The groups where we are going to work with are divided into three groups:
AMAR projects:
• Duque de Caxias, women's group
• Sao Cristovao, streetchildren
CEASM courses and training
Duque de Caxias, women's group
The living conditions in Duque de Caxias are very poor. If it rains, many houses run under. By poor sanitation, is the water discharged into nearby rivers. This often occurs and causes even more flooding. Also, are the roads of sand and clay, so the roads become impassable.
The people are living with large families in small houses. Despite the poverty, you are more than welcome.
The women worked mainly on the dumping ground. Here they were looking for useful materials and products where they made new products from.
Fortunately now, they seek other ways to find materials they can recycle and to make all kinds of beautiful products.
Sao Cristovao, street children
At the Projects of AMAR they come together, they are received with a warm heart. and the social workers are looking at the possibilities for the child in order not to continue living on the streets. They live the day, have no money for clothes, food etc. and often live separated from their families because of poverty, drugs, loss of family or psychological problems in the family situation. Every child has a story, which is often heartbreaking.
In the morning they are looking for the children on the streets, a lot of them are sleeping under an overpass, or under the trees in Lapa (part of the city). Those who want to go to the center, can come and they can refresh themselves and get breakfast there. Many of them also come on their own to the project. They wash their clothes together and they can participate in activities such as percussion, capoeira, or drawing or other creative activities. Individually they also taught them writing and arithmetic. They cannot concentrate themself for a long time, this because of lack of education and sometimes through drugs use as well. But AMAR tries to get them to the center and encourages them to get more out of their lives. It often happens that a child takes a book to write, to do some mathematics or wants to practice Portuguese.
The ultimate goal of AMAR is to get the children of the streets and to reunite them with their families or at a home-replacement project. This is a long process, because on the street they earn money, such as washing cars, and enjoy the great freedom in comparison with the situation they came from.
CEASM courses and training
the people from the slums are coming together atCEASM . It is a complex where people come from all different kind of ages.
The area is relatively small in proportion to the number of people that live there. The people live in custom homes compared with those of Duque de Caxias. The people live close together, which is also a huge cosiness but also brings with absolutely no privacy. If a son / daughter will live together they just build a new section to the existing house and it is thus a number of layers increased.
These dominate the favela gangs, which sometimes is dangerous to enter your street. You see guys with guns and phone guard on the street. Every day you hear a number of shots and unfortunately there are also regularly killed innocent.
But CEASM young and old come together and you will receive a warm heart. People also get lessons in human rights, making them more self-esteem and gain the confidence to go fight.