and the recovery of Black and Quilombola identity:72% of the children understood the themes and the importance of empowerment through their own history, towards a happier future with less childhood racism.

      ii.          Understanding educational content: 70% demonstrated progress in their learning, particularly in terms of concentration and sociability among their peers

     iii.          Evaluations of behaviour, attention, commitment, interest in the activities: 64% were more open to the activities, adapted to the proposed workshop format and were more cooperative with the team and their peers.

To round off the year of Literature Workshops, we welcomed writer Regina, who wrote Alika, the very first book we read at the Afroteca. This time she told us the story of Eva, another of her creations. Our team, funders and some potential partners joined us for this final get together.

b) Storytelling: In November, we opened a lot of magical chests filled with fascinating stories! On 1, 7 and 8/11, the kindergarten classes (aged 4 and 5), welcomed Maju in a change to their school routine to listen to a story about the Day and the Night. On 11 and 18 November, we came together in the quilombo’s square to bring this beautiful year to a conclusion filled with magic.

c) Itinerant Afroteca: We visited local schools to tell the story Amor de Cabelo (Loving your Hair) to more than 800 children, encouraging them to think positively about how they look. This project really touched our hearts. We heard so many stories of childhood racism, which strengthened our determination to expand the Afroteca into schools.

III – YOUNG PEOPLE:

a) Human Rights, Racism and Violence Workshops: we ended the workshops with a fantastic arts event involving of all the high school's students, around 1,200 in total, some in the morning and other in the afternoon sessions. Some of the students recited the poetry they wrote during the workshops. We also held an exhibition of the 30 black personalities they had learnt about during the workshops.

b) Exhibition at the Rotary College Literary Fair - FLICOR, where Thiago, the Revolutionary Poet, recited his poetry and we discussed certain black personalities and their historical erasure due to structural racism.

IV – LINKS: We had the immense pleasure of taking part in Litearte: Integrated Circuit of Educational Practices in the North and Northeast, which took place at the Mãe Lalu Institute in Santiago de Iguape, Cachoeira, Bahia. It was a great expression of the surprising impacts of regionalized education. We took part in conversation circles, creative stalls, cultural circles, literary workshops and artistic productions.

ACTIVITIES in the NEW YEAR – 2024

V. INTEGRATION

We started our year with Viva a Vida’s traditional Integration Day. This is a very special day when we bring together the board, staff and volunteers to analyze and celebrate the results of the previous year, and plan the year ahead.

This year's program was packed with knowledge and sharing. We talked about who Viva a Vida is, our Mission, Principles, Child Protection Policy, Educational and Financial Report, and our Projects for 2024.

We also enjoyed two training sessions, the first about racial literacy with Thiago (Social Educator), followed by the 3^rd Meeting on Ethnic-Racial Relations and Education with Vanessa and Mariana (Education Consultants).

This year we welcomed new members, Betânia and Tamara, who will be responsible for the activities with the children, as well as Lucas and Marcos, researchers on the new A Favela Vive project, and Ícaro will provide administrative support. Welcome All!

VI. NEW PROJECTS

We ended 2023 with some fantastic news! We have been awarded grant funding by the Bahia State Government's Department of Justice, Human Rights and Social Development (SEADES) for their Pontos de Cuidado (Points of Care) funding stream, for our project A Favela Vive (The Favela Lives)!

Viva a Vida has been involved in studies and research for many years, through our founder, anthropologist Gisella Hanley. The organization was founded with a focus on the use and abuse of psychoactive substances and has since expanded into issues of human rights, racism, young people and mental health.

Throughout 2024, we will be conducting a survey of 400 public school students regarding mental health, drug use and harm reduction. In addition to creating educational booklets and training harm reduction workers in Vila de Abrantes’ traditional and indigenous communities, we will write an academic/scientific article containing the research results, which will contribute to the formulation of social and public policies related to our work.