How We Help
UNiViDA partners with Crianças do Brasil para Cristo (A Registered Association, under Brazilian law) to deliver services to children living in an impoverished community in Fortaleza.
Fortaleza is the 5th largest city in Brazil, home to 2.5 million people with a population density of 22,000 people per square mile. Approximately half of these people live in extreme poverty.
Typical Characteristics of a Favela:
- Poor sanitation – Inadequate sewers and drains. Disease spreads easily and there is flooding during the rainy season.
- Insufficient sources of clean water and food.
- Low-quality healthcare and education.
- High levels of gang violence and control.
- High unemployment.
- Few open/safe places to play.
- Chronic family breakdowns – high levels of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
Children living in these conditions experience sickness, fear, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. Many drop out of school early with minimal hope for a successful or fulfilling future.
UNiViDA strives to support these children by offering them the education and opportunities needed to spark hope and change.
In the community around our project, State schools offer only 4 hours of school each day, either in the morning or the afternoon. The system is poorly funded and some schools are controlled by local gangs. Classes are often overcrowded, and uninspiring.
We fill up the school day by providing an extra 4 hours of education, either in the morning for a child who goes to State school in the afternoon, or in the afternoon for a child who goes to State school in the morning.
Our goal is to help each child succeed in their education and provide a safe place away from dangers in the slums.
Each morning we welcome 120 children into the project for a full timetable of activities including academics, arts, and sport. Then we do the same thing with 120 more students in the afternoon.
To see a list of all our activities, visit our Dreambuilders page.
While we focus on reaching the children, we also provide support for parents via counseling and regular community events.
Our needs
It takes a global effort to do this. Sadly, we do not receive help from within Brazil. We have to constantly maintain and improve our facility and pay our dedicated local teachers.
We also want to grow and support more students by building more classrooms and employing more teachers.
UNiViDA has seen tremendous results. We have graduates who are young professionals, business owners, and teachers. Will you join us in maintaining and growing this successful project?