Lar da Clara - Cabo De Santo Agostina - PE

On Tuesday  12th June we went to visit another one of the Projecto Casa Da Crianca care centres , Lar de Clara. This day care centre again built in a few poor area of Recife has fantastic facilities for the children from low-income families.  Once a child is enrolled i Lar De Clara their family is also provided with extra support . There are no charges for the facilities , or meals provided n Lar De Clara. The institution is run completely by donations and business partnering .
Again the centre was remodelled by a group of Architects so is completely child oriented at every level .

Each room either classroom, music room , dance room, dentist, doctor, social worker, kitchen, bathroom etc is actually sponsored so that if there a possibility that a sponsor decides to longer be involved the centre only loses a small portion of their facilities. The children are given all their meals here and their mothers are encouraged to become volunteers . also some of the mothers are taking sewing lessons and creating items which can be sold . This project again involves the whole community and gives an otherwise poor community something to be really proud of .

as the children go to the dining room they not only get into the habit of washing their hands but also of brushing their teeth when they have finished . The Casa Da Crianca projects always go a little bit further!!

Casa Da Crianca - Project Completion

On Wednesday 13th June we presented our final findings to the Casa Da Crianca team , Joyce , Bruno and Vanessa. 

As with everything else , Sonya, Laurie and myself presented equal parts of the presentation in a very informal and warm atmosphere in the Casa boardroom  

Our 4 weeks of consultancy had resulted in the recommendation of an IBM  SmartCloud Engagement Solution .  

We also suggested an open source portal as a secondary recommendation.

Our recommended solution was very well received as it provides a design and business solution that was required by Casa Da Crianca to bring their organisation to a new level. 

- Overall modernization of the Casa da Criança communication model

- Efficiency created by labour savings for Casa da Criança staff, franchises, and architects

- Savings of business and operational expenses

- Trackable feedback from franchisers

Deliverables 

-Comprehensive Portal solution design

-Identified a primary and a contingency solution provider for a cloud based Portal solution

-Identify impact indicators to track effectiveness of solution

Provide an Action Plan to implement new proposed solution/plan 

The collaboration of IBM , CDC and Casa Da Criancia has been very successful for all those involved .  

Salvador - the long weekend

For the long weekend some of us decided to travel again . 2 went to Rio De Janeiro, 4 to Porto Da Galinhas and I joined the trip to Salvador with Sharon (Singapore)  , Drew, (USA) Yvonne (UK) , Daniel  (Australia ) and Stefan (Switzerland). We had left Daniel to sort out the accommodation and had agreed that a hostel would be fine . He found a lovely hostel on outskirts of Salvador over looking the beach . Only one downside was that it was a room for 6 , two bunk beds and two beds on the floor . It was like student life all over again . Toilets and showers 2 flights down but a lovely balcony with hammocks . I spent 2 nights on the hammocks just sleeping and listening to the sounds of  the waves 

We had a brilliant time .  Salvador is a very different cultural experience from Recife . It's the port where the slaves were brought from Africa by the Portuguese and there is still a very vibrant African influence including the practice of Candomble . An African originated , Afro-Brazilian religion practiced chiefly in Brazil . The religion is based on the Anima(soul) of the natural environment . It was developed in Brazil through the knowledge of African priests who were enslaved and brought to Brazil together with their mythology , culture and language between 1549 and 1888. 

Everywhere we went there was music , on one of the evenings we went to Porto Barra where there was Forro dancing outside . On Saturday evening we went to see the sunset down by the beach next to the Museum Of Modern Art and then to a jazz concert on the each for the rest of the night . On the first night we met with a colleague from IBM, Danielle  who is a singer and we went to her gig in a small restaurant , it was a great night .

Travelling at the weekends , Olinda, Itamaracia

The second weekend was spent sightseeing in the State of Pernambuca . On Saturday we visited the old part of Recife and the neighbouring town of Olinda. The next day we went further afield to the Ilha da Itamaracia and Igarussa.  We saw the oldest church in Brazil and spent our time travelling by boat to small islands Throughout all these travels we have been the only non-Brazilians so were often looked at !! Especially as we're not a typical group from one country but very multicultural . One person thought we were from the Greenpeace boat , Rainbow warrior which had just docked in Recife

 This house was on a very small island and the owner has spent his life reclaiming the surrounding areas and finding antique treasures . Outside the house at the back there are dogs and chickens and he often has small marmite monkeys visiting for dinner . He loves to show off al the items that he's found

 The oldest church in Brazil at Igarassu (it was actually the 3rd oldest but the first too no linger exist)

 This picture is of the Peixe-Boi - ,Mamatee (sea cows) found in South America. These mammals are similar to walruses but much bigger . When we were there we actually saw the calf feeding from his mother in the water.

 On our way to lunch in Ilha da Itamarcia

Community Service Day at the Nassau Social Centre in Goiana

On Monday 4th June the whole CSC team travelled by bus to Goiana about 60 miles from Recife . There we were introduced to another of the Casa Da Crianca Projects. The Nassau Social Centre is in a poor rural village , the houses are very small and basic and without bathrooms . No one from this village had ever gone to college . This project was put in place to bring some socio-economic and cultural development , integrated and sustainable to a village where fishing for crabs , oysters and other shellfish are the main sources of livelihood for about 7,000 residents of the locality and surroundings  .

The Social Centre has been built through the franchise of Casa Da Crianca and there are 200 students who go to the centre every day , In this village the schools are small so children go either in the morning or the afternoon , so when they are not at school they go this beautifully built centre which has been purpose built for the children. Bright buildings with white tiles , music rooms and rooms for them to develop their art of  making statues, boxes, baskets . All these are made from recycled materials or natural resources . Newspaper, recylced paper, banana fibres , and onion and garlic skins are some of the raw materials that they use.

What this project gives these teenagers is several fold . An opportunity to learn new skills in either craft or music and dance. This in turn provides them a way of making money to bring to their families, The crafts that they produce are sold in shops in Recife and are also exhibited and sold at trade fairs . The teenagers make their own business plan , organise their finances and share the profit  . This sounds like a project that might be done in a smaller scale during a gap year or transition year in Ireland , but this project actually changes their lives and that of their families. This is the only opportunity for them to make money . For those who take music , and dance they are also able to make money  performing in bands or dance troops .  

There is also a knock on effect in the family home where  the children are able to share their aspirations and help their families to see possibilities that they had never seen before.  

These children now have dreams of a future that could be better for them and  their families. In spite of the odds against it happening 3 of the students have now gone to university , a reality beyond their dreams .

We spent the day watching and being shown how to make the statues which are made from paper and water , no glue . Also we each made a box from natural fibres , with help from the experts ! What struck me during our visit there was the complete professionalism of the children in everything they did , they are so proud of their achievements .

Here are some more photos from the day .