Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 43
|
|
Vocational project gives Brazilian youth a taste of success: Rotary
International News
A Rotary club-sponsored oasis in the middle of the troubled Praça
Mauá neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is giving teenagers
there a foothold into a promising future.
As part of a series of ongoing programs supported by the Padre
Francisco da Motta School in collaboration with Rotary clubs, teenage
students are learning to bake bread. The idea is to help prepare them
for the job market as they pursue their regular studies.
Three clubs in Rio de Janeiro — Flamengo, Paranapuã, and Ramos —
joined forces with the Rotary clubs of Köln am Rhein, Germany, and
Bhagyanagar, Andhra Pradesh, India, to gather club and District
Designated Fund money for a Matching Grant of US$33,000. With those
funds, Rotarians purchased new industrial baking equipment, including
an oven, a kneading machine, and a mixer, to equip a space just a few
doors away from the school.
Local Rotarians have been partnering for the past decade with clubs
from Germany and elsewhere on a series of 17 Matching Grant projects
to help young people from the community, which struggles with
unemployment, drugs, and prostitution. Projects at Padre Francisco da
Motta and the adjoining Sonja Kill High School have included
providing nutritious lunches and offering shop and graphic arts
courses.
"Today, more than 5,000 children are safe, off the streets, and have
a future because Rotarians care," said Past District 4570 Governor
Adélia Villas, a longtime Rotarian volunteer at the site.
In May, students baked their first product: French rolls. "I am
really happy," said 16-year-old Nayara Araújo de Oliveira. "I never
thought the bread would turn out so tasty. Now this is my favorite
class. I like being able to see the results of our work so fast."
Noting how the Sonja Kill students shared their first bread with
kindergartners from Padre Francisco da Motta, Villas, said: "Here you
can feel the love that exists in this school. You see how different
this school is from others."
Source: R I website |
|
|
|
