Education Brazil Project #14898

Provide Quality Education to 15000 Amazon Children

by Vaga Lume Association

Provide Quality Education to 15000 Amazon Children

Project Report | Mar 26, 2019
First year's expedition in the Amazon!

By Aline Calahani | a Vaga Lume educator

Dona Franca right by my side

We set off for a 4-hour trip from São Paulo to Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, where we took a boat in Rio Negro toward Barcelos for thirteen more hours. In Barcelos, we got a recreio, a regional type of boat, hung our hammocks and waited for seven more hours until we got to the Carvoeiro community. After more than eight hours travelling, we finally arrived at our destination at dawn. Francidalva dos Santos and Rosinaldo Magalhães’ family was waiting for us by the river’s edge, it is in their home that the Vaga Lume’s library is provisionally located.

In the past, the library was hosted in a house provided by the community. However, over the years, people who took care of the library were leaving the community to conquer other spaces. Toward this situation, Francidalva thought "We have an amazing collection of books and so many children. This library should get out of this place, otherwise the rain and the bugs in the region will deteriorate what we have conquered". That's how Mrs. França, as Francidalva is called, together with her husband, decided to take better care of the collection, having the library in the living room of her house provisionally.

A 33-year old indegenous woman, mother of two teenagers, student and aspiring teacher, Mrs. França was born in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in the state of Amazonas, but lives in Carvoeiro for over 10 years. She saw in the library the opportunity to make children get in contact with books. From then on, every Saturday afternoon, together with her husband and daughters, Mrs. França take the books up to a stage in front of a football field and perform reading mediation to children. About 30 children attend the weekly mediations regularly on a community where thirty five families live in.

The community is renovating an abandoned house to host the new library’s headquarter. They are planning to transform the room into a Community Center by making a garden behind the room, with crafts classes and a space for study hall, which is a habit of the children of this community.

Mrs. França believes that, as long as they have children, books and community mobilization, she will keep believing in a better world. And Vaga Lume believes in a better world as long we have around more Mrs. Franças, spreading hope, power and stimulating reading to Amazon youngsters.

Translator: Luana Santos

Where we have the reading mediations

Where the library is hosted temporarily

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Feb 27, 2019
Vaga Lume receives the Human Rights Award

By Tamires Tanaka | Analyst of Fundraising and Partnerships

Dec 21, 2018
From Oxford to small communities in the Amazon

By Mark de Courcy Ling | Volunteer

In November, over the course of two weeks we visited 14communities in the municipalities of Santarém and Oriximiná in the state of Pará, just bordering the neighbouring state of Amazonas. These visits, by providing face-to-face contact and thus strengthening bonds between Vaga Lume and the communities, make up an essential part of the Expedition Program. In the communities of Atodi (in the municipality of Santarém) and Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Oriximiná), we held courses with the participation of the local community, training local volunteers and making preparations to set up a Vaga Lume library. In the other 12communities, we visited the already established libraries, bringing with us fresh stocks of new books. We engaged in games with the children and spoke to the community leaders about how the library is functioning, and how else Vaga Lume can help to promote a love of reading in the community.

Upon arrival at these communities, it was fantastic to see the enthusiasm with which the children embraced the new boxes of books. They loved not only to read them, but also to show them to their friends and read them aloud to each other. It was clear that the library was not merely a facility for the community to use, but rather an integrated part of the community itself. The communities themselves took ownership of the libraries and made them their own. As a result, the libraries possessed an atmosphere of warmth, comfort and liveliness.

It is clear that the libraries tie together communities, and that the community identity brings each library its own unique character. It was a pleasure to see the creativity with which the children had decorated their reading spaces. A place of calm, reflection and inspiration had been cultivated out of just a simple room. The two weeks we spent with these communities provided just a glimpse into the true benefit that these libraries bring not only to the children, but to everyone involved.

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