Vovo Clara - Project Grandma Clara's Dream

This community child care centre"Grandma Clara's Dream" is located in the neighborhood of Mata Escura, on the outskirts of the city of Salvador.

The objective of the centre is to provide children and adolescents in situations of extreme poverty with education and physical-social assistance, with the purpose of improving their physical and psychological development. Around 40 children attend the project daily.

The center offers a range of activities in the areas of Social Assistance, Education and Citizenship, each of which help to expand the children's horizons. In addition the centre provides good meals, general education, art and culture.

The children include the daughters and sons of poor families in the area, the majority of whose parents are unemployed or work informally on the street.

The community where they live is marked by a high rate of violence, a lack of basic sanitation, and the Center is located on a dirty street. Nearby is a Penitentiary that leaves the community even more vulnerable, and also contributes to a negative perception of the community and the residents.

The aim of the centre is to provide a better quality of life for these children and their families, preparing them for a better future. A world where the children are not in the street and the parents can work and support themselves.

The activities include the development of self-esteem and the discovery of talents and skills in these children, and to help them grow in a healthy and dignified environment.

The centre is in a very poor state of repair, with broken drains and sewage causing hygiene problems, a broken roof, an unhygienic kitchen to name but a few of the problems. In October 2008 COB received a very generous donation from Action for Brazils Children (ABC) to help renovate the centre, and work is underway to transform it into a healthy, bright and clean place for the children to attend each day.

We will report of how the work and the project develops, and will post more detailed information on this wonderful project soon.

"Vovo Clara" helps not just the kids, but also the wider community. It creates a sense of community in a very deprived area, and the centre is run mainly by volunteers from the local community.

Once the centre is refurbished there are plans to provide more help to the parents and older children & adolescents with evening classes in basic skills from reading and writing to cooking and nutrition, and other practical courses or sessions. We also hope to provide regular "citizens advice" sessions for families to come and discuss their situation and get advice and help on what benefits are available, how to get their children a place in school, what help or support might be available to them, how to get work in the local area, how to get on a educational or skills based course and the like.

In addition COB are providing educational support with teachers, and helping them formulate their plans for the future, and keep their accounts and official paperwork in order.

This is an extremely worthwhile project by the community, for the community, and we are very pleased to be able to offer them the support they so desperately need and deserve.

Please help if you can!