Learning outdoors for children of the favelas

We have some exciting developments in our campus! a few months ago, we hosted our very first camping weekend with children. We worked with Outward Bound Brazil, preparing the areas and creating a robust safety infrastructure. Our goal is to be able to offer camping journeys to all our children's groups, including our local public school and Rocinha Creative English, an organization we have worked with for the past two years.

The weekend was very special. The children learnt to set up a tent and find the basics: water, mapping, and some plant identification. We hiked and built a bonfire, told stories and sung. Camping, like in the United States, is also an important part of the culture of Brazil, but because of gear required and access to appropriate spaces, it is difficult for many people.

We are very excited with this new opportunity for children to build leadership and confidence, deepen their relationship with the environment, strengthen their sense of community through collaborating and storytelling and have beautiful experiences in nature!

A very sincere thank you to all our donors who help us create these opportunities for children in the peripheries of Rio de Janeiro. Let's go for more! 

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We are very happy to report we have begun working again with our local municipal school, Hervalina Diniz! Since the beginning of SINAL, we have been involved in different activities with the school, between after school programs, revitalization of school spaces and excersises to complement the school curriculum.

After a pause around the pandemic, we are back to work. Last week, we received a group who is studying recycling for their science class. After we talked about sustainability and taking action in our community, we played games revolving around identifying and separating trash. 

We are very much looking forward to bringing in more classes from the school, and strengthening our relationship with the local community as we develop sustainable infrastructure solutions and create more opportunities of dialogue and education.

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