Helping people help themselves - the Fundação Pavel in Barão de Grajaú
Brazil: In a small town in northeastern Brazil a social project takes care of to the poorest of the poor since 2002. Although the North East of Brazil is rich in cultural traditions, especially music, it lacks infrastructure, education and health care. Due to the growing gap between rich and poor, many people suffer in this area. The aim is for those people to one day be able to manage their lives in a dignified way. Therefore the initiative helps them to find their best possible path of life and tries to prepare them. The Fundação Pavel in Barão de Grajaú currently consists of 19 individual projects.
The Fundação Pavel is located in the state of Maranhão, the poorest of the 26 states of Brazil. In terms of size as large as Germany, 48% of the six million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Nowhere in Brazil there are more illiterates and more poverty. Far away from the city, the work of the Fundação Pavel is primarily preventative to avoid the migration to the slums of large cities and counteract the problem of children living in the streets.
Right there the Pavel family began building up a social project in 1992. The question arose: How can we alleviate poverty and actually work towards a better future? It all started with a small sewing room, where the first young girls were trained to later be able to make a living in this way. Soon, the initiative also began to distribute basic food and clothing to families in need. With the help of many donations, the project continued to grow slowly.
“A dream which is dreamt alone, is only a dream, but a dream which is dreamt in unity becomes reality” – Dom Helder Camara
With various offers such as a nursery, a kindergarten and tutoring the Fundação Pavel helps children in the region today. The attempt is to accompany these children and help them resolve their issues therapeutically with the help of games, painting, crafts and playing. The initiative also takes care for them with a daily meal and health care. The institution thus enables especially single mothers to pursue a job, while their children are well cared for.
Other activities offered at the Fundação Pavel include computer courses for young people, electrician-courses, agricultural projects and the facility is also a focal point for people with an acute emergency. In the “Centro Cultural & Social”, cultural life pulsates in a 360 sq. meter multi-purpose hall. There, hundreds of children and young people participate in courses and performances such as dance, theater and music classes. The more the people are fostered in cultural activities and their creativity from early childhood onwards, the more it reduces the possibility of their ending up on the streets with all the problems such as alcohol, drugs, etc.
Finally, Football plays a big role at the Fundação Pavel. As a result the social integration of young people is made possible through the sport. Their common dream is to win the World cup in their homeland in 2014.
To top More information
Information in the internet
Contact
Fundação Pavel
Av. Mário Bezerra 629
65.600-000 Barão de Grajaú-Maranhão
Brasilien
Tel.: +55 89 3523 1920
fundacaopavel@florianonet.com.br
Gudrun Pavel
Brasilianisches Honorarkonsulat
Reichsweg 19-42
52068 Aachen
Tel.: 0241 5109 178
info@fundacao-pavel.org