Tuesday, February 20, 2007
sorry that there was no blog on sunday night - we had another rainstorm and lost electricity, and the broadband connection went off, until too late on monday to write before leaving! so this is from england, home again after an on-time, uneventful journey starting yesterday lunchtime!
sunday started hot and sunny, though, and we went to the craft fair - feria hipie - to buy some nice stuff to bring home to sell for voice for change. handmade children's clothes, jewellery, toys and so on - all different and interesting .. if you want to see it, let us know!!
after lunch it was into the piscina - the blow-up pool which a previous quick hit team presented to casa branca for a couple of hours of manic water play, which was utterly exhausting!! the kids spend hours and hours in the pool, and love it!
then we spent a more tranquil period, playing 'mes -a- mes' on the table, which is great for learning numbers, sequencing, co-operation, stategic thinking, and ...patience!!
we then zoomed off to casa dourada to say goodbye to the family there, and got involved in more mask-making, and face painting, ending up with batman and 7 jokers!! they were in good form, and it went very well there .... now we are looking for these children to continue to improve in concentration at school and at home as we build on the foundations we have laid in these two weeks there...
a final x-mignon argentino at waldo's in the rain, and we were finished for this day ....
torrential overnight rain again, a sure sign that curitiba is high up in the mountains of southern brazil!
looking at the accounting and administration of the work in brazil, all is under control and being handled very competently by valquiria, who is doing a great job.
we have been very pleased with all we have been able to get through in these 2 short weeks, and thanks to the love and co-operation which everyone in brazil has shown us, we have been able to achieve a lot!
thank you for supporting us and reading this stuff from time to time too, we have really appreciated your messages and interest ...
there is so much to do here - brazil has 8 million street children in its population of 186 million people, and we know that we are making a difference to only a few ... but what a difference we are making!! the people who work here every day are so dedicated and committed, and they are truly changing the lives and the future for these children who need help so much.
i think there will be 3 teams needed this year and next, in may/june, july and november, so if you want to be part of one of those teams, please go onto www.vfcbrasil.com and read about the teams, get an application form, or contact us through the website.
if you would like to sponsor a child, you can read all about it on www.voiceforchange.org and if you have been to brazil or would like to know more about going, we have a special day in london when lots of interesting people will be gathering, on saturday 14 april, from 2 to 5 pm at the frontline club, in paddington, near the station ... we hope to see you there!!
keith
keith@vfcbrasil.com
sunday started hot and sunny, though, and we went to the craft fair - feria hipie - to buy some nice stuff to bring home to sell for voice for change. handmade children's clothes, jewellery, toys and so on - all different and interesting .. if you want to see it, let us know!!
after lunch it was into the piscina - the blow-up pool which a previous quick hit team presented to casa branca for a couple of hours of manic water play, which was utterly exhausting!! the kids spend hours and hours in the pool, and love it!
then we spent a more tranquil period, playing 'mes -a- mes' on the table, which is great for learning numbers, sequencing, co-operation, stategic thinking, and ...patience!!
we then zoomed off to casa dourada to say goodbye to the family there, and got involved in more mask-making, and face painting, ending up with batman and 7 jokers!! they were in good form, and it went very well there .... now we are looking for these children to continue to improve in concentration at school and at home as we build on the foundations we have laid in these two weeks there...
a final x-mignon argentino at waldo's in the rain, and we were finished for this day ....
torrential overnight rain again, a sure sign that curitiba is high up in the mountains of southern brazil!
looking at the accounting and administration of the work in brazil, all is under control and being handled very competently by valquiria, who is doing a great job.
we have been very pleased with all we have been able to get through in these 2 short weeks, and thanks to the love and co-operation which everyone in brazil has shown us, we have been able to achieve a lot!
thank you for supporting us and reading this stuff from time to time too, we have really appreciated your messages and interest ...
there is so much to do here - brazil has 8 million street children in its population of 186 million people, and we know that we are making a difference to only a few ... but what a difference we are making!! the people who work here every day are so dedicated and committed, and they are truly changing the lives and the future for these children who need help so much.
i think there will be 3 teams needed this year and next, in may/june, july and november, so if you want to be part of one of those teams, please go onto www.vfcbrasil.com and read about the teams, get an application form, or contact us through the website.
if you would like to sponsor a child, you can read all about it on www.voiceforchange.org and if you have been to brazil or would like to know more about going, we have a special day in london when lots of interesting people will be gathering, on saturday 14 april, from 2 to 5 pm at the frontline club, in paddington, near the station ... we hope to see you there!!
keith
keith@vfcbrasil.com
carolina at work in the sun
lucas doing detailed drawing watched by jhonathan
samuel and luis-felipe playing connect 4 with 'pai' jackson
luis-fernando, sarah, telma and luis-felipe enjoying a painting session on the path!!
jhonathan building a domino tower, demonstrating his fine motor skills!
angelica hard at work on the paining table outside in the sunshine!
telma arriving at 'nova estrela' for her 10th birthday party, with the family
carnaval - a riot of colour and noise .......
the carnaval procession on its way with an expectant crowd!
the casa branca piscina in constant use!
margaret being groomed by erica and sarah ready for an evening out!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
well, we have had quite a day today! it´s saturday night, by the way!!
hot again, we met with the ópen doors´leader, samuel santos, and two colleagues this morning, and explored their work and project in campo largo, 30 miles from curitiba. they have been given land by the town council, and are building 50 houses on this land to give (yes, give) to families who are living in destitute conditions in favelas and want to improve their lot.
after discussion about how we might be able to co-operate in future on common ground between our two organisations, such as training and support for each other, they invited us to look at their project. so we travelled over to meet up with more of their team, including the architect of the houses and the town mayor´s ´right-hand man´who was thrilled with our interest, and told us of many projects which they wish to undertake to improve their town, which in area is the same size as curitiba, but has 110,000 residents compoared to the 2million in the city! their land has been prepared for building and they hope to start building the first house in the next 2 weeks.
after 4 hours we left to come back, with an agreement to keep in touch and see how our organisations develop from here. they are very nice people, genuine and sincere, and we felt we had made a good contact. margaret even got an offer to come and live in brasil and work there in their families!! we also have a direct introduction to the mayor of curitiba, which will be very helpful as we plan the marathon team visit for 2008, and it also shows that there is potential for help and support from the authorities, if you can tap into the right places. we are starting to do this with our favela education programme, which they were very interested in..
we had taken luis-felipe along for the ride, not realising how long we would be (almost a n hour´s journey in each direction) so he was very hungry by the time we came back, and it was way after lunchtime ... so we bought him a macdonalds, and asked him which meal he would like. he had no idea what we were talking about, as he has never been to or eaten one before in his life. he is a favela boy, but has spent much more time on the streets in his short life than in a house, and he has been totally rejected by his family. his father came to visit a few months ago to tell him that he never wants to see him again in his life, having got a new baby and woman, so voice for change is all luis-felipe has. it is so rewarding to know that achild who probably would now be in a gang, and dead by the time he was 12, has quite literally been saved and granted a new life, new hope, new existence. he was so grateful and excited about his meal, and ate it with glee, sharing the fries around the car as we travelled home!
we did a quick shopping expedition, and then denise made a super chicken and mango salad, which we finally ate at 5 pm!!
we found out on the curitiba website that there was to be carnaval toinight in curitiba, and as thi has been an ambition of mine to go to a real brasilian carnaval, the ladies humoured me and we went off to the city centre for the evening.
carnaval is everything you have ever heard about it, and then some more!!
it is held just in one street, a long street of maybe 500 metres, which the parade takes about 30 minutes to go down.
it starts at 6pm and goes on all through the night, until sunrise at about 5 am!!
here it has about 20 parades, all different, but in sao paolo and rio de janeiro, the world-famous carnaval cities, they have 70 parades,over 2 or 3 nights!
stands are put up on each side of the street, where anyone can stand, or sit whlie waiting for the next parade! each parade is put on by a different ´school´, soch as the ´school of samba´, ´school of diversity´ and so on. they are an amazing spectacle of colour, noise, music and dance, with incredible costumes, from the barest minimum to the extremely ornate, with feathered head-dresses which take months to prepare for their one outing. it makes the normal carnival procession in the uk look and feel like a very pale reflection of this show, with its power, sensuality and dynamic action! the relationship between the crowd and the performers is very inportant, and there is a lot of time spent playing to the chants of the crowd and interacting with the spectators. we were in the middle of all this! you can´t keep still with the samba bands constant drumming!!
between the parades hundreds of children, dressed in all kinds of costumes, and some quite normally attired, squeeze out from behind the barriers onto the street and dance, sing and play, all of which is quite entertaining in itself. everyone is there for a good time!
we watched four parades, which grew better as the evening wore on, and apparently this is the case all through the night - the costumes get more spectacular and the dancing more frenetic as the night progresses.... but apart from it´s reputation as a fun-filled time, this event also has a very seedy downside, as it has become a time when literally anything goes, and people get very drunk, openly take drugs and are very promiscuous - the theme of the first parade was énjoy carnaval, look after yourself, wear a condom so you don´t get aids´ - and it is easy to see how, as more and more people are turning up, having had a party, and as children are being taken home,
that the whole thing gets way out of hand and often people even die at carnaval.
it is quite understandable why the churches here want nothing to do with carnaval, and put on camps and other events especially for their young people to go to on this weekend, to provide a healthy alternative for them, rather than possibly getting involved in the very unsavoury side of these days.
so a spectacular and exciting event has gone too far, and become spoiled by the excesses ....
i´m glad that we went, and experienced it for ourselves at least once, but also happy to have left before things started to get out of hand...the signs were there at 9 pm, so what it will be like at 4am i can´t really even think!!
so were have been to two extreme ends of the spectrum of brasilian life today, and i think we are wiser and richer for the experiences!
hopefully tomorrow will be a little more relaxing!! we will go to hipie feria (craft market) for a wander round in the morning, and get some nice ´stuff´to bring home and sell for voice for change, and then spend some quality time with our children before we have to leave brasil!
we still await knowing if we have a meeting on monday morning with the head of social responsibility of hsbc bank, whose south american headquarters is here in this city....
i did manage to look up the fa cup scores too, to see that the canaries lost 2-0 to chelsea, after which the ref added 4 minutes of time and chelsea added 2 more goals!!! they must have been very tired by then!!
have a nice sunday! thanks for getting to the end of this piece!!
hot again, we met with the ópen doors´leader, samuel santos, and two colleagues this morning, and explored their work and project in campo largo, 30 miles from curitiba. they have been given land by the town council, and are building 50 houses on this land to give (yes, give) to families who are living in destitute conditions in favelas and want to improve their lot.
after discussion about how we might be able to co-operate in future on common ground between our two organisations, such as training and support for each other, they invited us to look at their project. so we travelled over to meet up with more of their team, including the architect of the houses and the town mayor´s ´right-hand man´who was thrilled with our interest, and told us of many projects which they wish to undertake to improve their town, which in area is the same size as curitiba, but has 110,000 residents compoared to the 2million in the city! their land has been prepared for building and they hope to start building the first house in the next 2 weeks.
after 4 hours we left to come back, with an agreement to keep in touch and see how our organisations develop from here. they are very nice people, genuine and sincere, and we felt we had made a good contact. margaret even got an offer to come and live in brasil and work there in their families!! we also have a direct introduction to the mayor of curitiba, which will be very helpful as we plan the marathon team visit for 2008, and it also shows that there is potential for help and support from the authorities, if you can tap into the right places. we are starting to do this with our favela education programme, which they were very interested in..
we had taken luis-felipe along for the ride, not realising how long we would be (almost a n hour´s journey in each direction) so he was very hungry by the time we came back, and it was way after lunchtime ... so we bought him a macdonalds, and asked him which meal he would like. he had no idea what we were talking about, as he has never been to or eaten one before in his life. he is a favela boy, but has spent much more time on the streets in his short life than in a house, and he has been totally rejected by his family. his father came to visit a few months ago to tell him that he never wants to see him again in his life, having got a new baby and woman, so voice for change is all luis-felipe has. it is so rewarding to know that achild who probably would now be in a gang, and dead by the time he was 12, has quite literally been saved and granted a new life, new hope, new existence. he was so grateful and excited about his meal, and ate it with glee, sharing the fries around the car as we travelled home!
we did a quick shopping expedition, and then denise made a super chicken and mango salad, which we finally ate at 5 pm!!
we found out on the curitiba website that there was to be carnaval toinight in curitiba, and as thi has been an ambition of mine to go to a real brasilian carnaval, the ladies humoured me and we went off to the city centre for the evening.
carnaval is everything you have ever heard about it, and then some more!!
it is held just in one street, a long street of maybe 500 metres, which the parade takes about 30 minutes to go down.
it starts at 6pm and goes on all through the night, until sunrise at about 5 am!!
here it has about 20 parades, all different, but in sao paolo and rio de janeiro, the world-famous carnaval cities, they have 70 parades,over 2 or 3 nights!
stands are put up on each side of the street, where anyone can stand, or sit whlie waiting for the next parade! each parade is put on by a different ´school´, soch as the ´school of samba´, ´school of diversity´ and so on. they are an amazing spectacle of colour, noise, music and dance, with incredible costumes, from the barest minimum to the extremely ornate, with feathered head-dresses which take months to prepare for their one outing. it makes the normal carnival procession in the uk look and feel like a very pale reflection of this show, with its power, sensuality and dynamic action! the relationship between the crowd and the performers is very inportant, and there is a lot of time spent playing to the chants of the crowd and interacting with the spectators. we were in the middle of all this! you can´t keep still with the samba bands constant drumming!!
between the parades hundreds of children, dressed in all kinds of costumes, and some quite normally attired, squeeze out from behind the barriers onto the street and dance, sing and play, all of which is quite entertaining in itself. everyone is there for a good time!
we watched four parades, which grew better as the evening wore on, and apparently this is the case all through the night - the costumes get more spectacular and the dancing more frenetic as the night progresses.... but apart from it´s reputation as a fun-filled time, this event also has a very seedy downside, as it has become a time when literally anything goes, and people get very drunk, openly take drugs and are very promiscuous - the theme of the first parade was énjoy carnaval, look after yourself, wear a condom so you don´t get aids´ - and it is easy to see how, as more and more people are turning up, having had a party, and as children are being taken home,
that the whole thing gets way out of hand and often people even die at carnaval.
it is quite understandable why the churches here want nothing to do with carnaval, and put on camps and other events especially for their young people to go to on this weekend, to provide a healthy alternative for them, rather than possibly getting involved in the very unsavoury side of these days.
so a spectacular and exciting event has gone too far, and become spoiled by the excesses ....
i´m glad that we went, and experienced it for ourselves at least once, but also happy to have left before things started to get out of hand...the signs were there at 9 pm, so what it will be like at 4am i can´t really even think!!
so were have been to two extreme ends of the spectrum of brasilian life today, and i think we are wiser and richer for the experiences!
hopefully tomorrow will be a little more relaxing!! we will go to hipie feria (craft market) for a wander round in the morning, and get some nice ´stuff´to bring home and sell for voice for change, and then spend some quality time with our children before we have to leave brasil!
we still await knowing if we have a meeting on monday morning with the head of social responsibility of hsbc bank, whose south american headquarters is here in this city....
i did manage to look up the fa cup scores too, to see that the canaries lost 2-0 to chelsea, after which the ref added 4 minutes of time and chelsea added 2 more goals!!! they must have been very tired by then!!
have a nice sunday! thanks for getting to the end of this piece!!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
this will appear to be posted on saturday, but it is still friday here!!
today has been another fine day, with just a gentle breeze to make to heat and sun bearable for working in!! sorry about that if you are cold!
val and i have been back to joinville, along with thousands of other who were making an early start to the carnaval festival by getting away on friday morning to head for the beaches and festivities! so we took two and a half hours to travel the 75 miles down the motorway! we turned off to go into joinville, which was also emptying, as everyone goes to florianopolis for this weekend!
luis-claudio and darci were already there at skip and debbie´s house for the meeting, having left a half an hour before us....
we discussed a wide range of issues, and reaffirmed our voice for change values, the predominant one of which is to operate our homes as family units, making them as much like ´normal´families as possible, with everyone living out as normal a family life as possible, playing, eating , reading, going to school, on holiday, to church, shopping, on the computer etc etc
just helping these special children, who have come from such abusive and dysfunctional backgrounds, to behave and ´live´normally is a major full-time exhausting job, which requires an exceptional amount of commitment and love from the houseparents.
we have been able to agree today that we will keep the ´special children´in casa dourada, and step up our provision of care to an even greater level than we have given before, because these children are so needy, and additional help and training will be put in place for the houseparents to assist them in bringing this about.
we will continue to monitor and review their progress over the coming months. this work is very demanding and requires all a person´s energy to hopefully get even tiny advances in the progress of the children to ´normality´. they need lots of encouragement and ´positive strokes´in the jargon we have been using in our training sessions!
we all felt that we have reached good conclusions and a positive way forward, so this was a productive meeting for us all, and worth the journey to get there! we came back, and arrived back at 5.30pm.
in the meantime we had left denise and margaret in charge of casa dourada. arriving and expecting the find only jhonathan to look after, none of the children went to school today, so all of them were there! once they had coped with the shock, they set to, with all kinds of activities and purposeful games, including making a ´superman´mask for jhonathan to take to school with him this afternoon - part of his homework this week. he was thrilled to work on this and delighted with the result.
they all had a really good time and behaved well on the whole, and when potential problems appeared on the horizon, ´as dois amigas´ were able to divert this and make the whole morning a really positive experience. thanks to tiago for another good lunch, his cooking is really coming on! after lunch the children all went to school very happy after a great time.
ás amigas´returned to casa branca and made banners for the new favela project, which is due to start at the end of the month with 76 children, and cards for telma, celebrating her 10th birthday today. at 7 o´clock we put on a surprise party for her at the nova estrela charruscharia, cake, singing and all, where she declared herself ´muito feliz´with life (very happy)! it was fantastic to see all the children enjoy the restaurant - for some their wide-eyed first experience of such a place, and to all be so happy to participate in and enjoy each other´s company and happiness. tomorrow one of the children, luis felipe, our newest child here, has a visit from his grandmother, which will be interesting to see.
erica is learning english at school this year, and proudly practising and making rapid progress this week with personal tutors from the uk helping her!!
we are meeting with ópen doors´leader samuel tomorrow morning at 10 am, then possibly going to guaratuba to see what this carnaval thing is all about for ourselves in the afternoon ... so i had better get some sleep now!!!
the news about the possible airport strikes on monday is that we have no news at the moment!!
so que sera, sera!!
come on, city!
boa noite, amigos!
keith
today has been another fine day, with just a gentle breeze to make to heat and sun bearable for working in!! sorry about that if you are cold!
val and i have been back to joinville, along with thousands of other who were making an early start to the carnaval festival by getting away on friday morning to head for the beaches and festivities! so we took two and a half hours to travel the 75 miles down the motorway! we turned off to go into joinville, which was also emptying, as everyone goes to florianopolis for this weekend!
luis-claudio and darci were already there at skip and debbie´s house for the meeting, having left a half an hour before us....
we discussed a wide range of issues, and reaffirmed our voice for change values, the predominant one of which is to operate our homes as family units, making them as much like ´normal´families as possible, with everyone living out as normal a family life as possible, playing, eating , reading, going to school, on holiday, to church, shopping, on the computer etc etc
just helping these special children, who have come from such abusive and dysfunctional backgrounds, to behave and ´live´normally is a major full-time exhausting job, which requires an exceptional amount of commitment and love from the houseparents.
we have been able to agree today that we will keep the ´special children´in casa dourada, and step up our provision of care to an even greater level than we have given before, because these children are so needy, and additional help and training will be put in place for the houseparents to assist them in bringing this about.
we will continue to monitor and review their progress over the coming months. this work is very demanding and requires all a person´s energy to hopefully get even tiny advances in the progress of the children to ´normality´. they need lots of encouragement and ´positive strokes´in the jargon we have been using in our training sessions!
we all felt that we have reached good conclusions and a positive way forward, so this was a productive meeting for us all, and worth the journey to get there! we came back, and arrived back at 5.30pm.
in the meantime we had left denise and margaret in charge of casa dourada. arriving and expecting the find only jhonathan to look after, none of the children went to school today, so all of them were there! once they had coped with the shock, they set to, with all kinds of activities and purposeful games, including making a ´superman´mask for jhonathan to take to school with him this afternoon - part of his homework this week. he was thrilled to work on this and delighted with the result.
they all had a really good time and behaved well on the whole, and when potential problems appeared on the horizon, ´as dois amigas´ were able to divert this and make the whole morning a really positive experience. thanks to tiago for another good lunch, his cooking is really coming on! after lunch the children all went to school very happy after a great time.
ás amigas´returned to casa branca and made banners for the new favela project, which is due to start at the end of the month with 76 children, and cards for telma, celebrating her 10th birthday today. at 7 o´clock we put on a surprise party for her at the nova estrela charruscharia, cake, singing and all, where she declared herself ´muito feliz´with life (very happy)! it was fantastic to see all the children enjoy the restaurant - for some their wide-eyed first experience of such a place, and to all be so happy to participate in and enjoy each other´s company and happiness. tomorrow one of the children, luis felipe, our newest child here, has a visit from his grandmother, which will be interesting to see.
erica is learning english at school this year, and proudly practising and making rapid progress this week with personal tutors from the uk helping her!!
we are meeting with ópen doors´leader samuel tomorrow morning at 10 am, then possibly going to guaratuba to see what this carnaval thing is all about for ourselves in the afternoon ... so i had better get some sleep now!!!
the news about the possible airport strikes on monday is that we have no news at the moment!!
so que sera, sera!!
come on, city!
boa noite, amigos!
keith
Thursday, February 15, 2007
hi again! sorry for the lack of information for the past three days, but we have been in cananeia, 240km away, taking a short break and checking out the possibilities for team visits to this amazing paradise where the first settlers to brazil landed and lived. there are dolphins (golfinos) just swimming around in the bay all day, and you can just sit on the side of the quay and watch them playing around! it is idyllic! we have found a great little pousada(hotel) called via maria (maria is the owner and excellent cook) and listened every evening to the local samba bands and percussion groups prctising for carnaval, which starts there on saturday - it is a pulsating and dramatic rhythmn they create! (especially, it seems when they are playing late into the night and early in the morning ... it will be fun there on saturday, i´m sure!)
we also saw land and houses for sale there which would make great investments, as the town is gradually improving its facilities and providing 21st century facilities (hard to find, but that is its charm!) and which we think would provide great opportunities for our children to go on holiday, staff to take breaks and children from the favelas to go to see the ocean and experience some things they will never see in their lives if they cannot get out of the favela existence.
the sun shone for 3 days and we had a very little rain (at night) so we have started to get a tan at last!! but we are back in curitba now, where margaret has been working at all kinds of crafts for 3 days as well as taking photos and bringing sponsored children´s cv´s up to date.
we have now heard that the justice\social department is going to visit our ´big problem´children at casa dourada and help to decide how to care for them in future. they still want to keep the 3 children together, and will try to place them in another house and we are still asking if it is possible to seperate them because they are so difficult.
i have another meeting in joinville on friday to discuss this with the houseparents and leaders, while denise and margaret will go to casa dourada and take care of the children for the day!
on saturday we have a meeting planned with ópen doors´a similar project here run by mission direct, and on monday we are meeting with hsbc´s director of social responsibilidade´ for brasil, ana paula, who has kindly agreed to fit us into her busy schedule depite it being a holiday on monday, for carnaval!
there is also a rumour going around that airport workers are planning to strike during carnaval, which could be interesting!! - that lasts until tuesday night, and we are flying on monday!!
it was good to find out just now that the mighty canaries are taking on the chelsea blues on saturday in the fa cup - maybe i will be on the internet saturday lunchtime to watch peter grant´s boys giving jose mourinho a lesson (ahem)!! if you are going to the match, have a great day out!!
weather forecast is good for the next few days, so we will try to improve on the tan!
it´s telma´s birthday tomorrow (she is 10) so we are taking everyone to nova estrela (new star) charruscaria to celebrate... the children never go there so this will be a really big, sppecial trreat in her honour, and hopefully build a good memory for her for the future!
that´s it for now! hopefully reporting again tomorrow after the trip to joinville!
keith
we also saw land and houses for sale there which would make great investments, as the town is gradually improving its facilities and providing 21st century facilities (hard to find, but that is its charm!) and which we think would provide great opportunities for our children to go on holiday, staff to take breaks and children from the favelas to go to see the ocean and experience some things they will never see in their lives if they cannot get out of the favela existence.
the sun shone for 3 days and we had a very little rain (at night) so we have started to get a tan at last!! but we are back in curitba now, where margaret has been working at all kinds of crafts for 3 days as well as taking photos and bringing sponsored children´s cv´s up to date.
we have now heard that the justice\social department is going to visit our ´big problem´children at casa dourada and help to decide how to care for them in future. they still want to keep the 3 children together, and will try to place them in another house and we are still asking if it is possible to seperate them because they are so difficult.
i have another meeting in joinville on friday to discuss this with the houseparents and leaders, while denise and margaret will go to casa dourada and take care of the children for the day!
on saturday we have a meeting planned with ópen doors´a similar project here run by mission direct, and on monday we are meeting with hsbc´s director of social responsibilidade´ for brasil, ana paula, who has kindly agreed to fit us into her busy schedule depite it being a holiday on monday, for carnaval!
there is also a rumour going around that airport workers are planning to strike during carnaval, which could be interesting!! - that lasts until tuesday night, and we are flying on monday!!
it was good to find out just now that the mighty canaries are taking on the chelsea blues on saturday in the fa cup - maybe i will be on the internet saturday lunchtime to watch peter grant´s boys giving jose mourinho a lesson (ahem)!! if you are going to the match, have a great day out!!
weather forecast is good for the next few days, so we will try to improve on the tan!
it´s telma´s birthday tomorrow (she is 10) so we are taking everyone to nova estrela (new star) charruscaria to celebrate... the children never go there so this will be a really big, sppecial trreat in her honour, and hopefully build a good memory for her for the future!
that´s it for now! hopefully reporting again tomorrow after the trip to joinville!
keith
Monday, February 12, 2007
we got up at around 7 am sunday morning to drive to joinville, where we visited english-speaking church in the city centre, run by skip and debbie, our brasil leaders of the work, and then after sunday lunch (19.50 for 9 people!!) spent an afternoon in intense discussions about our plans for 2007, staffing issues, property matters, salary reviews and children´s welfare. we made really good progress, and will follow these up on friday when we will meet with some of the staff again in joinville.
we returned at 8pm and caught up with our emails and blogging!!
on moday margaret will start work in the houses and the favela on catching up with, photographing and updating our data on the children in our ´sponsor a child´scheme, so we can send out updated news to sponsors of those children.
casa branca children go back to school tomorrow after their summer holiday (off since 7 december!!)
keith and denise are planning to head for cananeia for 3 days rest, returning on thursday.
this week and next are carnaval in brasil - next week in curitiba, so the children get 3 more days off!
we have achieved a lot in these few days, but will have some more tough work to do when we return at the end of this week, and we are still waiting to hear from mission direct as to when they can meet us.
thanks for keeping in there and keeping up with us, it´s really appreciated!
we returned at 8pm and caught up with our emails and blogging!!
on moday margaret will start work in the houses and the favela on catching up with, photographing and updating our data on the children in our ´sponsor a child´scheme, so we can send out updated news to sponsors of those children.
casa branca children go back to school tomorrow after their summer holiday (off since 7 december!!)
keith and denise are planning to head for cananeia for 3 days rest, returning on thursday.
this week and next are carnaval in brasil - next week in curitiba, so the children get 3 more days off!
we have achieved a lot in these few days, but will have some more tough work to do when we return at the end of this week, and we are still waiting to hear from mission direct as to when they can meet us.
thanks for keeping in there and keeping up with us, it´s really appreciated!
saturday started with sunshine and ended with torrential rain (again!) - denise and margaret went through curriculum ideas with darla for the the government-assisted programme which we hope will start soon at the favela, and which will have the first 76 children on board.
in the afternoon we went to the mercado municipal - the city´s fruit and veg indoor market, and a whole lot more, which anyone who has been to curitiba will know is a great sight and experience, with the fruit, nuts, vegetables, fish, wines and many other items all on sale in the óld-fashioned´way, buy as much as you want from a big sackful set out on the stalls.. and upstairs on the mezzanine floor a big cafe with great pancakes with all kinds of fillings, and live music!!
when we came home the highlight of the day was waiting for us - the children at casa branca had prepared a dance\drama for us set to music on one of their videos, they were costumed and really enjoyed presenting it to us. it was amazing to see the children perform, and think about how far they have all come in the year and a half that they have been with voice for change. margaret and i then played games until 7.45pm and had manicures, nail painting and all kinds of beauty treatments lavished on us, which the kids really enjoyed doing!
finally we took out 2 members of staff to a really nice charruscaria which we discovered on our last visit, divino maestre - the divine master - where the food is great, and margaret was given an ´honorary birthday´so she could experience their birthday routine, conducted by the waiters, who come and sing at the table, and make all kinds of other attention-grabbing noise and presentations too. it was a treat. we returned home via the favela where some of our children used to live, and it is a sobering thought to consider how their lives might be now, were it not for our houses here in the city.
in the afternoon we went to the mercado municipal - the city´s fruit and veg indoor market, and a whole lot more, which anyone who has been to curitiba will know is a great sight and experience, with the fruit, nuts, vegetables, fish, wines and many other items all on sale in the óld-fashioned´way, buy as much as you want from a big sackful set out on the stalls.. and upstairs on the mezzanine floor a big cafe with great pancakes with all kinds of fillings, and live music!!
when we came home the highlight of the day was waiting for us - the children at casa branca had prepared a dance\drama for us set to music on one of their videos, they were costumed and really enjoyed presenting it to us. it was amazing to see the children perform, and think about how far they have all come in the year and a half that they have been with voice for change. margaret and i then played games until 7.45pm and had manicures, nail painting and all kinds of beauty treatments lavished on us, which the kids really enjoyed doing!
finally we took out 2 members of staff to a really nice charruscaria which we discovered on our last visit, divino maestre - the divine master - where the food is great, and margaret was given an ´honorary birthday´so she could experience their birthday routine, conducted by the waiters, who come and sing at the table, and make all kinds of other attention-grabbing noise and presentations too. it was a treat. we returned home via the favela where some of our children used to live, and it is a sobering thought to consider how their lives might be now, were it not for our houses here in the city.
Friday, February 09, 2007
today´s sessions have gone really well! everyone participated and denise presented a lot of material in a very clear, interesting and professional manner, involving all the staff and getting a lot from each session. startegies for helping damaged children through play, reading, cooking, and so on have all given really practical help to go with the theory which she also delivered with clarity.
the bears have been around again for most of the day, and a team-building exercise involving a blindfolded volunteer collecting items from the swimming pool whilst avoiding getting drowned was also a success (nobody drowned, anyway!)
our wonderful staff have all had a good time, been strengthened as a team, and received theoretical understanding and practical help which they have much appreciated.
we also received news that carlos de souza (one of the original founders of vfc brasil) has been taken into hospital with seriously high blood pressure, and although now back at home is still not at all well. our thoughts and prayers are with him and priscila and their family at this time.
we have made contact with the ópen doors´ project in curitiba, and hope to visit there soon, to see their work and explore if there are possible ways of co-operating together.
margaret worked with the casa branca children today, who wore her out, but a short sleep before dinner has given her second wind! she is in great form, and very close to all the children, who love doing things with her .. she is also observing them and making a very helpful contribution to our discussions.
there is a big football match this weekend here when curitiba take on athletico (like liverpool v everton) in the copa liberatores - but (sadly for me) we will be visiting joinville for the day for ongoing planning and discussions for the way ahead for 2007 in vfc.
we meet with darla and her new boyfriend alexander (xuxu) tomorrow, for some curriculum planning for the proposals for the favela government contract... then we will take off to the mercado municpal for one of their excellent lunches! the hustle and bustle, music and smells, food and drink on sale at the market is a ´must´for us every trip, and always evokes many memories of past teams which we have brought here for ´quick hit trips´ ....
all the children here seem very content at the moment, and are settling down for their new year at school. for casa branca, this starts on monday, and their backpacks are all lined up in the entrance hall ready for collection on monday as they return to classes! its a great sight!
the weather is still coolish, with gentle rain from time to time, but it should improve next week - we hope so anyway!!
have a nice weekend!! thanks for coming back to the blog again! it´s really good to know that you are reading it!!
keith, denise and margaret
the bears have been around again for most of the day, and a team-building exercise involving a blindfolded volunteer collecting items from the swimming pool whilst avoiding getting drowned was also a success (nobody drowned, anyway!)
our wonderful staff have all had a good time, been strengthened as a team, and received theoretical understanding and practical help which they have much appreciated.
we also received news that carlos de souza (one of the original founders of vfc brasil) has been taken into hospital with seriously high blood pressure, and although now back at home is still not at all well. our thoughts and prayers are with him and priscila and their family at this time.
we have made contact with the ópen doors´ project in curitiba, and hope to visit there soon, to see their work and explore if there are possible ways of co-operating together.
margaret worked with the casa branca children today, who wore her out, but a short sleep before dinner has given her second wind! she is in great form, and very close to all the children, who love doing things with her .. she is also observing them and making a very helpful contribution to our discussions.
there is a big football match this weekend here when curitiba take on athletico (like liverpool v everton) in the copa liberatores - but (sadly for me) we will be visiting joinville for the day for ongoing planning and discussions for the way ahead for 2007 in vfc.
we meet with darla and her new boyfriend alexander (xuxu) tomorrow, for some curriculum planning for the proposals for the favela government contract... then we will take off to the mercado municpal for one of their excellent lunches! the hustle and bustle, music and smells, food and drink on sale at the market is a ´must´for us every trip, and always evokes many memories of past teams which we have brought here for ´quick hit trips´ ....
all the children here seem very content at the moment, and are settling down for their new year at school. for casa branca, this starts on monday, and their backpacks are all lined up in the entrance hall ready for collection on monday as they return to classes! its a great sight!
the weather is still coolish, with gentle rain from time to time, but it should improve next week - we hope so anyway!!
have a nice weekend!! thanks for coming back to the blog again! it´s really good to know that you are reading it!!
keith, denise and margaret
the hotmail address is working fine again and the last blog was thursday not friday - it is still thursday here!!!!!
it´s all gone very well today - we have trained all day, starting off quite slowly and cautiously, as you would expect from a diverse team coming together, and gradually warmed up as the day has gone on. it has been very positive, and denise got through about 50% of the material she had planned!! but a lot of ´positive strokes´have been given and received, and everyone is looking forward to tomorrow´s programme. the bears and the strength cards, translated into portuguese, were much in evidence today!
we did some teamwork exercises today, and reviewed what had been put into practice after our last session, which was really encouraging.
margaret went to casa dourada where she helped look after the 5 children there with tiago .. she did some therapeutic play with them and they responded well. they have started back to school after their summer holidays this week, so the afternoon was quieter, until they came home again (children go to school either in the morning or afternoon in brazil, not all day)
the weather has been cloudy all day, with no sunshine, and it has been quite cold (18C) so we are hoping for sun tomorrow, when i want to do a team-building exercise in the swimming pool!!
we have also sent an email to another uk organisation, mission direct, who are starting a similar work here, to try to make contact to meet up sometime and discuss how we might be able to co-operate in future.
we have had a ´recovery evening´at home - playing games with the children here in casa branca!! - and now they have gone to bed, and so will we!!
we did some teamwork exercises today, and reviewed what had been put into practice after our last session, which was really encouraging.
margaret went to casa dourada where she helped look after the 5 children there with tiago .. she did some therapeutic play with them and they responded well. they have started back to school after their summer holidays this week, so the afternoon was quieter, until they came home again (children go to school either in the morning or afternoon in brazil, not all day)
the weather has been cloudy all day, with no sunshine, and it has been quite cold (18C) so we are hoping for sun tomorrow, when i want to do a team-building exercise in the swimming pool!!
we have also sent an email to another uk organisation, mission direct, who are starting a similar work here, to try to make contact to meet up sometime and discuss how we might be able to co-operate in future.
we have had a ´recovery evening´at home - playing games with the children here in casa branca!! - and now they have gone to bed, and so will we!!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
the end of our first day here and the day has gone well. we have visited the vila centre, which is looking really good on the inside, and badly in need of some cleaning up and repainting outside - our name and logo have faded and peeled off and it looks sad... but we have been asked by the government to run a programme four days a week taking on more children, now up to 120 children on this programme alone. we will be looking together at the staff we need and how this can be planned to maximise the benefits to all the children (aged 7 to 12) attending from the end of this month. we also have a group of older teenagers who have been asked to decide if they want to continiue coming to our centre, and if they do we must devise a programme for them.
ballet and dance lessons continue at the centre, and the place is buoyant and buzzing !
we have just put the final touches to the training programme for tomorrow, and have invited a potential new member of staff at the vila centre, Priscila, to come to the training, making 11 attendees tomorrow - it should be an interesting day!
my hotmail address does not seem to be working at the moment, which is frustrating, so we can only be contacted via valq77athotmail.com (that át´is the normail email symbol, which also isn´t working on this keyboard!!!)
margaret is off to casa dourada tomorrow to look after the 5 children there with Tiago - so think about her playing her ´grandma´role there all day!!! lets hope she lives to tell the tale of the day´s events!!
we have had glimpses of sun today, and it is dry at the moment, although cloud and some rain is predicted for tomorrow, and the temperature is lower than it has been, only around 20C at the moment (10.30 pm)
we start at 9.30 on wednesday morning, and are away at the training centre all day.. will report again tomorrow evening!
thanks for coming onto the blog!
keith
ballet and dance lessons continue at the centre, and the place is buoyant and buzzing !
we have just put the final touches to the training programme for tomorrow, and have invited a potential new member of staff at the vila centre, Priscila, to come to the training, making 11 attendees tomorrow - it should be an interesting day!
my hotmail address does not seem to be working at the moment, which is frustrating, so we can only be contacted via valq77athotmail.com (that át´is the normail email symbol, which also isn´t working on this keyboard!!!)
margaret is off to casa dourada tomorrow to look after the 5 children there with Tiago - so think about her playing her ´grandma´role there all day!!! lets hope she lives to tell the tale of the day´s events!!
we have had glimpses of sun today, and it is dry at the moment, although cloud and some rain is predicted for tomorrow, and the temperature is lower than it has been, only around 20C at the moment (10.30 pm)
we start at 9.30 on wednesday morning, and are away at the training centre all day.. will report again tomorrow evening!
thanks for coming onto the blog!
keith
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
well, we have arrived in Brasil after a very pleasant and uneventful journey, just 25 minutes late on the last leg, because the plane - gol, brasil´s equivalent of ryanair - waited for a couple from Paraguay who were running late, and it was their last chance to get home yesterday evening - how´s that for personal service in the ´third world´.
it is warm here, and no rain for the past 2 weeks - until last night, that is, when overnight we have had torrential thunderstorms and heavy rain! this is continued early this morning, but it is beginning to brighten up a bit now (11.30 am) and hopefully we won´t have too much rain! its still warm, in the 25 to 30C range at the moment!
we are visiting the vila for lunch today, where darla has just started her new term, and the government are discussing with us the possibility of sending 100 children a week to be educated - and paying us to do so, for the first time - we will hopefully negotiate this during our stay but this will mean we need more staff at the vila centre!! we need to appoint the right people to this task!!
the children at casa branca have been thrilled to see us again, especially ´granny´margaret, who is playing with them now in sign language and pidgin portuguese/english! somehow the language barrier isn´t there when people make real contact ....
they were also delighted to get new clothes this morning, thanks to the people who gave us clothes to bring last week. we will get some photos and send to you.
we are preparing now for 2 days of training on some difficult subjects, with denise preparing the programme to help the staff here better deal with the children they encounter every day and the deep seated problems which they have, often caused by family abuse and abandonment of different kinds. we hope it will be a productive and helpful time, and equip the team here a little more, whilst also building the team too.
we are also busy making appointments to meet with potential sponsors and corporate donors here, and also to meet up with the organisers of the Curitiba marathon, which is held every November, as we want to bring over a team of runners to compete in that marathon in 2007 or 2008, and this seems a great way to raise funds ..
the response here today is very positive, and we are looking forward to a very busy time ...
keith
it is warm here, and no rain for the past 2 weeks - until last night, that is, when overnight we have had torrential thunderstorms and heavy rain! this is continued early this morning, but it is beginning to brighten up a bit now (11.30 am) and hopefully we won´t have too much rain! its still warm, in the 25 to 30C range at the moment!
we are visiting the vila for lunch today, where darla has just started her new term, and the government are discussing with us the possibility of sending 100 children a week to be educated - and paying us to do so, for the first time - we will hopefully negotiate this during our stay but this will mean we need more staff at the vila centre!! we need to appoint the right people to this task!!
the children at casa branca have been thrilled to see us again, especially ´granny´margaret, who is playing with them now in sign language and pidgin portuguese/english! somehow the language barrier isn´t there when people make real contact ....
they were also delighted to get new clothes this morning, thanks to the people who gave us clothes to bring last week. we will get some photos and send to you.
we are preparing now for 2 days of training on some difficult subjects, with denise preparing the programme to help the staff here better deal with the children they encounter every day and the deep seated problems which they have, often caused by family abuse and abandonment of different kinds. we hope it will be a productive and helpful time, and equip the team here a little more, whilst also building the team too.
we are also busy making appointments to meet with potential sponsors and corporate donors here, and also to meet up with the organisers of the Curitiba marathon, which is held every November, as we want to bring over a team of runners to compete in that marathon in 2007 or 2008, and this seems a great way to raise funds ..
the response here today is very positive, and we are looking forward to a very busy time ...
keith
Sunday, February 04, 2007
welcome again to the vfc blog! if this is your first time, a special welcome, and thanks for coming here to have a look if you promised to do so on sunday!!
our trip to brasil is starting on monday night, leaving norwich via amsterdam and sao paolo, and arriving at 10.s0 pm local time in curitiba brasil on tuesday night. brasil is two hours behind the uk, so the time in uk will be just after midnight!
we have a lot to do while we are in the high temperatures of brasil (someone has to suffer!!) - about 80F or 32C - for the next two weeks, and i will try to keep you posted with how it is all going.
we will be having a government inspection of our 'peti' education project with darla in the favela on wednesday to friday this week, our children are returning from 'holiday' and going back to 'normal life' in casa dourada and casa branca this week, and our houseparents who have had a short sabbatical - luis-claudio and darci - will be getting their children back today, so there will be challenges all round!
denise will also be doing staff training on abuse and childcare issues, and we will be planning the next phases of the work in the houses and favelas, as well as looking to meet up with some strategic people in the city for funding, and co-operation.
we also hope to develop the vfc website into portuguese before we leave, so the credibility of our organisation in brasil is enhanced!!
we will also be collected up to date information on our sponsored children, to send out to sponsors in the uk when we return. margaret green is in charge of that aspect of this trip!! hopefully we will post some photos up here while we are in brasil, from her photography!
so there, in a nutshell, is 'the mission' for the next 2 weeks for the three of us!
the next posting will probably be on wednesday!!
you can send us comments at keithcolman@hotmail.com if you like!!
keith and denise
our trip to brasil is starting on monday night, leaving norwich via amsterdam and sao paolo, and arriving at 10.s0 pm local time in curitiba brasil on tuesday night. brasil is two hours behind the uk, so the time in uk will be just after midnight!
we have a lot to do while we are in the high temperatures of brasil (someone has to suffer!!) - about 80F or 32C - for the next two weeks, and i will try to keep you posted with how it is all going.
we will be having a government inspection of our 'peti' education project with darla in the favela on wednesday to friday this week, our children are returning from 'holiday' and going back to 'normal life' in casa dourada and casa branca this week, and our houseparents who have had a short sabbatical - luis-claudio and darci - will be getting their children back today, so there will be challenges all round!
denise will also be doing staff training on abuse and childcare issues, and we will be planning the next phases of the work in the houses and favelas, as well as looking to meet up with some strategic people in the city for funding, and co-operation.
we also hope to develop the vfc website into portuguese before we leave, so the credibility of our organisation in brasil is enhanced!!
we will also be collected up to date information on our sponsored children, to send out to sponsors in the uk when we return. margaret green is in charge of that aspect of this trip!! hopefully we will post some photos up here while we are in brasil, from her photography!
so there, in a nutshell, is 'the mission' for the next 2 weeks for the three of us!
the next posting will probably be on wednesday!!
you can send us comments at keithcolman@hotmail.com if you like!!
keith and denise
