Saturday, February 23, 2008
aiaiaiaiaiaiai ....
what a difficult time we have just had ..
after coming home from school and having something to eat, all the childrens´belongings were packed into the kombi - a last minute change of plan, so father did not come for them with his horse, he had turned up earlier while they were at school, he was so keen to get them - then an emotional farewell to dona cida, sara, pedro, samuel and denise, and we took them at 6 pm through the Curitiba rush hour to the favela to start their new life.
We were told that Luis-Fernando had cried all afternoon in school.
He and Erica were most upset, and Telma was up and down, with Fernanda taking it all as an adventure, a holiday, I think not really realising the implications of what was happening.
Jackson, Tuim, Valquiria and I went with the children to hand them over, and the journey seemed to take an age, with so many cars going about their normal friday evening trip home from work for a weekend off.
The favela is situated by the side of a very busy dual carriageway road, near the Clube Parana football stadium. There is rubbish everywhere, skeletal cats, dogs and horses, people going to and fro, and constant activity in this community, which definitely well described as ´ínner city´in nature .. several people had turned out to see the new kids on the block, and dad was beside himself with excitement!
More hugs and we took the childrens´clothes and bags down some rickety steps, across some boards over mud and up a flight of stone steps to their house. The location is a building site, which I think will have around 100 people living in the rooms when finished, but dad has not yet managed to make the move to a bigger house, which I hope will be soon. He apologised for the smallness of the house, and promised he will move, hopefully next week.
So they arrived in the house where they had spent their Christmas holiday, a tiny kitchen, and a tiny bedroom, with a double bed and a pull-out sofa. With the sofa put away, there was just room for us all to stand in the room, and with the sofa made up as a bed, there is no floor space at all.
They have a communal toilet and bathroom, which they have to walk about 25 metres to get to, shared with other tenants in the block. This is the reality of Brasilian poverty.
The house was hot, clean and tidy, and there were photos of the children on the small table in the kitchen. Dad told me that he has been 3 years without his kids, and he was so full of joy to be re-united with them as a family. He is a Coxa fan, he always wears the same shirt ...
The eyes of all the neighbours were popping as the childrens´few clothes were being carried in, that they had so much ...
We took some photos for the memory of the moment that the family was re-united, and then left to allow this new family - a growing family, for we also were told that the step-mum is now pregnant - time to settle in and settle down. We told them how special they are to us, and that they will always be, and we had to leave.
Fernanda was already interacting with other small children in the street, and Telma too was wanting to explore the area. Theother two were clinging to their father as our tearful goodbye came to an end.
I really hope that they move into a house which has more room very soon, because the change from casa Branca to that house is enormous.
So, a success for Voice for Change - children who have found security and love for the past 3 years after being abandoned have been re-united with their family, who now love and value them like never before. We all need a bit of time to reflect, and come to terms with our loss, which we hope will be the childrens´long-term gain ...
and there are many more very needy children waiting to be found a home .....
what a difficult time we have just had ..
after coming home from school and having something to eat, all the childrens´belongings were packed into the kombi - a last minute change of plan, so father did not come for them with his horse, he had turned up earlier while they were at school, he was so keen to get them - then an emotional farewell to dona cida, sara, pedro, samuel and denise, and we took them at 6 pm through the Curitiba rush hour to the favela to start their new life.
We were told that Luis-Fernando had cried all afternoon in school.
He and Erica were most upset, and Telma was up and down, with Fernanda taking it all as an adventure, a holiday, I think not really realising the implications of what was happening.
Jackson, Tuim, Valquiria and I went with the children to hand them over, and the journey seemed to take an age, with so many cars going about their normal friday evening trip home from work for a weekend off.
The favela is situated by the side of a very busy dual carriageway road, near the Clube Parana football stadium. There is rubbish everywhere, skeletal cats, dogs and horses, people going to and fro, and constant activity in this community, which definitely well described as ´ínner city´in nature .. several people had turned out to see the new kids on the block, and dad was beside himself with excitement!
More hugs and we took the childrens´clothes and bags down some rickety steps, across some boards over mud and up a flight of stone steps to their house. The location is a building site, which I think will have around 100 people living in the rooms when finished, but dad has not yet managed to make the move to a bigger house, which I hope will be soon. He apologised for the smallness of the house, and promised he will move, hopefully next week.
So they arrived in the house where they had spent their Christmas holiday, a tiny kitchen, and a tiny bedroom, with a double bed and a pull-out sofa. With the sofa put away, there was just room for us all to stand in the room, and with the sofa made up as a bed, there is no floor space at all.
They have a communal toilet and bathroom, which they have to walk about 25 metres to get to, shared with other tenants in the block. This is the reality of Brasilian poverty.
The house was hot, clean and tidy, and there were photos of the children on the small table in the kitchen. Dad told me that he has been 3 years without his kids, and he was so full of joy to be re-united with them as a family. He is a Coxa fan, he always wears the same shirt ...
The eyes of all the neighbours were popping as the childrens´few clothes were being carried in, that they had so much ...
We took some photos for the memory of the moment that the family was re-united, and then left to allow this new family - a growing family, for we also were told that the step-mum is now pregnant - time to settle in and settle down. We told them how special they are to us, and that they will always be, and we had to leave.
Fernanda was already interacting with other small children in the street, and Telma too was wanting to explore the area. Theother two were clinging to their father as our tearful goodbye came to an end.
I really hope that they move into a house which has more room very soon, because the change from casa Branca to that house is enormous.
So, a success for Voice for Change - children who have found security and love for the past 3 years after being abandoned have been re-united with their family, who now love and value them like never before. We all need a bit of time to reflect, and come to terms with our loss, which we hope will be the childrens´long-term gain ...
and there are many more very needy children waiting to be found a home .....
Friday, February 22, 2008
well, we have had an interesting couple of days!
we have had the pleasure of the company of two lovely scottish lassies from edinburgh - flora and bonnie - who are on a south american tour ... came here from rio and have been around with us for the past two days, meeting everyone and getting very enthusiatic about running in the curitiba marathon on 23 november 2008, 2009 etc etc
they send their love to all their family, and have just departed for a holiday in florianopolis ... they are in good shape, and fine fettle after two days of curitiba sunshine!
if you want to run in the marathon or know someone who will, please contact us now! the team is building up, and we are being welcomed here by the city with open arms!
at 6 pm tonight (9pm uk time) casa Branca will be empty.
the final papers have come through and it is all arranged for the children to be picked up after school by their father, in his horse and cart, to take them back permanently to the favela. so voice for change will officially hand over the children this evening, and will not be reponsible for them any more.
the older children have realised the implications of this for some days, but it has just become a reality for the younger ones. luis-fernando came in to say ´i really want to be with my father, but i don´t want to leave you´ so we are all feeling quite sober and emotional for many reasons today.
in many ways this is the hardest part of our work, when we have to say goodbye after a ´´success´´ in re-uniting a family, but after pouring yoursalf into a set of chilren for almost 3 years as if they were your own, you have built attchments which are hard to break.
but evryone will move on, and we hope and pray that the two families will be able to handle their new situations.
epecially we are concerned for the children in the most dangerous favela in the city, and how life will work out for them. their father is very happy and excited to have themback, and he will do his best to provide for them. their time with us has not been wasted, and yesterday we made a short video, interviewing all the children, to ask them about their lives, which we will release as soon as possible.
i will also try to get photos on the blog as soon as possible of their new home, as we hope that we can go with them tonight to say goodbye.
we also visited the government home (where we get our children from) for abandoned and rescued children yesterday. about 60 children live here at any time, and they have two groups of four brothers and sisters there at the moment. these are the hardest to place, and they need homes like ours to do this. one grioup has been there for 5 months now. there are five-year-old twins, who we thought were 3 years old, and the needs are obvious.
this is one of many homes in the city for such children, of different types, and is a very short walk away from casa Branca. we were very welcome there and the director told us that if we could have ten more houses, this would help her very much!
we still have no news from luis-felipe, so hope that he is getting on ok after 10 days back at his father´s house.
we have also been trying to cost out the materials we will need to buy in order to provide another room at the vila centre, for the team to build in two weeks´time ... however we try to do this, we will need to spend anout £2,000 to get what we need to make this room - from nothing! it´s a very cheap exyension to our premises, but we have to try to raise that money now, so that the work in the vila can go forward.
we have had the pleasure of the company of two lovely scottish lassies from edinburgh - flora and bonnie - who are on a south american tour ... came here from rio and have been around with us for the past two days, meeting everyone and getting very enthusiatic about running in the curitiba marathon on 23 november 2008, 2009 etc etc
they send their love to all their family, and have just departed for a holiday in florianopolis ... they are in good shape, and fine fettle after two days of curitiba sunshine!
if you want to run in the marathon or know someone who will, please contact us now! the team is building up, and we are being welcomed here by the city with open arms!
at 6 pm tonight (9pm uk time) casa Branca will be empty.
the final papers have come through and it is all arranged for the children to be picked up after school by their father, in his horse and cart, to take them back permanently to the favela. so voice for change will officially hand over the children this evening, and will not be reponsible for them any more.
the older children have realised the implications of this for some days, but it has just become a reality for the younger ones. luis-fernando came in to say ´i really want to be with my father, but i don´t want to leave you´ so we are all feeling quite sober and emotional for many reasons today.
in many ways this is the hardest part of our work, when we have to say goodbye after a ´´success´´ in re-uniting a family, but after pouring yoursalf into a set of chilren for almost 3 years as if they were your own, you have built attchments which are hard to break.
but evryone will move on, and we hope and pray that the two families will be able to handle their new situations.
epecially we are concerned for the children in the most dangerous favela in the city, and how life will work out for them. their father is very happy and excited to have themback, and he will do his best to provide for them. their time with us has not been wasted, and yesterday we made a short video, interviewing all the children, to ask them about their lives, which we will release as soon as possible.
i will also try to get photos on the blog as soon as possible of their new home, as we hope that we can go with them tonight to say goodbye.
we also visited the government home (where we get our children from) for abandoned and rescued children yesterday. about 60 children live here at any time, and they have two groups of four brothers and sisters there at the moment. these are the hardest to place, and they need homes like ours to do this. one grioup has been there for 5 months now. there are five-year-old twins, who we thought were 3 years old, and the needs are obvious.
this is one of many homes in the city for such children, of different types, and is a very short walk away from casa Branca. we were very welcome there and the director told us that if we could have ten more houses, this would help her very much!
we still have no news from luis-felipe, so hope that he is getting on ok after 10 days back at his father´s house.
we have also been trying to cost out the materials we will need to buy in order to provide another room at the vila centre, for the team to build in two weeks´time ... however we try to do this, we will need to spend anout £2,000 to get what we need to make this room - from nothing! it´s a very cheap exyension to our premises, but we have to try to raise that money now, so that the work in the vila can go forward.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Today confirmation has come through that the children will leave us on Friday.
They have spoken with their father this morning. They are excited about going to be with him, but they are aware that their time here is rapidly coming to an end. So there are many mixed emotions here, for the children and for the adults too.
The children have been here for two and a half years, half of Fernanda´s life, and she knows nothing else really, than this. Erica is very aware of what she is going back to, and is making drawings of her ´dream house´, very detailed, and very much like casa Branca.
They will return to one bedroom, a small kitchen\diner and not much more ..
We are asking Jorge how we can help him and Renata following theit total loss in last Friday´s storm flood.
We think we have completed the work required for the fire brigade to come and inspect the property today!
Denise has had a great time this morning, asking the children to ´devagar´(slow down) as they chatter while doing all kinds of activiities with them. now they are going to lunch, then school, and the house will go quiet again. After two more days, it will be very quiet here.
They have spoken with their father this morning. They are excited about going to be with him, but they are aware that their time here is rapidly coming to an end. So there are many mixed emotions here, for the children and for the adults too.
The children have been here for two and a half years, half of Fernanda´s life, and she knows nothing else really, than this. Erica is very aware of what she is going back to, and is making drawings of her ´dream house´, very detailed, and very much like casa Branca.
They will return to one bedroom, a small kitchen\diner and not much more ..
We are asking Jorge how we can help him and Renata following theit total loss in last Friday´s storm flood.
We think we have completed the work required for the fire brigade to come and inspect the property today!
Denise has had a great time this morning, asking the children to ´devagar´(slow down) as they chatter while doing all kinds of activiities with them. now they are going to lunch, then school, and the house will go quiet again. After two more days, it will be very quiet here.
We have spent the day at the favela centre today, planning for the future there. Our project to take on 100 children per day for the next year has been approved by the city social department and now we will need to get the contract signed. This will mean we need to take on at least two more people there, to be with Darla and Priscila, but this will be covered by a grant from the City - so we are expanding but no extra fundraising needed, for once!!
This is great news, which we have been waiting for, about a year!
We will be open all day, Monday to Friday, as soon as the contract is signed, with 50 children in the morning and 50 different children in the afternoon, from 7 to 14 years old!
If this contract works, then we can put in for a new contract next year, and so on ...
Also this morning the ´fundacion cultural´showed up and offered us an artist for 4 hours per week for 5 months, who will do a project with the children every thursday, 2 hours each morning and afternoon!
They sought us out and made this offer, and is a sign of our growing reputation. This project could be follwed by others in theatre, dance and so on, if we want to take them ...
Then we got the new we have been dreading, that the children at casa Branca are to go back ´home´ later this week - possibly as early as Thursday .. so this is going to be a very emotional week here.
Darci has headed north to visit her mother, who has just has a major operation.
Still hot here today, and still adjusting to the new time system!!
This is great news, which we have been waiting for, about a year!
We will be open all day, Monday to Friday, as soon as the contract is signed, with 50 children in the morning and 50 different children in the afternoon, from 7 to 14 years old!
If this contract works, then we can put in for a new contract next year, and so on ...
Also this morning the ´fundacion cultural´showed up and offered us an artist for 4 hours per week for 5 months, who will do a project with the children every thursday, 2 hours each morning and afternoon!
They sought us out and made this offer, and is a sign of our growing reputation. This project could be follwed by others in theatre, dance and so on, if we want to take them ...
Then we got the new we have been dreading, that the children at casa Branca are to go back ´home´ later this week - possibly as early as Thursday .. so this is going to be a very emotional week here.
Darci has headed north to visit her mother, who has just has a major operation.
Still hot here today, and still adjusting to the new time system!!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Today we have been to the feria-hipie, the weekly market in the centre of the city with hundreds of stalls, to stock up for the cafe and charity shop which we run at :the park at Bawdeswell to help raise money for Voice for Change, among other charities too.
We had a very successful 4 hours there, in very hot sunshine - somebody has to do it! - and new stock will be arriving shortly .. some really nice new things for the shop, including excellent Ronaldo Hammer paintings on waste materials, and many hand-made items which will help the local economy here, whilst also helping VfC as they get sold in the UK! We also met a designer of amazing clothes, using natural and recycled materials (not for the faint-hearted!)
After another rainstorm to clear the air and lower the temperature a little from the 33 degrees earlier, we are going out with Darla and her fiance Xuxu to meet some new people at a church in the area where our children will return to live soon - although when, we do not know of course, it could be any time at all, we just await the call to say that they have to go.
We had a very successful 4 hours there, in very hot sunshine - somebody has to do it! - and new stock will be arriving shortly .. some really nice new things for the shop, including excellent Ronaldo Hammer paintings on waste materials, and many hand-made items which will help the local economy here, whilst also helping VfC as they get sold in the UK! We also met a designer of amazing clothes, using natural and recycled materials (not for the faint-hearted!)
After another rainstorm to clear the air and lower the temperature a little from the 33 degrees earlier, we are going out with Darla and her fiance Xuxu to meet some new people at a church in the area where our children will return to live soon - although when, we do not know of course, it could be any time at all, we just await the call to say that they have to go.
It was Telma´s 11th birthday yesterday, and we celebrated it with lunch at the charruscaria, the last time for a very long time that she will make it to such a restaurant, which are only for the rich and business-people here ... at 3 pounds for a meal of all you can eat!!! She really enjoyed her day, and we went home for home-made ice cream dessert at casa Branca.
We then installed a fire extinguisher and a small emergency lighting system here, which was required by the fire brigade, after a recent inspection of the house. we have had several inspections recently by various authorities, and we have received the highest commendations for how we keep and run our homes, something of which we are very proud.
We have been told that ´íf only everyone would look after their houses like Voice for Change, we would be very pleased´ so this is a real sign of our growing reputation here.
It was hot again, but the rain we had in the evening was nothing like the torrential downpour with massive thunder and lightning the previous day ... we also discovered the Jorge, one of our dedicated volunteers here at casa Branca, had his home flooded in that storm, and has lost all his possessions, with no insurance to cover the loss .... it soon stopped, though and in the evening we went downtown (which seemed very quiet compared with a business day) and had a quiet meal to round off the day!
We then installed a fire extinguisher and a small emergency lighting system here, which was required by the fire brigade, after a recent inspection of the house. we have had several inspections recently by various authorities, and we have received the highest commendations for how we keep and run our homes, something of which we are very proud.
We have been told that ´íf only everyone would look after their houses like Voice for Change, we would be very pleased´ so this is a real sign of our growing reputation here.
It was hot again, but the rain we had in the evening was nothing like the torrential downpour with massive thunder and lightning the previous day ... we also discovered the Jorge, one of our dedicated volunteers here at casa Branca, had his home flooded in that storm, and has lost all his possessions, with no insurance to cover the loss .... it soon stopped, though and in the evening we went downtown (which seemed very quiet compared with a business day) and had a quiet meal to round off the day!
The clocks here changed from summer to winter time last night, so in Brasil we are now 3 hours behind UK time, until the end of March, when summer time starts in the UK, and the difference will be 4 hours until October!
We now know for sure the date of the Curitiba Marathon later this year, and it is fixed for Sunday 23 November 2008.
This means that our running team will fly out on 15 november, and return home on 30 november\ 1 december .... if you run marathons and would like to be a part of that team, and can come out for those dates, we would like to hear from you!!
(There is also a 10km run on that date here too, for those who can´t quite make a full marathon yet!!)
We now know for sure the date of the Curitiba Marathon later this year, and it is fixed for Sunday 23 November 2008.
This means that our running team will fly out on 15 november, and return home on 30 november\ 1 december .... if you run marathons and would like to be a part of that team, and can come out for those dates, we would like to hear from you!!
(There is also a 10km run on that date here too, for those who can´t quite make a full marathon yet!!)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Hello again, and welcome to a new blog at last from curitiba!
We have much to report on, since arriving in Voice for Change Brasil last Wednesday evening ... first, that to everyone´s surprise, the Judge sent a fax to VfC on Tuesday morning to say that she had decided to award custody of Luiz-Felipe back to his father (who has already abandoned him twice before) and that we were to take him to his house immediately ..
This was the final part of a process whereby the father had applied for custody, having moved into a new house, and with a new girlfriend (with another 2 children we think) and although this process had been going on, it was a sudden decision that L-F was to go, with no time at all for preparation.
He cried a lot through the day, and was very quiet in the car on the way to the house, very anxious, naturally. He had said he didn´t want to go, but in this case (unlike Angelica, of whom the same judge has said that her family can have no more contact) his wishes were taken into account but over-ruled, and he and we had no choice in this matter.
We have heard no more from him or the family this week, but we will try to keep in touch with him and see how he gets on. His time here at casa Branca has been so valuable to him, and taught him so much, that hopefully he can take with him and use for the rest of his life. Let´s hope that he can integrate into his new family and be treated well there.
We also await the day when the other four brother and sisters (Erica, Telma, Luiz-fernando and Fernanda) return to their father, who has also made preparations for their return, after his release from prison and making himself a new life - he has a 23 year-old girlfriend, has a bigger house in the same favela as they came from (the worst favela in the city) and has a job as a rubbish collector on the streets of the city. So he has fulfilled all the conditions required by the authorities to be allowed to have his children back. they want to go, because they love their father, but they also don´t want to give up what they have here at Voice for Change. This work is very tough emotionally, and we could get a call or a fax at any time to say that they have to be taken ´home´.
The house here is in a state of some tension, as you can imagine. the entire family has become very attached and close over the past two and a half years, and so it is a major event which they are all coming to terms with - and the element of not knowing from day to day what is happening is draining and exhausting for all concerned.
It is Telma´s 11th birthday today, and we are taking her for a birthday lunch at Nova Estrela, a charruscaria close by, at noon.
We had dinner at casa Dourada last night, and the progress which the children there have been making is wonderful to see .. they started the new school term this week, with Carolinha starting at special school, and she has enjoyed her first week and made a friend, which is a great start.
We had a lovely meal, and then played Uno and Snakes & Ladders (cobras e escadas) - and did some drawing etc too, and it was a really good evening.
We have much to report on, since arriving in Voice for Change Brasil last Wednesday evening ... first, that to everyone´s surprise, the Judge sent a fax to VfC on Tuesday morning to say that she had decided to award custody of Luiz-Felipe back to his father (who has already abandoned him twice before) and that we were to take him to his house immediately ..
This was the final part of a process whereby the father had applied for custody, having moved into a new house, and with a new girlfriend (with another 2 children we think) and although this process had been going on, it was a sudden decision that L-F was to go, with no time at all for preparation.
He cried a lot through the day, and was very quiet in the car on the way to the house, very anxious, naturally. He had said he didn´t want to go, but in this case (unlike Angelica, of whom the same judge has said that her family can have no more contact) his wishes were taken into account but over-ruled, and he and we had no choice in this matter.
We have heard no more from him or the family this week, but we will try to keep in touch with him and see how he gets on. His time here at casa Branca has been so valuable to him, and taught him so much, that hopefully he can take with him and use for the rest of his life. Let´s hope that he can integrate into his new family and be treated well there.
We also await the day when the other four brother and sisters (Erica, Telma, Luiz-fernando and Fernanda) return to their father, who has also made preparations for their return, after his release from prison and making himself a new life - he has a 23 year-old girlfriend, has a bigger house in the same favela as they came from (the worst favela in the city) and has a job as a rubbish collector on the streets of the city. So he has fulfilled all the conditions required by the authorities to be allowed to have his children back. they want to go, because they love their father, but they also don´t want to give up what they have here at Voice for Change. This work is very tough emotionally, and we could get a call or a fax at any time to say that they have to be taken ´home´.
The house here is in a state of some tension, as you can imagine. the entire family has become very attached and close over the past two and a half years, and so it is a major event which they are all coming to terms with - and the element of not knowing from day to day what is happening is draining and exhausting for all concerned.
It is Telma´s 11th birthday today, and we are taking her for a birthday lunch at Nova Estrela, a charruscaria close by, at noon.
We had dinner at casa Dourada last night, and the progress which the children there have been making is wonderful to see .. they started the new school term this week, with Carolinha starting at special school, and she has enjoyed her first week and made a friend, which is a great start.
We had a lovely meal, and then played Uno and Snakes & Ladders (cobras e escadas) - and did some drawing etc too, and it was a really good evening.
