Brazil: CREAR
Toys, handicraft materials and room equipment for the children of CREAR
The small Waldorf school "Escola Renascer" (kindergarten and crèche group) run by CREAR does not receive any state support as it is run as a private school. Nevertheless, the children mostly come from very poor backgrounds and the parents cannot afford to pay any school fees. Therefore, the school is dependent on donations whenever they want to purchase anything new as well as for their regular running costs.
In 2023, the employees want to replace the old plastic toys by toys made of high quality materials such as wooden and aluminium toys as well as soapstone pots. The school also needs new craft materials such as wool, fabrics, watercolour paper, felt and wax colouring blocks. The staff would like to replace the plastic dolls with beautiful Waldorf dolls and have a small wooden hut built in the garden for the children to play in. The sandbox needs a new tarpaulin and new sand moulds and buckets. In addition, some of the room furnishings urgently need to be renewed. This includes carpets, towels, curtains, bed sheets and children's cutlery.
To buy all of this, CREAR needs about 2.500 euros.
About the project
CREAR is a non-profit association that is dedicated to two main fields of work: a small Waldorf school with a crèche and a kindergarten group and social-educational work for children and young people in six groups (3 in the mornings and 3 in the afternoons).
CREAR was founded in 1994 and is located on the outskirts of Vila Aparecida, one of the poorest districts of Capão Bonito in the state of São Paulo. Since the year of its foundation, there has been a desire to help the population and especially children and young people to help themselves. Within the years CREAR created a great variety of offers: an all-day care for small and preschool children, courses for young people, as well as a handicraft group for mothers from the neighbourhood.
After a long break due to the pandemic, the school could reopen and begin their new school year in February 2022. The children and young people could finally come back to meet at CREAR, something that had been sorely lacking during the two years of the pandemic. The pandemic and the social isolation have left their mark on everyone in many different ways. Some are full of energy and do not know how to release it, while others are just the opposite - inertia, listlessness, lack of energy and drive, along with problems such as lack of attention and concentration. The first weeks at CREAR were full of life. The employees simply let the children play and burn off their energy, socialising with the others, getting to know each other anew, getting a new rhythm into the day and relearning many things they had forgotten.
What else is the money needed for?
For its work with older children and young people, CREAR receives some financial support from the social services department. In 2019, a municipal law was passed that allows city deputies to allocate part of the money at their disposal to social institutions and projects. CREAR was favoured by some city MPs, with strict stipulations on what the money was allowed to be used for. As a result, last year CREAR could cover a large part of the costs for the children's and youth retreat, such as costs for electricity and water, working materials, gardening tools. For the coming year 2023, CREAR hopes to have some projects such as music and capoeira lessons approved and the teachers' fees financed.
For the small Waldorf school "Escola Renascer" (crèche and kindergarten), which is supported by CREAR as a social association, CREAR does not receive any financial support, as it is recognised as a private school (although 100% free of school costs for the children and their families). Since the children come from poor backgrounds, the parents cannot contribute to the costs. In order to incur expenses for the small school, CREAR depends on donations.
As mentioned above, CREAR would like to buy high-quality toys and handicraft materials for the children and renew the room equipment. It would also be desirable to pay the staff a salary to appreciate their great work, but unfortunately, this is very complicated. A one-time or time-limited monthly donation is not sufficient, because after the time has expired, the continued payment cannot be guaranteed. Unfortunately, the current times are difficult for everybody, as prices and costs are constantly rising without being able to adjust wages.
Therefore, CREAR has considered distributing "food parcels" to its employees. If more donations were to be collected, this would certainly be a great help for everyone.
"Receiving financial support for our work is very important. We receive recognition every day through the happy beaming eyes of the children, but unfortunately this is not enough to realise our work. We need this and are very grateful for all that reaches us."
