With a population of 168 million (mid-1999), Brazil is among countries that have the highest absolute number of people living in poverty. 43.5% of Brazil's population eke out a living on less than USD 2 per day. The situation of these people is not much different from the circumstances in which the poorest of the poor live in other parts of the world. Thus, over one million children under five are undernourished. Health care, sanitary facilities
and food resources are inadequate for most of the population, while education is the privilege of a select few. Although Brazil is the world's eighth largest industrial nation, it ranks 62nd on the UNDP's 1998 Human Development Index (HDI).
The phenomenon of
childhood on the streets has to be seen in the broader context of the
"street population" as a whole. The cities of Latin America teem with
displaced and homeless people who had to escape from arid rural areas because it
was no longer possible to survive there. But living space in the congested
cities is scarce, and the notion that a dwelling place in the slums is free of
rent is wrong. There, too, groups exist who "control" the space
available and collect money for it. Many rural migrants cannot even afford a
shack.
For this and numerous
other reasons, the "palliative" approach should increasingly be
abandoned in favour of a preventive approach focusing mainly on organizing the
poor settlements and providing them with what is most necessary in terms of
infrastructure. "Partial treatment" fails to deal with the heart of
the matter - the family and its socio-economic plight - and only perpetuates the
problem.
Source: http://www.novartisfoundation.com/social_development/brazilian_street_children.htm
The solution is preventative work at the grass roots level in the rural areas. Fazenda Emanuel is an answer to try and tackle the awesome job of providing a means of education and support for children, young people, and their families. Fazenda Emanuel provides a means for children and young people to achieve an recognised educational level so that they can still get a chance to make something of there lives, when they have to leave school before they receive a diploma.
What
do we offer?
Education Program
The target of the entity is to provide the children and adolescents of the interior and their families the chance to enjoy better social conditions and quality of life where they live, in order to prevent the migration to the big cities, where due to lack and/or low level of education, they would have few conditions to survive in a worthy manner. We invest in the awareness of the increase of the level of schooling, school attendance (many are removed from school to work at time of harvest) and professionalization of these youths. We offer chances to these children to extract a maximum from their schooling, through helping them with: School homework, Tutoring, Sports, Games, Crafts, Cultural activities (musical, theater and dance) Computer course for adolescents. In such a way, we desire to influence them in positive way in the basic areas of their development: intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
Agricultural and Environmental Program
Given the federal mandate to eliminate the growth of tobacco, we are presented with a perfect opportunity. Local agriculture has to make a shift to a different crop. Why not make a complete shift by moving to a viable and productive organic crop, thus removing the requirement for chemicals with the result of restoring the environment and positively impacting the health of the population? This program is designed to raise the awareness of the agricultural community within which we are working and to contribute in a positive form, to the quality of life for these families, mobilizing them for preservation of the environment and offering them the tools for the development of sustainable alternative crops. The following courses will be offered:
1. A computer course oriented to the management of small companies and properties in the agricultural area.
2. Courses on organic agriculture covering subjects such as "Agriculture and Health", "Organic Farming", "Effective Micro-organisms" and "Self-Sufficiency".
3. General education to raise social awareness to the importance of preserving and conserving the environment.
The
intend is to provide the expertise to shorten the transition from chemical
farming towards organic farming by using "Effective Micro-organisms"
which have been proven to help reduce the transition from chemical agriculture
to organic agriculture. This process usually takes 3 to 5 years if we let nature
take its course, but with the use of "Effective Micro-organisms" this
is reduced to 1 year without loss of productivity. Every year after this
transition the soil well recuperate more and more and production will actually
go up. In this way we will be able to help the small properties be come more
productive and raise the level and quality of lifestyle for the families in the
region.