Prevent Youth Involvement in Drug Trafficking

We are celebrating our fifteenth anniversary!  In 2004, Thais Corral decided to buy a house in the favela neighboring her apartment. Last week during her visit, we told stories of how it all began. She and the team which has been working at Julio Otoni nearly from the beginning remembered the house from back then. “That was a lot of work”, she laughs. The house was dark, there were few windows to let light inside and no electricity. Even the neighbours were skeptical that this house could ever be renovated and thought no kids would frequent the community centre. But a volunteer believed in the idea, got more volunteers to come to Rio and together they renovated the house. They opened it up to let more light in, cleaned it and painted it. Now, fifteen years later the centre is hosting its second generation of children. And some of the children from the first generation came back as tutors. Like the sixteen-year-old Guilhereme. He started coming to Julio Otoni when he was five years old, playing and learning English, Arts and Sciences. Now his English is excellent and he comes to the community centre to teach English to the up to 50 kids who come to play and learn at Julio Otoni daily. Thais is convinced the secret to the Center’s continuity is the involvement of its alumni  “It is about generation after generation. Through this continuity we hope to keep hundreds of kids off of the streets.” Hear about what the kids are up to in the upcoming months in our next report!