Building a future for 200 youths in Sao Paulo

Although we have not yet completed all the construction work, Arca has become very lively again with the return of the 130 children.

Smiles are back with the resumption of activities: dance, music, capoeira, arts, rugby. The children are eager to speak and to forget the long months isolated at home. 

Thanks to your help, we have built new classrooms and we have recruited 2 new educators, Camila and Taina, to split our big number of children into small groups. These educators understand the specificities of Arca's children because they too are from the community. They are graduates in pedagogy and like Rose, who is 54 years old and has just finished her degree, they are a symbol of tenacity, willpower and of how the opportunity to study can really change the lives of people in the favela.

The computer room is still to come but we already know that it will be ready in January. "Se Deus quiser", as we say in Brazil!

Finally, we want to share with you the immense joy we had in organizing an outing for the children in early November. It was the first field trip outside the favela for 2 years! The children took a bus early to exit Sao Paulo megalopolis and to reach an amusement park at the edge of the forest. What a day! The weather was perfect and the children and teenagers really enjoyed being outside and discovering different kind of attractions. When they came back at night, they had a lot of stories to tell to their families. 

It is all these daily or extraordinary joys that we want to share with you because it is you who make them possible!

Continue to support Arca and spread the word about our project and together, let's prepare a wonderful Christmas for Arca's children.

We are happy to share this with you all: since our GlobalGiving Campaign of April 2021, something wonderful happened : we have started to renovate and expand our site! While still facing the pandemic, we remain in the need to expand our capacity to provide shelter. Currently, we have a waiting list of more than 100 children and teenagers waiting for a vacancy at Arca do Saber, and a significant increase in the demand for vocational courses at Arca do Crescer, not to mention the urgency of providing conditions for children and young people in the slum to have access to computers and internet to keep up with the trend of hybrid teaching continuity with online classes.

Thanks to the donations received through GlobalGiving platform, we were able to launch the project and it is up and running.

We are also very proud to introduce you with our newly graduated students in the professional fields of Bakery, Logistics and Sales. The graduation ceremonies took place during the month of July and some of the students have already received job offers. 

Arca do Crescer new graduates will enter our 3rd session of mentoring program to help them expand their professional lives.

For a few months now, musical classes have been running for Arca do Saber’s children and despite the very cold weather,  our percussion band was ready to perform for the traditional “Festa Junina - June Festival”. 

To help Arca’s families and students cope with the economic crisis induced by the Pandemic, we continue to distribute food baskets every month. 

We would like to thank you all for supporting Arca’s work and the inhabitants of the favela Vila Prudente in this moment of challenge and transformation.

Follow our last months' challenges in photos

Links:

• link to the NGO website