Provide Quality Education to 15000 Amazon Children

Dear supporter,

Promoting the human right to education is not simply about physically providing books, building schools or employing teachers, it is about social innovation. Although those are very important and essential measures, Vaga Lume takes the next step towards full Education: empowering people. For 12 years, it has motivated children to search for knowledge and political autonomy while valuing traditional cultures. As a result, they become adults like André, whose story we are sharing with you today.

From last July 15^th to 22^nd, the Vaga Lume team from São Paulo went on a monitoring expedition to Soure, at the Para state. There we met André, an 18-year-old literature student at the University of Pará, Brazil. He has grown up in a small community called Cajuuna, at the rural area of Soure. In 2006, he met Vaga Lume’s work when visiting another community of Soure, Pesqueiro, and, according to him, he felt so amazed he wished there was one at his own community. His dream came true one year later, when his parents and their neighbours asked for a library and Vaga Lume donated a collection of brand new books to the Cajuuna community.

Ever since, André has been involved with Vaga Lume’s work. As a child, he attended reading activities and borrowed books. As a teenager, he was trained as a reading mediator and started carrying out the activities himself. When he was 16, he assumed a leadership role and became responsible for the library of Cajuuna, so far taking place at the local school.

Having decided to study literature, after he finished high school André was selected by the University of Pará. Although he then moved to the urban area and could no longer be responsible for the library of Cajuuna, he still wanted to be a volunteer, so he joined the local team of volunteers, in charge of monitoring the volunteers of the community and communicating with the Vaga Lume team from São Paulo. Therefore, on our last monitoring expedition, André joined us to visit all the communities and, when we were in Cajuuna, he motivated his friends to raise money to build a new room for the library, because the school is in no condition to have it anymore.

We also had a meeting with the municipality secretary of Education, Jocelma, who is very proud of him: “André is very good at writing. We know these libraries make a difference. We can perceive it through the evaluation indexes of the municipality”. According to him, Vaga Lume has inspired him to go to university. Being used to reading a lot, he became prepared for the selection process and he could choose his career.

André is an example of how young people can be empowered by reading. Today, we maintain over 150 libraries because we believe there are several Andrés in the Amazon about to be touched by the magic of books.

Thank you for supporting Vaga Lume!

Other stories and news are available at http://www.vagalume.org.br/home.

If you have any doubts or comments, do drop us a line!

Best wishes,

Vaga Lume Team

Dear supporter,

We search for evidence of Vaga Lume’s impact on the lives of people from the Amazon region every day, but sometimes unexpected news simply arrive to overwhelm us and remind us that our work has a remarkable effect, that we are actually making a difference in the world. You, as our supporter, is also responsible for this impact, you make it possible. Therefore, today I would like to share with you a letter we have received last week from one of our volunteers from the Amazon.

Maria de Fátima lives in Água Fria, a rural community of Chapada dos Guimarães, in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and she has been a volunteer at the library there for two years. As she wrote in Portuguese, we have translated her very own words so that you can understand it. Here it goes:

“Água Fria, 21/06/2014

A letter to the Vaga Lume project

Today, June 21^st, is my birthday. I am turning 37 years old, I am happy and I am writing to congratulate you for this project that brings strength and experience to our children.

I did not know it, but from the moment I heard about the project I fell in love with it, because I have two young children, Manoel and Gabriel. Manoel is very intelligent and reads a lot, he is 9 years old. Gabriel, who is 8, has some speaking problems that make it difficult for him to read. He has been treated by a speech therapist and he must have his nose operated, because it is what deters him from speaking fluently. I am worried about that. Manoel started reading when he was 6, but Gabriel still does not know how to read. Still, he loves the books and imagines the stories by the pictures.

Vaga Lume’s project has helped me to get a job at São José School. I needed reference and the capacitation course I received gave me credit, so I got it. I used to be a manicure, but today I work as a secretary at São José School. I am a volunteer at Vaga Lume’s library in my community and I do it with love.

We are partners with Projeto Mais Educação (More Education Project - Brazilian Federal government project) and with the school as well. All that is only possible because I am there and I manage to publicize Vaga Lume. Everyone is very happy for being able to teach, help the kids to read and travel through the world of imagination. My children are a proof of that. Manoel already knows how to read and I read to Gabriel, but soon he will also be able to do it by himself.

I take care of the books and I am responsible for the library. I will do whatever I can for the library to continue strong.

Thank you very much.

Maria de Fátima”

We are very happy to have Maria de Fátima as a volunteer and her letter gives us one more reason to continue working to create opportunities for cultural exchange through reading and valuing the protagonism of people from the Amazon. We hope you feel the same way!

Thank you for being part of it!

Other stories and news are available at www.vagalume.org.br/english.

If you have any doubts or comments, do drop us a line!

Kind regards,

Vaga Lume Team