Community Service Day at the Nassau Social Centre in Goiana

On Monday, June 4th, our entire CSC team traveled by bus to Goiana (60 miles from Recife), where we were introduced to another of the Casa Da Crianca Projects - The Nassau Social Centre.  

 Homes in this poor rural village are very small and basic, often without bathrooms...and no one from this village has ever gone to college/university.  This project was put in place 5 years ago to bring socio-economic and cultural development...it has been fully integrated and helps to sustain a village where fishing for crabs, oysters and other shellfish are the main sources of livelihood for about 7,000 residents.

The Social Centre has been built through the franchise of Casa Da Crianca and there are 200 students who go to the centre every day.  In this village the schools are small so children go either in the morning or the afternoon.  When they are not at school they attend this beautifully built centre which has been purpose built for the children. Bright buildings with white tiles, music rooms, art classes for making statues, boxes, baskets . All of these are made from recycled materials or natural resources - newspaper, recycled paper, banana fibres, onion and garlic skins.

What this project provides to these teenagers has many levels.  An opportunity to learn new skills in either craft or music, or dance. Which in turn provides them a way of making money to bring to their families.  The crafts that they produce are sold in shops in Recife and are also exhibited and sold at trade fairs. The teenagers make their own business plan, organize their finances, and share the profit.  This is the only opportunity for them to make money. For those who take music and dance, they are also able to make money performing in bands or dance troops .  

There is also an effect in the family home where the children are able to share their aspirations and help their families to see possibilities that they had never seen before.  

These children now have dreams of a future that could be better for them and  their families. In spite of the odds against them, 3 of the students have now gone to university, a reality beyond their dreams .

We spent the day watching and being shown how to make the statues which are made from paper and water, no glue. Also we each made a box from natural fibres, with help from the experts!  What struck me during our visit there was the complete professionalism of the children in everything they did, they are so proud of their achievements.  

While walking around the centre, I came across a group of girls...despite our lack of a shared language, they were able to teach me how to dance Frevo.  After that, I found my way into one of the music rooms where some of the students were practising, and was treated to a percussion lesson....what a great day!

Casa Da Crianca - Project Progress Report

Time is going by very quickly and we are now well into the third week of our project .

Since agreeing on our SOW, our team has put together a project plan detailing our time-lines, business solution requirements, and overall technical strategy.

We've researched 10 possible portal solutions and are now at the point of having 3 possible solutions. We put together a list of business criteria that each potential portal needed to meet in order to be considered as as a possible solution for Casa Da Crianca.  Although most of our solutions met 90% of the criteria one of our main requirements was that the solution was available in Brazilian Portuguese. This proved to be a stumbling block for some of our providers along with, a lack of IT support, no Demo available, and the fact that there would need to be some IT support within the existing organisation .

Our SOW is clear and we need solutions which provide the business requirements as stated in our SOW.

The three possible solutions are now being finalized at a deeper level to ensure that all the requirements can be met. We want to ensure that Casa Da Crianca has a choice of solutions which fit their requirements.  Time is running out with only 4 working days to go and we need to provide a presentation on our deliverables by next Wednesday...no pressure!! 

Overwhelming Joy

Last Wednesday, the Projeto Casa Da Crianca team took us to visit one of the projects that they are remodeling.  The area that we went to was Muribeca, which is just a 30 minute drive from the built up and prosperous area where we're staying on Boa Viagem...it was eye opening to see how many people in Brazil live.  

The shelter, which is a day care centre for children is in the middle of Muribeca which is very close to the district dump.  Many children spend their time going to the dump searching for food and anything else of use. A local woman, Dona Cristina decided to do something to help improve these children's lives and started to take children into a shelter during the day where they are fed and cared for so that they don't need to go to the dump during the day.

Dona Cristina has dreams of making the shelter a better place, she would love a little garden for the children, and an area where they can learn and dream about what they want to be when they grow up.  Supported by the Projeto Casa Da Crianca team, and sponsors like Ferriera Costa (local building supply company) this dream is becoming a reality as plans for a new building and garden are well on the way & to be finished in 3 months. These are some photos of the shelter and the work in progress.
This daycare doesn't have the luxury of of 1 caregiver to every 3 or 4 children, as there can sometimes be 150 children and only a few people to care for them.  But the children love it there...they have food to eat, they are washed, they are given love and joy, which is something that is often missing in their lives. We met a 7 year old girl, whose parents were murdered in front of her, she hadn't spoken since it happened.  Now that she's spent alot of quality time with Dona Cristina in the shelter, she's able to communicate again and smile. 

The day that we were there some of the children had not come to the shelter as they had been taken by their mothers to a protest about the violence that's been happening in the town. The children who were there gave us a heartwarming welcome, were so much fun to play with, and very enthusiastic about learning a few words in english.

 

 So how does the work that I'm doing here help this cause?

Our project is to provide a portal for communications, document repository and sharing, photo uploading, etc.  This new cloud solution will reduce costs such as telephone, post, travel, administration, printing, and travel time.  Which in turn allows the Projeto Casa Da Crianca team to have more time to devote to new creative initiatives, work with new franchises, and meet with those who can help them to continue with their mission...so that more projects like the one with Dona Cristina can be completed. 








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Publicity

Publicity and final preparations were well underway before our arrival, and are now getting perfected as we are down to the final days.  Next Friday's final presentation will be a formal event with each team presenting a summary of their proposed solutions.
Recently our local contact advised there will be a simultaneous translator available, with ear plug-ins and all equipment around that is required. We will be able to speak in English with no interruptions, while the clients, key players, and Gov't representatives will get our information in their local language.
After finding ourselves both in the IBM Brazil Intranet news and the local Diario de Pernambuco, there will be even more publicity for us and our clients which aids the NGO's to get into the right public focus & support their goals.

http://www.diariodepernambuco.com.br/nota.asp?Materia=20120522115947

Via Google Translate:

Developing skills of business management, by enhancing or creating technological tools such as websites, spreadsheets and other services performed by nonprofit organizations (NGOs), is the intent of the program Corporate Services Corps (CSC) from IBM, which landed with approximately 15 professionals on the last Monday in Recife.

With the project, the company hopes not only to integrate their professional work undertaken by these organizations in Pernambuco, as well as exploring the potential of the state to market of new information technologies, already recognized internationally.

One of the institutions favored by the selection of the U.S. company is the Children's House Project - Pernambuco organization that develops supportive activities focused on the reform of shelters and artistic skills of young people at least 10 years.

According to the managing partner of the NGO - Patricia Chalaca,  the visit will allow an expansion and better management of services provided by the organization as well as having a better control of the activity performed by volunteers as the hospital Unimed Aracaju, which maintains a partnership with the Institute since 2010, for assistance in the health of children and youth in the city. "The four weeks that the three IBM employees here will serve to improve our online service, which now boasts 16 member institutions, in order to clarify the data of social invested in these places," says Patricia.

To Alcely Barroso, the IBM Executive of Citizenship in Brazil, the project, which has featured the participation of 145 employees aims, and to promote an exchange of expertise between the professional manufacturer of computer peripherals international and local organizations, the promotion of culture solidarity and development of the entrepreneurial potential of these institutions. "Since 1999, we developed this project, and has given enough results with regard to optimizing the services offered by NGOs The employees come from 15 different countries and how Troop Corporate Social Action plan to solve the problems through the development of sites and optimization of the channels of these organizations with new technologies, among them, social networking, "she confirms.

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AIR

Friday, May 26
Our clients, Patricia and Lavinia picked us up from our hotel to take us to what would be the most moving experience I've had since arriving.  We were taken to Aria Social for a dance performance.

Aria Social is led by Cecilia Cavalcanti Brennand whom has opened the doors of this once private dance school to hundreds of street children....providing them a life changing opportunity to experience dance, singing, and cultural richness that can only change a person for the better.
The group that performed consisted of ~30 teenagers that used to be street children in Recife.  The myriad of emotions that their voices, presence, and souls created in the theatre that morning was unbelievable.

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Settling into Routine

To everyone's surprise, our team of 15 people have settled into Recife life quite nicely...waking up before 6am (sun rises @ 5am) for a jog or walk on the beach, sitting down to an amazing breakfast with fresh fruit, omelettes, local fare...then off to get ready for our day with the client.  Most of the teams take taxis to their client's offices, where our client personally picks us up each morning and brings us home at the end of the day - Thank you Laura!

While working at the client site, Laurie, Deirdre and I have gotten quite used to an endless supply of rich Brazilian coffee throughout the day, and a walk across the canal to the mall for lunch.

Midway through the week, our client's location had a power outage...so we worked at the hotel. 

During lunch, we discovered the most amazing frozen Acai berry lunch spot and went on a walk around our neighborhood.

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It Has Begun!

May 21, 2012

The day started with an energetic kick-off meeting in old Recife with the 15 members in CSC Brazil 12, CDS, IBM Brazil, and the NGO's - Casa da Crianca, Instituto Empreender, Nectar, Observatorio do Recife, and Porto Digital.

After weeks of speaking only on the phone with our client - Casa da Crianca...when we finally met, there was an instant connection with Laura, Patricia and Lavinia.

Each of the CSC members assigned to each NGO gave a brief introduction, followed by the NGOs presenting their work to date and what benefits they hope to achieve from the engagement. 

Once the meeting was complete, we headed back to Casa da Crianca's office to meet the rest of the team - Elisabete, Marcelo, Tarsila, and Goncalo.  Casa is located quite close to the hotel, where others are throughout the city of Recife...so our commute is only 5 minutes each day :)

The rest of the day was spent understanding the challenges and dreams of Casa da Crianca, to better determine our focus.  We were extremely pleased to see the high level of process detail our client has achieved in the last decade.  The passion that each person at Casa feels for their projects is infectious as they positively affect so many people in so many ways;

- remodeling orphanages, shelters, daycares to provide a safe and inviting atmosphere for all children

- care of children with cancer via Q'ALEGRIA

- Prêmio Brasil Social that aims to unite and encourage other social organisations

- Cia dos Anjos which helps with products and services for the care of children

- Aria Social which provides low income children the opportunity of learning dance, vocal, and cultural appreciation.

By the end of the second day, we were clear on our mission  - to help them get to the next level where they can concentrate on making more of their dreams for all children in Brazil a reality! 

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