What is the Children’s Project? 

It is an aid programmed aimed at helping poor children and their relatives. We offer them help with the school work, religious education – or evangelisation – and we train them on extra social and professional skills. 

When was it founded and what were it original goals? 

It was set up in 1999, after a call from our Spiritual Benefactors at our Spiritist Group, Irmão Batuíra. They reminded us that the Fraternity Movement in Brazil, of which we are members, has among its main commitments that of assisting children in need. The Children’s Project is aimed at helping children through three main areas: by teaching them the Christian gospel, by encouraging hard work and by promoting education. 

What is your schedule and how many people are involved? 

We meet three Saturdays a month, helping children and teenagers aged from 6 to 16. They come to us in the first two Saturdays and we go to their homes in the last Saturday of the month. Some 40 volunteers take part in the project.

What are the main tasks and activities you have? 

Apart from teaching them the Gospel of Jesus, we have a number of other activities, including games to encourage the social and motor development of the younger kids, arts and crafts workshops, cooking lessons, computer lessons and we help everyone with their school work. Some our volunteers also offer extra medical and psychological assistance, in some cases. 

What results have you achieved in all these years? 

The main results we have achieved are of an emotional nature. Many of the children who began with us in the project suffered all sorts of violent and abuse from other family members. Many had been abandoned. Those children and teenagers were initially detached, withdrawn and had poor communication skills. The main achievement we could see was the development of their emotional side, how they have opened up, become more sociable and learned to respect others. Most children also improved their performance at school. There are still problems with children from more unbalanced homes, who still miss far too many school days. But they are less aggressive and enjoy generally better health. So there is some progress. 

What are the main hurdles you’ve had to overcome? 

The main challenge we still have is to get access to the parents or those who have their custody and to obtain their support. That’s particularly difficult when the parents have an alcohol or drug problem. In these cases, it can become very hard to get the support to guarantee that the child will attend school regularly and will be looked after. The feeling of abandonment in those kids is difficult to be avoided.  

How about the funding and resources? What should those who want to help and contribute do to help you? 

Most of the money we get comes from donations from the volunteers and other people. We rarely get any donation through the government tax exemption scheme. That is a bureaucratic and rather inefficient scheme. So we ask those who are willing to help to get in touch directly with those directly involved in the Chidrens’ Project. For that, you may email me on edna@icmc.us.br. 

What do you require from the children and their family to join the project? 

The children and teenagers must be committed to attending school. We check their school records and bulletins. The families are responsible for making sure that they don’t skip classes and that they look after their appearance and personal hygiene. We check all that during our monthly visits to their homes.

Is there any particular case you would like to bring to our attention?

Yes, I would like to mention two cases in particular. One is that of a child who joined the project aged 6 and is now a teenager. In the meantime, that person has managed to get into a good school and get a vocational training, doing very well there. The other one is the case of a child who came to us with lots of problems, very detached and aggressive, also aged 6. Now, aged 16, that teenager is a lot calmer and warmer. This was someone who used to do steal items of little value, things like that, but now realises that is wrong and would only bring about pain and disappointment. 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

We can’t guarantee what future the children who go through our project will have. They have their free will and will make their own choices. But we get comfort in knowing that we have been providing them with an alternative way, with the prospects of a happier life. The results achieved by the Childrens’ Project can’t be measured by statistical methods that focus on immediate impact; they also depend on a number of social factors that rest beyond our control. What we know is that we are planting the seeds and looking after them. The harvest will come at the right time, and will be different for each individual.