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| 2008 |
ABC meets with Pele
Pele was in London in December 2007 to launch a new initiative in support of a childrens medical research facility in Brazil. But he took some time out to meet with ABC Trustees, Jimena Page & Graca Fish and CEO, Andrew Webb.
We hope very much that there will be opportunities for Pele to get involved with ABC during 2008. In the meantime he signed a football, Brazil team shirt and photo which we will auction later in the year.
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ABC Trustee Graca Fish with Pele
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project update: Cinema Nosso | Rio de janeiro
Project leaders at Cinema Nosso have been developing their vision for the future of the organisation with the aim of making the maximum impact on the lives of disadvantaged young people. Their plans are wide-ranging and ambitious, but from the progress made in the last six months, they have the energy and organisation to be able to fulfil their dreams.
changing name
At the beginning of the year, the project decided to change its name from 'Nós do Cinema' (We in Cinema) to 'Cinema Nosso' (Our Cinema).
This better reflects the progress of the project over the past few years; it is not merely concerned with working in cinema and the cinematic arts, but in all aspects of the media and, beyond, in giving disadvantaged young people a voice through cinema, television and other visual arts. In Brazil, 'Cinema Nosso' expresses better the initiative and leadership embodied in the projects' students.
changing place
The project has moved to a central location in Rio, into a house donated by ABC patron Fernando Meirelles. The house – in the 'Sobrado' style of the late 18th century – needs some refurbishment to its four floors, which is already underway. Once all the works are completed, the house will provide Cinema Nosso with substantially expanded space in order to develop their work further.
They will use the new space as a their main base for teaching audiovisual skills and as a cultural centre where they will present shows, exhibitions, lectures and workshops with a special focus on involving the communities in which they work.
developing networks
Furthermore, there have been positive developments in the relationship with Pastor Waldemar School, where Cinema Nosso works with fellow ABC project partner, Crescer e Viver.
The school is an Integrated Centre of Public Education (CIEP), and Cinema Nosso supports the educational facilities with audiovisual resources and by exhibiting films. They integrate this work into the wider curriculum, providing teachers with a useful and engaging starting-point for discussion with their classes.
Together with Crescer e Viver and the school, Cinema Nosso is developing the future of the school and building a network of social programmes, to ensure that its effect is as wide and beneficial as possible.
multi-media
Cinema Nosso's project magazine, 'Ocas', has also seen changes this year. It had previously been used to advertise course information and new projects, but it now also includes input from the students themselves.
They are encouraged to write articles and showcase their projects, providing another medium through which they can express themselves. They also hope to be able to develop student and teacher blogs in the future, and use the full power of internet communities to support their media arts work.
an international presence
This year has seen involvement in many film festivals, in Brazil and across the world. In particular, Cinema Nosso was chosen by a French organisation working with marginalised youth, OMJA, to host a Brazilian version of the French festival, 'Generation Court'.
The festival aims to increase awareness of the conditions and experiences of young people's experiences in different countries and allows young people on the periphery of societies in cities such as Paris, Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo to communicate through film and with each other. Later in the year, they hope to complete an exchange, with 10 young people from Auberville in northern France going to São Gonçalo.
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Cinema Nosso was founded as an acting workshop for 'Cidade de Deus' ('City of God') |
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Project update: Viva a Vida feature in Consortium for Street Children report
Viva a Vida is the only residential drug rehabilitation centre for adolescents in the region and is aiming to expand its services to provide for younger boys as well as creating a new centre exclusively for young girls.
This is a pioneering project for the region where the social attitude towards drug-dependent children is one of negativity and they are all too often blamed for the escalation in crime rates and drug trafficking.
Since February 2005, 78 drug-dependent boys have used Viva a Vida's services which includes a 6 to 18 month residency of activities such as individual and group therapy, art and vocational training and educational and sports exercises. The 3 year after-care program designed to facilitate the challenge of living without drugs.
The recently published report entitled "State of the World's Street Children: Violence" featured a case study which contains an over-view of the treatment involved at the project. You can read the case study by clicking here or to access the full version please visit www.streetchildren.org.uk.
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click above to download the Viva a Vida case study |
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march-april 2008 |
Jungle Cineclub supports the ABC Trust
JungleDrums is partnering with the ABC Trust and Rich Mix to present a season of the best of Brazilian films with a special focus on the social origins of violence and how this has been portrayed in Brazilian cinema.
The monthly presentations will stretch over 8 months (2nd Thursday of every month – except August) and will showcase seven groundbreaking films including a special preview screening of the long awaited, critically acclaimed and winner of the Golden Bear Award, ‘Elite Squad’, by Jose Padilha.
Each event will also feature a selection of Brazilian short films prior to screening the main feature film, and there will be Q&A sessions with special guests, including film directors, actors and other industry professionals. And to round off the evening there will be a Brazilian party in the Rich Mix bar with selected Brazilian DJs and VJs.
This new annual initiative follows-on from JungleDrums’ success in 2005 when they ran the first Brazilian film festival in the UK called new Brazil and celebrated 10 years of the renaissance of Brazilian cinema.
Other films for 2008 will include Bus 174 (Jose Padilha: 2004), and Black God, White Devil (Glauber Rocha: 1964)
Launch on April 10th with special preview screening
The launch event on 10th April is sure to be a sell-out as it features the UK premier ‘City of Men’ (directed by Paulo Morelli and produced by ABC patron Fernando Meirelles) a story of the struggle experienced by slum-dwellers Acerola and Laranjinha during a gangster war in a Rio favela. There will also be some short films from ABC partner project Cinema Nosso – and a great Brazilian DJ has just been confirmed.
For tickets and information, contact the Rich Mix on telephone number: 020 7613 7490 or go to their website for more details: www.richmix.org.uk
Film – 7.30 – 10.00pm: £7
Music and bar – 10pm - Midnight: £3
Become a member of Jungle Cineclub
You can also become a member of the Jungle Cineclub - for just £30 a year you get:
* Priority access to all film screenings and Q & As
* Free access to all film parties
* Discount on tickets for up to three guests
* Discounts to other events, such as Discover Latin America Film Festival
* A special gift
Visit JungleDrums website for information on Jungle CineClub and many more events. www.jungledrums.org
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 elite squad
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project update: Solar Meninos de Luz l Rio De Janeiro
Solar Meninos de Luz, based in the Cantagalo area of Rio de Janeiro, has gone from strength to strength over the last year and December saw the students taking part in and creating an end of year full of theatre, music and dance activities.
The cornerstone of Solar’s approach is the idea of prevention; their aim is to ‘prevent the destruction of potential with which every child is born’. By preserving and developing this potential, the project gives the children opportunities to not only fulfil their aspirations but also to become leaders of the social changes needed within their communities.
For many of the children at Solar their daily realities include extreme family poverty and unemployment and in their neighbourhoods there is high prevalence of violence, drug-trafficking, alcohol and drug addiction and prostitution. Being able to go to such a great school means they develop the skills and knowledge they need to create better futures for themselves and their families as well as building a broader perspective on their social realties and how they can be part of the change in their neighbourhoods.
The activities in December brought together students, teachers, families and people from the surrounding community to fill their theatre space to see the end of year shows. The Solar Childrens Choir performed beautifully after which the project leader announced plans to create a music school for 2008. There was also a nativity play and a fledgling choir made up of nursery children.
There was also a magician who put on an entertaining and interactive show for the children, many of whom were seeing a magician for the first time. The curiosity, happiness and amazement shown by the children moved many of the attending parents and family members.
The play 'The fabulous story of Dr Fritzlang' on the theme ‘What would happen if children’s stories stopped being told?' by Vinicius Messias and Mario Hermeto was performed by ten students and was a resounding success – so much so that it looks like it may well become a regular feature of school life.
The capoeira class received their new coloured belts in a ceremony which recognised their achievements during the year and was attended by 12 capoeira masters from the state of Rio de Janeiro. And in a slightly different but no less important vein there was a contest to elect the most beautiful afro hair-style - a creative and fun way of valuing the African heritage in Brazilian society.
To read more about the project, click here.
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 Solar Meninos de Luz
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graduation ceremony
 theatrical show
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project update: Cinema Nosso - new developments
Now in its sixth year of operations, Cinema Nosso uses film and video as a tool for educating and empowering at-risk youth from the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
Their programmes offer young people the opportunity to learn and express themselves through the filmmaking process. Brazilian youth are heavily influenced by film and television, yet few have access to the tools and knowledge to produce films or work in the media arts. Cinema Nosso empowers this youth as they explore, discover, rewrite and appropriate their own image and history through audiovisual works, the most powerful tools today.
Over the next five years they have plans to expand the breadth and number of the courses offered – including an advanced level class for experienced students providing them with practical work experience in the media production field and the opportunities to produce promotional videos and commercials for local companies and organizations. Cinema Nosso also aims to create and sustain a space where youth and families in the community come to learn and exchange ideas and to become a centre for a larger network of media-based initiatives in Brazil and Latin America.
As a first step Cinema Nosso moved to a new building just under a year ago, with generous support from Fernando Meirelles, ABC Patron. Since then they have been refurbishing parts of the building as and when they can – but with the new grant of £33,000 from the ABC Trust and Lily Hastings-bass Memorial Fund they are now able to take some big steps forward.
The grant is funding two substantial developments: the first is establishing a new Editing Room along with the latest professional equipment, and the second is the creation of a new Community Film Screening Facility which has required some major refurbishment as well as a new projector and screen.
The Lily Hastings-Bass Editing Room
The editing room is named after Lily Hastings-Bass in memory of the young woman who fell in love with Brazil before tragically dying in a road traffic incident in her university city of Dublin. Her family and friends are working with ABC to raise money in her memory and it is thanks to their hard work and generosity that these new developments have been possible.
“The Lily Hastings-Bass Editing Room will be at the heart of creativity at Cinema Nosso, where students craft their stories and learn vital technology skills.” Amber Levinson, Board member of Cinema Nosso
As well as the refurbishment of a room and installing air-conditioning and desk and tables where students can work individually at their work-stations or collaborate and exchange ideas in groups, there will be professional audio-visual equipment including five new computers and software and a digital mini DV video recorder allowing students to digitally edit their projects - using the same technology that modern field professionals use.
Luis Nascimento, Director of Cinema Nosso said, "The idea is to build a studio for the editing of images, sound and animation that will meet the demands of our classes as well as be available to strengthen partners—small community groups who are using video as a tool and lack the proper infrastructure."
The Community Film Screening Facility
The Cinema Nosso headquarters is also being revamped with a brand new film screening facility in which to showcase the project’s work as well as that of other NGOs. This addresses directly one of the main issues they face – which is that many Rio inhabitants have no way they can see films. Local young people and families will be encouraged to come and watch the screenings and participate in the social and cultural discussions provoked by the films.
This new facility is directly in line with one of Cinema Nosso’s main goals: to become a centre for culture, exchange and community strengthening, using film as a tool. The work required to reach this goal involves not only equipping the space, but creating activities that will bring partners as well as individuals and families from the community together for screenings, discussions, and other group activities.
A new programme of activities
The programme of activities will be planned by a part-time coordinator to ensure that the film screening space hosts 2 - 5 events each week. The programme will include screenings of the young film-makers’ work, as well as films complimenting the curriculum in schools as a way of motivating children in their classroom subjects. In addition, classic films and a themed series aimed at highlighting current issues such as women in film and the environment.
Cinema Nosso films showing in London
As part of the ABC and Jungle Drums film festival that is due to launch in London on April 10th, we hope to be showing some of the short films produced by students from Cinema Nosso. The first film in this new series will be a special preview screening of City of Men (a follow-up film to City of God and due for general release later in the year).
To read more about the festival and the programme here.
Background Note: The Cinema Nosso Audiovisual School
The Cinema Nosso Audiovisual School offers classes and workshops where students work to complete the production of short films, giving students the chance to take their ideas beyond the camera. Theoretical classes are given in dramatic arts, scriptwriting, direction, photography, sound, costume design, editing, animation and film history. Technical classes are also taught in computer science, lighting, and production so that students learn how to use professional audiovisual equipment. In addition to creating and working on television and media productions, Cinema Nosso has developed an outreach program to share their work through organized events and workshops in private schools, where Cinema Nosso original films are shown. These workshops facilitate a dialogue between the participants, increasing awareness and active participation within society.
To read more about Cinema Nosso, click here.
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project update: Circo Picolino
Ricardo Matos dos Santos, a 20 year-old Circo Picolino circus arts educator, known as an exemplary young man was shot dead when playing football with some friends in Boca do Rio, only 5 minutes down the coast from the Circo Picolino project itself.
Witnesses described seeing a car drive up, two men got out of the vehicle and fired first at Robson de Souza Pinho, a 19-year-old who, according to the police, had been involved in muggings and drugs. Ricardo raised his hands to prove his innocence and tried to show his documents but he was shot down and killed.
When Ricardo’s body was released his father could not believe it was his son, saying “He looked monstrous, not my well-brought up boy. My boy was an exemplary citizen; he even represented Bahia in other regions.” A neighbour stressed Ricardo’s good character, “I never saw him involved in anything bad”.
Ricardo had progressed through the circus from childhood to become an arts educator with so much promise for his future. A fellow Circo Picolino artist, unable to contain his tears, remembered his hardworking friend of 10 years, saying he dreamed of being able to support his family, “He was killed as if he was just nothing, he didn’t even have the right to defend himself.”
Tiago Alves, ex-Picolino worker sent this message to other NGOs “The brutal execution of the artist and our friend Ricardinho has shocked all of us, relatives, friends, social organizations, communities. It puts all of us in a constant state of risk for our lives. [There were] …eight shots and many tears, much suffering, and feelings of injustice and impotence in face of impunity.”
Ricardo’s father said that whoever killed his son were cowards; he didn’t want to accuse civil police, although many suspect the involvement of a police death squad.
Circus artists paid homage to Ricardo at the funeral and joined a protest against his death blocking off a main highway into Salvador. Circo Picolino is in mourning, the circus displays a banner demanding justice and is flying a black flag. They have been doing all they can to protect Ricardo’s family from further violence and to bring the crime to the attention of the local, national and international NGO community.
Circo Picolino continues its work to help children develop their skills and confidence to have a better future, and the determination and resilience of the project is certainly never more important than at times like these.
Update: from Atarde online news 20/03/2008
Three military policemen were identified by witness accounts and arrested on Wednesday 19th March accused of the murder of the circus artist Ricardo Matos dos Santos.
Investigator Andréa Gonçalves has said that there is a fourth person involved in the incident who has yet to be identified:
“We believe that the ‘reason’ for the murders was the robbery of two bicycles and a mobile in Pituaçu Park, attributed to Nenga and Robson, just days before the double homicide.” One of the victims of this recent robbery is the relative of a military official who would know police working in the area.
The investigator said not to discard the possibility of the soldiers having participated in other murders. “We have no proof to back this up, but maybe there will be further action after the pictures appear in the media”, she clarified.
To read more about the project, click here.
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May 2008
event: Festinho |August 29th - 31st 2008
ABC music festival is back!
After the success of festinho last year, we are moving to a new venue with a larger capacity of 1500 and have already brought together a great line up.
Within the beautiful countryside surroundings of Kentwell Hall, Suffolk, Festinho presents an eclectic mix of everything from dance, folk, electo, rock, dubstep, drum n bass and disco. The line up so far includes festival favourites The Blockheads, the Latin-African blended music from Faze Action, electronica from Digitonal and Brazilian music label Batmacumba and DJ Cliffy will be showcasing all that's hot on the Brazilian scene.
There is also a lot more on top of all this great music - there will be art exhibitions, a children's carnival and samba and percussion workshops to mention just a few other activities going on.
All the proceeds will go to the ABC Trust and with artists playing at little or no cost, many others helping out, and a great volunteer team working hard to make this the best festival yet - we can now offer you early bird tickets at a discount price!
Early Bird Weekend:
Adult £50 | Child £25 | Free for Children under 5
Check your diaries and buy tickets from here: www.festinho.com
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event:Jungle Cineclub launches with success
The Jungle CineClub Brazilian film season supported by ABC Trust launched successfully after a sell out opening night. Following the popularity of 'City of Men' six more groundbreaking films will be screened to showcase the best of Brazilian cinema and film-making talents. The event was initiated by Jungle Drums to also highlight the social roots of violence affecting young people in Brazil today.
Launch night success
The launch night attracted a large audience, with tickets selling out 3 days in advance for the UK premier of ‘City of Men’ (produced by ABC patron Fernando Meirelles). Actor Douglas Silva who played Acerola made a special appearance at the East London based Rich Mix cinema for a Q&A session. The after-party was hosted by special guest DJ Delores, who treated the crowd to his explosive blend of electronic dance beats and traditional Brazilian sounds. ABC also drew a raffle prize and gave away 5 pairs of tickets, and a specially signed poster of City of God by its director Fernando Meirelles.
This was the beginning of an 8 month long festival initiated by Jungle Drums to raise awareness of the social issues affecting young people in Brazil today, and to bring Brazilian cinema and film-making talents to a UK audience.
This event is a wonderful opportunity for the ABC Trust to raise awareness about our work, cause, and generate supporter interest from a new creative and enthusiastic audience.
ABC would like to continue this success throughout the Jungle CineClub festival and would like your support by buying tickets and spreading the word.
Jungle CineClub Season
The monthly presentations will stretch over 8 months (2nd Thursday of every month – except August) and showcase several groundbreaking films including a special preview screening of the long awaited, critically acclaimed and winner of the Golden Bear Award, ‘Elite Squad’, by Jose Padilha.
Each event will include Q&A sessions with special guests, such as film directors, actors and other industry professionals. And to round off the evening, there will be a Brazilian party in the Rich Mix bar with selected Brazilian DJs and VJs.
This annual initiative follows on from Jungle Drums’ success in 2005 when they ran the first Brazilian film festival in the UK called ‘New Brazil and celebrated 10 years of the renaissance of Brazilian cinema.
For tickets and information, contact Rich Mix on telephone number: 0207 613 7490 or go to their website for more details: www.richmix.org.uk
Film & after-party – 7.30 – 10.00pm: £7
after-party only – 10.00pm – Midnight: £3
Become a member of Jungle Cineclub
You can also become a member of the Jungle Cineclub - for just £30 a year you get:
- Priority access to all film screenings and Q & As
- Free access to all film parties
- Discount on tickets for up to three guests
- Discounts to other events, such as Discover Latin America Film Festival
- A special gift
Visit JungleDrums website for information on Jungle CineClub and many more events. www.jungledrums.org
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'City of Men' actor Douglas Silva
 Dj Delores
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fundraising: Buy Once Give Twice
ABC have been lucky enough to become a founding partner charity of the new auction website called 'Buy Once Give Twice'.
Our first auction lot is a fantastic Arsenal package.
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the legendary 1989 Arsenal team and join Arsene Wenger, George Graham, current first-team stars, and members of the 1989 squad in a champagne and canape reception for only 89 guests; in addition each guest will receive one of an exclusive print run of 89 of an elite series of sporting publications (which sell for £4000) - a truly superb narrative supported by magnificent images; and each copy is signed by the legendary 1989 squad, and by Arsene Wenger.
The evening also features speeches from Arsene Wenger and George Graham; entertainment from the very brilliant Dara O'Briain; a VIP Tour round the Emirates Stadium and you will be joined by celebrity Arsenal supporters - including Matt Lucas, Clive Anderson and Marco Pierre White.
Travel to and from a London address is included, as is a luxury gift bag worth up to £1000, which includes a 1989 replica top. The event takes place in the Private Members Club at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday 29th January 2009.
Please see the full details on their website.
www.buyoncegivetwice.co.uk
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June 2008
event: Jungle CineClub - Elite Squad
The Jungle CineClub Brazilian cinema season (supported by ABC Trust) is set to present the long awaited, controversial and award winning film ‘Elite Squad’. The screening of the thought provoking film, which recently won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival is expected to be another sell out night on Thursday 10th July.
This event is a wonderful opportunity for the ABC Trust to raise awareness about our work, cause, and generate supporter interest from a new creative and enthusiastic audience. You can support the ABC Trust by buying tickets to the screening and spreading the word.
Elite Squad:
In this ground breaking film, critically acclaimed director Jose Padilha features Brazil’s controversial special police force and explores the effect of the violence involved on the country’s ordinary citizens, particularly young people. The film has been highly criticised for glorifying violence. However, the film is highly relevant to this year’s theme of Jungle CineClub Brazilian film season, which aims to highlight the social roots of violence and to celebrate Brazilian cinema.
Elite Squad is the fourth film to be screened at the East London based Rich Mix cinema as part of an 8 month long film season, which launched with the sell out opening night of ‘City of Men’ (produced by ABC patron Fernando Meirelles). Actor Douglas Silva who played Acerola made a special appearance at the East London based Rich Mix cinema for a Q&A session. The after-party was hosted by special guest DJ Delores.
www.jungledrums.org
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fundraising: Illumination
Students at Marlborough College in Wiltshire raised £1,000 for Lily Hastings Bass Memorial Fund. A night of music, art and poetry called ‘Illumination’ which traditionally marks the end of the academic year at the college was used to collect donations for an Old Mulburienne, Lily Hastings Bass. Lily’s parents set up a memorial fund with the ABC Trust in honour of their daughter, who fell in love with Brazil but sadly died after an accident.
www.abctrust.org.uk/memorium
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project:Roupa Suja l Rio De Janeiro
A report from ABC CEO Andrew Webb
The community of Roupa Suja is located high up on the hills of Rocinha, one of the largest favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Numbering around 5,000 people Roupa Suja is the poorest neighbourhood in Rocinha, and can only be reached by walking up steep, twisting, broken alley-ways. The housing is very ad hoc and is built from left-over building materials with none of the essential public services - sanitation, electricity or clean water - now found in much of the rest of Rocinha.
As a result the narrow walk-ways have dirty water standing in pools or running down the hills which creates health problems and makes it difficult for children to play safely on the streets. As children grow older there are few opportunities and they face the inevitable pressures to drop out of school and to get involved in drugs trafficking, prostitution and different kinds of child labour as a means of survival.
The Project
In 2003 a group of women from the area created Uniao de Mulheres Pro-Melhoramento da Roupa Suja – loosely translated as the ‘the United Women’s group for the Improvement of Roupa Suja’. They were determined to see how they could improve the area in which they lived.
Five years later their hard-won success is a testimony to the dedication and commitment it takes to work in such tough surroundings. Their focus is one of confronting the heart of the problem – which they see as being social exclusion. Much of their work is aimed at their younger generation - providing children and young people with the skills, confidence and independence they need to succeed in the face of the many difficulties they will encounter.
On a shoe-string budget and amidst many sacrifices the group now have 4 strands to their work.
Creche and Day-Care
The first is the operation of a crèche and day-care centre for 50-60 children aged from 4 months up to 5 years old. It is open all day for 5 days a week and provides essential care for young children as well giving parents the opportunity to go to work. This often means earning no more than 400 reais a month – approx £130 a month – but it is just enough on which to get by.
The After-School Programme
The second and perhaps most central strand is the running of a small school – the Oficina do Saber – which means ‘Workshop of Knowledge’ – and which the ABC Trust helped start with funding in 2006. It is the only project of its kind in Roupa Suja – and sets out to reinforce the basic education the children are getting.
There is space for 50 children who range from 6-14 years old. The school itself is based in 3 tiny rooms and every day the children come in two shifts – 25 in the morning and a further 25 in the afternoon. They get support on all of the basic curriculum – but especially with reading, writing and numeracy. There are also some extra-curricular activities like football, capoeria or even something as simple as visiting the beach – which otherwise seems a world away.
The success of this work is there for all to see: the children they help manage to remain in school and all of them are now in higher grades with some moving on to high school. Moreover parents report that their children are much more motivated to study and really enjoy learning.
Computer Literacy
The after-school programme is teamed-up with the Mundo Informatica – which is a computer literacy programme where young and old alike can learn basic computer skills. They are particularly proud of the fact that several of the young people who have learned there are now teaching others, and of last years ‘graduates’ there are now 10 working in computer related jobs and earning a good basic income.
Programme for Adolescents
More recently a new, and as yet very informal, programme has been set up – a kind of transition programme for adolescents (aged 15-23) who may have been involved in some way with the drugs and gangs culture but who are desperately looking for a way out.
Marcia told me about a boy, 15 years old, who late one night, had to carry his friend home on his back after he had been shot in a violent clash in neighbouring Vidigal – and soon after they got back his friend died. The very next day he had come to her and asked for help – help that would literally to save his life. He was looking for a second chance – and with Marcia and her team he got it. They managed to find him an on-the-job training opportunity and he really focused on making the best of it and staying out of trouble. After 18 months he got a good job which pays well enough for him to contribute to his family income and start thinking about the future.
Marcia
The person behind all of this is a very unassuming, hard working woman called Marcia Ferreira da Costa – and she would be the first person to point out that there are many others who also deserve recognition for the work they are doing. Marcia was born in Rocinha and started to help teach and help her fellow students when she was just 12 years old. She clearly had some kind of calling even then – and now at 38 years old, a qualified teacher, mother and life-time resident she is determined to give as many opportunities as possible to the young people of her community.
Support Needed
The project gets by on a patchwork of support from a number of sources – support which gets stretched as far as possible. An Italian NGO provides funding for the crèche and day care facilities, and there are local donations and modest fees paid by families who use the services; a local organisation partners with a US NGO to provide support for the computer workshops; and they get some local support for basic food and schools supplies.
However, there is very urgent need for direct support for the school project. The funding they need is approx £6,000 a year - which means £120 for a year’s education for each child on the programme.
Marcia knows they have to keep it going at all costs. Teachers are volunteering in their spare time when they can; they collect and sell anything which will make a profit – which includes collecting the drinks cans and bottles left by visitors. For Marcia it simply isn’t an option to stop. But the fact remains they badly need our support.
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Additional Information
The illiteracy rates in Rocinha are the highest in Rio. Public schools do not have enough places; even then they are often far away so sometimes children can’t make the long journeys required; and if they do get to a school they find the classes are huge – 50-60 children. The result is that general education for children from Roupa Suja is very poor.
Everyone in Rocinha is touched in some way by the tragedy of daily life. Marcia’s nephew was shot in a cross-fire incident in a violent clash between gangs and police - and she has countless heartbreaking stories which in many ways make it all the more amazing that she perseveres - but as a result she also has the success stories that make it all worthwhile.
One boy in class was thought to be particularly slow and disruptive but it was only after getting some close attention from one of the teachers that they realised that he had a problem with his hearing and a severe heart problem. They took him to the health clinic and after a course of treatment and with some special teaching he is now doing very much better.
I asked Marcia if there was a particularly important age to be present in children’s lives if they were to make a difference. She replied that there seemed to her to be three ‘moments’. At 6-7 years old children start going to local schools but can very quickly can fall behind – or simply don’t start reading and writing. It is here that they need encouragement and basic support in reading, writing and basic numeracy and given a sense that learning is not only important but fun too.
At 9-11 years old children start to come into contact with some of the drugs traffickers in the area who adopt recruitment strategies which at first seem harmless but can rapidly envelop a child. The first step is to approach a young child and ask them to deliver a small package and in return they will get 10 reais (about £3). At this point it is important to be keeping children occupied, away from contact with gangs on the streets and becoming conscious of some of the choices they will have to make in life.
At 14-16 years old they can get much more involved – the money gets much attractive but life is much, much more dangerous – and once a young person gets wrapped up in gang-life it can prove to be almost impossible to escape. Marcia told me that many of the young people she knows who become part of gangs tell her that they don’t expect to reach their 18th birthday. This is where young people need to have had a good basic education and can read and write well which means they can go to high school or find a job which provides an income, and just as importantly have a sense of right and wrong and where a life in drugs or prostitution leads.
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Click here for more info on Roupa Suja
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project: ABC projects receive grants
The ABC Trust has been awarded grants totalling £35,000 for the following projects:Casa Teatro Popular and Sociedade Irmãos Solidários (SIS). Both projects based in Salvador, have received grants from the JAC Clark Charitable Trust.
Circo Picolino - social circus arts project has been awarded £12,500 from a trust which wishes to remain anonymous.
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fundraising: ABC 10K team raise £7000
A team of 16 people collectively raised £7,000 for ABC by taking part in a 10K race challenge this year. The Asics British 10K London Run takes place every year in July, and this year included a staggering 26,000 runners who joined the course starting at Hyde Park Corner and finishing at Whitehall.
ABC thanks our team of 10K runners for completing the challenge and for all their fundraising efforts. Their contribution will help further the work we do through the local NGOs which we support in Brazil, and ultimately help many vulnerable children and young people. All moneys raised will go towards providing care (which includes shelter, food and health care), as well as education, training and inspiration through arts based activities.
Click here to see ABC 10K Team 2008
The rise of charity challenges:
The concept of participating in an adventurous challenge and helping to raise funds for a good cause at the same time, has become an increasingly popular phenomenon, with more and more individuals choosing to take part in physical activities in far flung places in support of numerous causes.
Companies are also increasingly opting for charity challenges as part of their team building exercise and as a way of promoting corporate social responsibility. Companies have come to understand that such charity challenge activities also strengthens their business in the long term, as it instils a sense of team spirit and motivates individual staff members. It also gives companies the opportunity to implement their ethos of social responsibility by aiding charities which focus on social projects and community development in the UK and abroad.
There is a wide range of charity challenges to suit both individuals and company groups, which include activities such as trekking, kayaking, climbing, cycling, horse riding, fishing and parachuting in the UK, or overseas destinations such as Cambodia, Mexico, India, Brazil, and many more.
ABC challenges:
ABC has partnered with several established and experienced tour and challenge operators to offer our supporters a variety of choices.
We are currently recruiting people to take part in these challenges including running the Rio Marathon in 2009. You can find out more about our challenges by clicking here or you can contact us directly.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish good luck to the individuals who are currently preparing to run marathons in Chicago, Buenos Aires and Athens.
Click here to find out more about ABC charity challenges
Thanks to our 10K runner team 2008:
Louise Corbin l Chad Slater l Harald Simon l Cameron Gray l Robert Boyne l Kate Gamester l Jane Oliver l Nancy McDonnell l Laura Humphries l Jaimina Patel l Helen Wiggs l Jimena Paratcha l Patrick Walker l Brigitte Blackburn l Jonathan Blackburn l Fernando Soares
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ABC 10K 2008 Team
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event: Festinho - countdown to ABC music festival
If you missed the Big Chill festival this year, you can still enjoy a more intimate eclectic music festival with Festinho in just two weeks! For those who have not yet bought tickets, we are offering a special Brahma beer giveaway, click here for more.
Festinho – is an annual music festival weekender organised by the ABC Trust which began in 2005 and formerly called ‘minichill’. Since then, the event has been growing bigger and better through word of mouth and the generosity of numerous volunteers and suppliers who have helped to make this event happen year on year.
This year, the humble festival is taking place in the grounds of Kentwell Hall in Long Melford based in the lush green countryside of Suffolk.
Besides a fantastic line-up of musicians and bands representing a wide range of styles, there is a wide variety of activities on offer to suit everybody’s taste including children's. For example, play areas for kids, face painting, workshops in samba and capoeira as well as a special family camping area dedicated to those planning to make this event a family weekender.
For everybody else, there is plenty of other festival activities you can experience including BBQ, body and soul healing sessions, live visuals, film re-scores, cream teas, nightly campfire and of course catch all the great bands in the outdoor stages and the infamous disco shed.
Brahma Beer Give Away:
Anyone that has bought or buys a ticket before 22nd August will be automatically entered into a draw to win a bottle of Brahma beer for every hour that they're at Festinho (3 crates in total). That makes it one bottle of Brahma beer for every hour of the festival.
Anyone that bulk buys 6 tickets to the festival via We Got Tickets or Ticket Web will automatically get a crate of Brahma to share with their group on arrival at Festinho!
The ticket draw winner will be announced on 23rd August by the Festinho group on the official festival website.
So if you do not want to miss this opportunity, you can book your tickets through the Festinho website here.
If you are unable to join us this year, please spread the word among everyone you know.
We hope to see you all then.
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Kentwell Hall - Long Melford, Suffolk |
fundraising: Led Zeppelin Memorabilia exhibition
A special Led Zeppelin memorabilia exhibition at Knebworth House in aid of ABC Trust is now officially open to the wider public. A special online raffle has also been launched to give fans the opportunity to win two especially signed items by Jimmy Page. For more information please click here.
The exhibition:
This year marks the 40th anniversary of legendary rock band Led Zeppelin. And to commemorate this special occasion, a memorabilia exhibition has been organised by a dedicated fan as a tribute to Led Zeppelin for what they have given to their fans for so many decades all over the world. ABC is honoured to be a beneficiary to ‘Memories in Music 1968 – 2008’ as we are honoured to have Jimmy Page as our founding patron.
‘Memories in Music 1968 – 2008’ exhibition is now open to the general public at Knebworth House until 3rd September. Led Zeppelin played their last concerts in the UK with the four original band members on the grounds of Knebworth House in August 1979.
A wide range of special items which belonged to the band and individual band members including ABC founding patron – Jimmy Page will be on display throughout the event. This includes original tickets, programmes, posters, handbills, clothing, badges, albums and photographs, all of which have been generously donated to the exhibition by fans from around the world. The exhibition will give Led Zeppelin fans the chance to share in the memories other fans have of the band by seeing memorabilia they have held over the years. The exhibit will stand in the family library of the historic house.
Memories in Music will be open daily and admission to the exhibit is free with a ticket to the House and Gardens. All proceeds will go to the ABC Trust.
For more info, you can contact Knebworth House or visit:
www.knebworthhouse.com
Jimmy Page signed items:
In addition to the exhibition, the organiser Annie Hollinshead is also running a special online raffle for dedicated Jimmy Page fans from around the world. The two prizes include a Meridian F80 table top radio, CD and DVD player and a Jon Ellinor painting of Led Zeppelin, both of which have been personally signed by Jimmy Page.
To win the prizes, all you have to do is visit the website below, answer a question for each prize, pay £2 per entry (you can enter as many times as you like), and submit your details: www.memoriesinmusic.com
All proceeds from the raffle will also got to the ABC Trust.
ABC thanks all those who contributed and helped to make this exhibtion happen.
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Led Zep exhibition ticket
Original Led Zep concert programme
Knebworth House
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event: ABC Gala Screening with Walter Salles
Internationally acclaimed film-maker Walter Salles recently launched his new film ‘Linha De Passe’ which was screened to a UK audience for the first time at the ABC gala screening in Curzon Mayfair.
The director of ‘The Motorcycle Diares’ and ‘Central Station’ made a special appearance to introduce the film to ABC supporters and completed the evening with a Q&A. The audience took the opportunity to ask questions and many also had the chance to personally meet him after the screening.
ABC thanks Walter Salles, Pathe and Curzon Cinema Group for their support and contribution. We also thank everyone for supporting ABC Trust by coming along to this event.
A special thanks to our wine sponsors for the eveing:
Wineservice Ltd, Wine Importers & Wholesalers, Tel: + 44 (0)1342 837 333, Fax: +44 (0)1342 837 444, sales@wineservice.co.uk
Linha De Passe:
Sao Paulo. 20 million inhabitants, 200 kilometers of traffic jams, 300,000 motorcycle messengers. At the heart of one of the toughest, most chaotic cities in the world, four fatherless brothers from a poor family try find a way out, a way beyond their preordained paths. With the backdrop of Brazil in a state of emergency, every single one looks for a way out and fights to follow their dreams.
"Linha de Passe" reunites Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, co-directors of "Foreign Land", introducing a family of young actors making their onscreen debut.
Cast includes: Vinícius de Oliveira, Ana Carolina Dias, José Geraldo, Rodrigues Kaique, Jesus Santos, João Baldasserini.
To find out more please visit: www.linhadepassemovie.co.uk
Walter Salles:
Born in Rio De Janeiro, Walter Salles has been making documentaries and ground breaking films since 1983. The critically acclaimed director is most renowned for 'Central Station' and 'The Motorcycle Diaries', both of which also received several awards around the world.
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Lead actor Vinicius de Oliveira
Linha De Passe
Film-maker Walter Salles
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project: ACER l International Day to combat child labour
For the second year running ABC partner, ACER (Associação de Apoio à Criança em Risco) marked the International Day to Combat Child Labour on June 12th with a series of awareness raising events in the Diadema area of Sao Paulo.
Child labour in Brazil is twice as high as in any other country in Latin America and is one of the major reasons why children do not get a chance to attend school. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) there are 1.7 million children aged between 5 and 10 working Brazil today.
As a result - ACER's 23 staff, 8 mediators, 5 monitors and 3 volunteers were all directly involved in running a campaign in the Serraria neighbourhood, based in the Cultural Centre as well as outside on the main market road.
Cultural activities were led by the ACER capoeira group, which presented the Puxada de Rede, a capoeira circle and a samba de roda, with the children who were there, and the Roots of Brazil programme used its drumming to attract and entertain the public.
Children took part in popular and collaborative games, and watched a film about the campaign to combat child labour. There was also a puppet show and reading was encouraged with the distribution of books and story telling sessions.
In addition local businesses and residents were made aware of the importance of combating child labour, and the severe consequences it has for a child’s development, with huge banners and leaflets being distributed at various places in the neighbourhood.
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Click here for more info
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project: Roupa Suja receives new grant
The Board of the ABC Trust recently agreed a two year grant to the after-school programme run by a local NGO based in an area called Roupa Suja, which itself is located in Rocinha, one of the biggest favelas in Latin America.
The after school programme – known as the Oficina do Saber (office of knowledge) was started in 2006, with support of ABC Trust. It provides classes for 50 children, 6 -14 years old, reinforcing basic education and providing important extracurricular activities.
There are 2 classes in the morning 8 -11am, and 2 classes in the afternoon 1-4pm, with 10-15 children per class. Children are taught the basic skills (reading and writing, maths etc.) with the aim of keeping children in school, combating illiteracy and keeping them off the streets. In addition they take time to address important social issues in the community (i.e. health issues, pollution, drugs, citizenship etc) through special reading projects, discussions, outings in the community, musical or artistic projects etc. involving other community organizations or small non-profit projects.
The grant of £6,000 per annum provides money for school supplies, much needed snacks for the children and salaries for two teachers and a part-time project coordinator. Overall this translates into £120 per student for a year of crucial education to ensure they get the chance to find jobs later in life instead of getting involved in drugs trafficking or getting stuck with little hope for the future.
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music lesson at Roupa Suja, click
here for more info on the project
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frundraising: ABC schools partnership
Pupils from Gravesend Grammar School for Girls held a series of fundraising activities, including a non-uniform day, and raised £562 for ABC Trust. The pupils’ hard work and the generosity of everyone involved will go towards helping the most vulnerable young people of Brazil.
This is a wonderful example of what students here in the UK can do to help young people their own age who live in different countries and are much less privileged. Such initiatives also exemplify one of the ways in which schools can get involved with the Action for Brazil’s Children Trust.
However, beyond fundraising, there are many other ways in which students and schools can help further our mission to make a long term impact on the lives of the poorest children, families and communities of Brazil.
By connecting with our partner projects in Brazil or using our education tool kit, students in the UK will hugely benefit from a wider understanding of not only issues affecting young people in the areas where we work but also about global poverty and the power of using education and working through the arts as a way to overcome the challenges.
Materials for schools:
Our partner projects in Brazil work directly with and for children who suffer from poverty, lack of opportunity and exposure to violence and drugs. In order to help introduce the issues which affect children in Brazil and help explain our projects, we can provide schools with information and materials which teachers can use in their class to help start discussions.
Global Awareness:
In recent years, there has been a shift in attitude in the UK education system as a whole, whereby schools are being encouraged to integrate global awareness across the curriculum and the general ethos of schools. This initiative was introduced to enhance British pupils’ understanding and knowledge of the social issues such as poverty and the environment which affect people from around the world. The ultimate objective is to prepare young people for life as global citizens in a rapidly changing interdependent world.
More and more schools are gradually beginning to put this concept into practice in a number of ways, including giving students the opportunity to learn about particular communities from another country and the issues which affect these communities by integrating opportunities to learn the subject in their lesson plans. Another effective way by which pupils are widening their knowledge and understanding is by connecting with schools in other countries.
ABC Partnerships with schools
ABC is very keen to be part of this change and would like to form long term partnership with schools, and help connect pupils here in the UK with young people supported by our projects in Brazil. This would lead to developing a deeper understanding about the issues which affect their day to day lives as well as examples of how such challenges can be overcome. ABC would also like to see young people from UK and Brazil get the opportunity to exchange information, experiences, and creative skills through collaborative initiatives. There are numerous possibilities in terms of how pupils can connect with our projects, which we are open to exploring.
If you are interested in getting involved with ABC or would like to discuss ideas, please get in touch.
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event: Festinho nominated for UK festival award
This year’s Festinho proved to be another wonderful weekend for ABC. Nearly 1000 people attended the festival at Kentwell Hall in the lush green countryside of Suffolk in Long Melford.
ABC is proud to announce that the boutique family friendly festival has been nominated for the UK Festival Awards, click here to cast your vote.
Festinho 2008
This year four music stages entertained the festival goers with a wide variety of eclectic sounds to suit everyone’s taste. Our fantastic line-up included highlights from the Bays, Hextatic, DJ Cliffy and Samba band TRIBO. Many partied on at the disco shed until the early hours, whilst others enjoyed a more intimate evening around the camp fire.
A wide variety of activities were on offer throughout the weekend, which included sauna, therapeutic massage, samba workshop, capoeira lessons and art class. Children also had plenty to do, which ranged from face painting, playing games and costume dressing. They happily showcased their vibrant costumes when they took part in a parade with samba band TRIBO and capoeira dancers.
A special thanks to our star fundraisers….. A group of young boys and girls took the initiative to sell cakes and raffle tickets to raise funds for ABC. Sophia, Ashon, Jane, Alice, Felix, and Hugo successfully raised £650! ABC highly appreciates all their efforts, and enthusiasm.
ABC also thanks the Festinho team for all the hard work, energy and passion which they put into making it all happen again this year. And thanks to everyone for coming and supporting Festinho, we hope you all enjoyed the festival as much as we did, and look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Award for Festinho
Festinho has been nominated for the UK FESTIVAL AWARDS in the following categories:
- Best Small Festival
- Best Line-up
- Family Festival Award
- Best Toilets
If you enjoyed Festinho, please cast your vote by visiting the official website: www.festivalawards.com
Your vote will help raise Festinho’s profile and develop this wonderful event, as well as help raise awareness and vital funding for ABC.
Thank you for your support
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 Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk
TRIBO on stage
Star fundraisers - Cake sale
Main stage |
event: Led Zeppelin tribute concert
A special tribute concert to celebrate legendary rock band Led Zeppelin's 40th anniversary is set to take place in aid of ABC Trust. The event will also provide fans with a rare opportunity to win special memorabilia signed by ABC founding patron Jimmy Page.
The special gig will take place on Friday 7th November 2008 at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, which will feature a charity auction, special guest speakers, exclusive footage and more.
Win rare Led Zeppelin memorabilia
The event will provide fans with a unique opportunity to bid for very rare poster size photographic prints which will be personally signed by Jimmy Page and dedicated to the winning bidder.
All proceeds will go to ABC Trust which will help the most vulnerable children and young people of Brazil.
To view the auction lots and for more details about the event please click here
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One of the rare Jimmy Page
signed prints on offer
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Project: Oficinas Quero - supporting young people to take opportunities to change their futures
São Paulo , Oficinas Querô:Funding target £20,000
For a 16 year old living in Santos (near Sao Paulo), change seems impossible. Young people here are excluded from the booming economy of the 3rd largest city of the world.
50% of the city’s young population aged 16-24 must work to help their families make ends meet. Unable to complete high school and trapped in precarious living conditions, any free time is often spent on the streets.
Oficinas Querô started in 2005 by providing actor training workshops to prepare 40 young people from this neighbourhood to participate in the film 'Querô'. On the completion of the film, the film maker Carlos Cortez and the young actors realised a special transformation had occurred over the film making process.
Together with UNICEF, Cortez created a formal education programme and ‘Citizenship and Entrepreneurship through Cinema’ began to help young people from low income backgrounds, after school, 5 days a week.
The objective of the programme is not necessarily to only prepare young people for the audiovisual job market, but to prepare them to be able to identify and articulate their dreams and empower them to realise them.
Success and competition
The features produced at the project have been presented at many festivals, and this year they have been invited by the São Paulo film festival to produce two films, one for a main screening and the other, a behind the scenes documentary of the festival itself.
But right now, this inspiring project has been picked out amongst thousands as one of 12 finalists in the BBC World and Newsweek World Challenge 08.
This global competition finds projects from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. The winner will receive a grant of USD $20 000 to put back into their project and two runners up will each receive USD $10 000. One representative from each of the three finalists will be flown to The Hague, The Netherlands to attend the award ceremony in December 2008.
Help ABC to support Oficinas Querô
ABC sees Oficinas Querô as an innovative project offering a range of training and inspiration to the young people of the Santos region, and even though they have already achieved so much, there is so much more they can do. They have plans to start a school outreach programme as well as very difficult work within the juvenile justice system.
They need equipment more than anything as much of their funding from within Brazil does not allow them to spend money on these items. We are raising an appeal to anyone who can make donations towards our fund to the project or you can offer lighting equipment, cameras and editing tools to keep this project producing excellent work and reaching more young people
Talk to us if you have any contacts or ideas that can help: Andrew 0207 4949 344
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“Today’s youth is responsible for the transformation of the Brazil of the future” Samuel de Castro, student. |
| Shaping their own lives |
| Audiovisual training teaches young people how to use the equipment needed to make 3 short films. Everyone learns to plan, develop, finance, edit, produce and launch their films. |
Entrepreneurial skills develop through creating films as participants learn how to run a business and are confident to use these skills in other fields of work.
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| Being challenged to think critically about the world, these young people find ways of becoming more active citizens and make changes in their lives. |
Nildo, age 19, was born in the favela on the hill overlooking Santos.
Nildo had a major role in the film Querô. He attended the project for two years after making the film and is now part of the team which created the production company Querô Filmes. Advanced students from the main 'Oficinas Querô' project help produce films for local companies and other NGO's for a fee.
His passion is writing screenplays, but he also works on filming and sales to improve income at the film production company. |
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project: SIS director wins award
Lúcia Marscarenhas is a busy woman. When the entry form for the Bahia state award for, 'Service in Solidarity' was delivered to her office, she did not have time to read it. She works full-time as a Civil Servant in Salvador city. And on top of that, Lúcia also plays the role of President-Founder at the NGO Sociedade Irmãos Solidários (SIS), five evenings a week including Saturday afternoons.
But one of her colleagues completed the entry form on her behalf and on the 28th of October, the result was announced: Lúcia was awarded fourth place after being selected from 82 participants and received
R$ 3,000 (£875) for her activities as a volunteer and community worker.
"I am very glad with the result. I know this prize will make SIS more visibile and help to open doors”, says Lúcia. The money also came at a good time. “I donated everything to the project, it will be very helpful to cover some of the projects expenses”.
SIS is based in São Bartolomeu, a forgotten area of the city. The high rates of violence are part of daily life and is a constant worry for the community. SIS have been supported by ABC Trust since 2005, the project provides educational support for over 140 local children, as well as general assistance for the community. One of its latest initiatives has been organising the relocation of 65 families living in extreme poverty to council buildings. “These people live in subhuman conditions with no sanitation facilities at all”, explains Lúcia, who is the main link between the community and the state - a role which she has worked hard to develop over the last four years.
But her involvement with disadvantaged people in Salvador did not start at the SIS project. Lúcia has been acting as an agent for change for more than 20 years and first began as a volunteer serving soup for the homeless. “After some time volunteering, I realised that the problem was not the homelessness itself. I saw many people leaving their neighbourhoods and coming a long way in order to get the soup. There was a real lack of community responsibility to help each other. So I started working on family cohesion issues and with a literacy programme for the mothers in São Bartolomeu – which later extended to the children and became what SIS is today”.
click here to learn more about SIS
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“I am very glad with the result. I know this prize will make SIS more visible and help to open doors” |
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| Lúcia has been supporting the most vulnerable people from Salvador for 20 years. Click here to learn more about SIS, the project she runs. |
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event: ABC Gala Screening brings Fernando Meirelles to London
“In Brazil, we are so used to the poverty that it becomes part of the day-by-day scenario. We stop seeing it after some point”, said acclaimed film-maker Fernando Meirelles during the Q&A of his latest film Blindness. The interview took place at the special ABC Gala Screening in London on October 31st – one month before general release in the UK.
Fernando Meirelles began the special evening by introducing the film and ABC supporters had the opportunity to meet the director and Blindness writer Don McKellar after the screening.
We would like to thank Fernando Meirelles, Pathe, Apollo Cinemas and Unique Media for their support and everyone who supported us coming along.
If you missed the evening, you can still get a glimpse of the event thanks to Unique Media who filmed interviews with Fernando and others at the screening as well as the special Q&A. We will be making a short film for webcast towards the end of November.
A selection of exclusive shots of the evening captured by photographer Danny Clifford will also be available on our website soon.
about Blindness
Adapted from Nobel Prize-winning José Saramago’s novel Blindness is based on an unexplained epidemic disease that turns everyone blind. Everybody apart from Julianne Moore’s character, who pretended to be blind in order to follow her husband - the eye doctor (Mark Ruffalo) when he is placed in detention centre for quarantine.
Life gets harder as Gael García Bernal’s character claims leadership and forces a dictatorial regime restricting access for food and water.
Blindness will be out on general release from Friday 21st November.
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Fernando at the Gala Screening exclusive photo by Danny Clifford |
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Fernando Meirelles shot to international stardom following his masterpiece City of God. The filming itself inspired Fernando to set up his first social film project Cinema Nosso (supported by ABC) to help young people from the poorest communities in Rio.
Cinema Nosso has developed enormously since it first began in 2004, and now assists 200 young people in all aspects of film-making, promotes digital inclusion of the poorest favelas, and has given them the chance to learn new skills, find jobs and tell their stories to the world.
click here for more info
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