Brazil: Helping street children: Misereor

Poverty at home, violence and the daily struggle for survival on the streets of major cities: many girls and boys in Brazil grow up in extremely difficult circumstances.

Your donation makes Misereor’s work possible all over the world. Here, it gives vulnerable children and young people real prospects for the future.

Continent

Latin & Central America

Thematic focus:

Building equitable cities

In Brazil’s major cities – such as Recife and Caruaru – everyday life for many young people is tough and fraught with risks. Often, their parents are unable to provide adequate care. In some cases, violence dominates family life. Many children start contributing to their family’s survival from an early age through odd jobs. Without protection and support, they are drawn into a downward spiral of poverty, exploitation and crime. If, as a result, they fail to complete their schooling, they will never have a chance on the labour market.

A rooftop vegetable garden, theatre and computer courses, or sport: in the projects run by Misereor’s partners, children and young people find safe havens. Here, they can discover their talents and gain new self-confidence. At the same time, the teams support the families at home: they assist parents with dealing with the authorities, help them secure basic necessities and offer psychological counselling to stabilise the family environment in the long term.

A regular, healthy meal is particularly important for children living in insecurity.

The activities and learning fields at COMVIVA are diverse. Here they learn to bake.

You can also realise your potential in gardening.

Listening, empathising, offering help: For the staff at Ruas e Praças, this is a matter of course.

Together with street workers, the children and young people learn to play instruments and make music.

The children and young people make music together with street workers.

Here the children have time and opportunities to learn in peace.

Ruas e Praças works in Santo Amaro, a neighbourhood of Recife that is heavily characterised by poverty.

At the partner organisation Grupo Ruas e Praças in Recife, social work, education and the strengthening of family networks form the foundation. Staff work closely with youth welfare offices, social services and health care providers to find solutions even in seemingly hopeless situations – such as those involving drug problems.

In Caruaru, meanwhile, the COMVIVA initiative creates very practical prospects for the future: alongside educational and leisure activities, targeted courses prepare children for mainstream school – with impressive results: 95 per cent of the girls and boys supported go on to complete a standard school-leaving qualification. In addition, older teenagers receive qualified vocational training, for example in baking or confectionery.

Family support: Around 100 families in three neighbourhoods receive intensive, personalised socio-educational support.
Strengthening the community: 39 families are actively involved in neighbourhood and citizens’ initiatives promoting rights in the local area.
Emotional stability: 78 per cent of the children and young people receiving support are learning to express their feelings and rebuild trust within their families.
Economic independence: 54 mothers have received targeted training to set up their own small-scale businesses in arts and crafts or the catering sector.
Peace-building work: 22 young people have been trained as mediators and help to resolve conflicts in schools and local communities.

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10 €

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100 €

450 €

€ *

For example, 10 euros provides warm, balanced meals for children in the shelters.

When making a donation by bank transfer, please quote the reference “S63407 Brazil: Refuge and a Future for Children and Young People” in the payment reference field. This lets us know which project is particularly close to your heart; your contribution will be channelled as a general donation towards this work and Misereor’s overall global mission.

To ensure that your donation has an impact in the long term, Misereor uses a small proportion for important administration an related tasks. This way, we make sure that projects are selected carefully and implemented responsibly and that their effects are regularly monitored. Should it not be possible to use your donation as planned, we will use it where it is currently needed most.

Our local partner organisations

COMVIVA

The Misereor partner organisation "COMVIVA " was founded in 1987 with the help of the local diocese. In Caruaru, it looks after children and young people from unstable family backgrounds and promotes their education, among other things.

Grupo Ruas e Praças

The Misereor partner organisation "Grupo Ruas e Praças" was founded in 1989 by former employees of state welfare institutions. Grupo Ruas e Praças reaches out to children and young people in Recife and gives them the belief in their own strength and worth.