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This project began in 2003 and was set up to help local underprivileged children with their homework. I discovered that many of them did not attend school regularly and even when they did, they were learning very little. Due to the limitations of public education in Brazil, children need additional help in order to attain basic comprehension of reading, writing and arithmetic. The children are often given homework which they don’t understand and it is up to the parents to help them. |
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Many families in Lençóis do not provide this support at home for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there is no one in the family who can read or write so they cannot offer help with homework, often children are not living with their parents but with aunts uncles or grandparents. Sometimes up to 10 children are living with extended family members who do not give them the attention and encouragement they need. It is this gap between state provision of education and dysfunctional home that the project is intended to fill. In the Brazilian school system you have to pass each year to move up, or repeat the same year again. This can happen many years in a row and so the kids get fed up and tend to leave school at 13 or 14, hardly capable of writing their name. |
| Another factor that contributes to the overall problem is the poverty of these families. Many houses have very basic bathroom facilities, often just one tap in a house and a dirty hole in the ground. They often don’t have enough to money to buy sufficient food for the family so toys, books, pencils etc are defiantly not a possibility. This means that the essential element of play in a child’s education is completely missing. It is incredible to see how excited a 13 year old can get about a simple colouring book and crayons not to mention a story book full of colourful pictures. It’s these incentives that make children to want to read and write that are totally lacking in their lives. |  |
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Many parents work leaving children as young as 6 or 7 looking after children as young as 1 or 2, they spend their days hanging out on the streets, dirty and barefoot with cuts unattended to. They rarely clean their teeth and even before they are a year old are eating sweets and chewing gum and drinking fizzy drinks – much cheaper than milk! As you can imagine by the time they are 4 most of their teeth are rotten. The Pousada Dos Duendes is a guest house in the small town of Lencois situated in the north eastern state of Bahia, Brazil. At present the guest house directly funds the project by: allowing it to function within the guest house during the quieter hours of the day; finding volunteers, whose accommodation and meals are supplied by the guest house; buying any material necessary such as books, pens, pencils, educational toys etc. We often receive small donations from guests which also go towards buying such materials. The children love coming to the guest house. They come after school to do their homework and are rewarded with playtime where they can colour and look at books and play games. At the same time we try to improve their basic hygiene by making sure they are clean and tidy, should they come here dirty we send them home to wash and tidy up. We look to improve their social skills by treating them with respect and talking them through their problems. |
| They have to be respectful to the volunteers, fellow students and the hotel guests. In so doing, we intend to benefit the welfare of the children and that of the local community. By becoming socially aware, they will also develop a sense of social conscience as they begin to take more care of themselves and others around them. However the project is limited by being within the guest house, there is a limit to how many small children we can have running around a hotel!!! | |
| In order to function effectively, the project needs:
Premises – The project has outgrown its capacity in the Pousada dos Duendes to such an extent that now it needs a house of its own. People to work with the children on a daily basis – Our volunteers are usually drawn from the language programmes of UK universities. Volunteers are not paid, their basic needs are provided for by Pousada dos Duendes so any money donated to the project is not used to pay for their upkeep. Support from the community – We currently receive help from a local teacher who assists us in co-ordinating with the schools. With the addition of the new house we hope to give each child more attention, encourage involvement of the families and increase the number of children participating. We will develop closer ties with the schools in order to make our lessons more focused on the national curriculum and monitor the children’s progress. Basic materials – The project requires materials including paper, pencils, text books and other similar items. These are usually purchased with money donated to the project, or received from locals or guests donating them directly. Projeto Casa Grande (The Big House Project) The project currently functions with one volunteer, and a total of 24 children. However, interest in the project far outstrips our current capacity. Due to the support and encouragement we have had from people who have seen the project in action, we decided that it was time to take things to a higher level by finding a place to house the project. The house we found is just behind the guest house and has 5 rooms, kitchen and bathroom. The house will be used specifically for the children; they will be able to spend more time here, not just the time it takes them to do their homework. Once their homework is done they will be able to play. By having access to books and crayons they will improve their reading and writing skills and by playing with toys and other kids under supervision they will learn to share and respect others. In the new house there will be space for an additional volunteer to sleep; their meals will continue to be provided by the Pousada Dos Duendes. With this added capacity, it will be possible to bring more children into the project and better structure of our lessons so that children of equal ability are grouped together. Additionally the bathroom will be accessible to the children. They will be able (and expected) to use it to keep themselves clean and tidy and each child will have a toothbrush. The kitchen means that we will be able to provide food when funding is available. What we need: financial breakdown in £s. | ||||||
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Any Extra money will go towards:
Buying the land next door to set up a playground. £4,000 This project is well structured, pragmatic and economical, and as such any money we can raise will have a direct and visible impact upon both the well being of the children and the community at large. It is important to emphasise that although the project has been successful to date, it can only continue and expand if supported by donations. We are now fundraising both on the local and international levels to purchase our new premises. In so doing, we hope to provide the long-term stability that will allow us to function effectively for many years to come. |
How to donate
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We are always looking for volunteers for the project. Full time volunteers need to speak reasonable Portuguese and be prepared to stay for at least 3 months. Please contact us for further details. Everyone is welcome to visit the project and help with kids reading or just play with the children.
We can be contacted by email on
projetocasagrande@hotmail.com,
By telephone: +55 75 3334 1229
By Post: PROJETO CASA GRANDE, Pousada dos Duendes,Rua do Pires s/n, Lençóis, Bahia 46960-000,
Brazil
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