![]() ![]() Unfortunately, for the inhabitants of the favelas the image of soldiers in the streets, their fingers on the trigger of their machine guns, has become commonplace. How difficult is it for the project – considering to the civil-war-like conditions in the favelas – to offer the children a safe space? It requires a lot of work behind the scenes to keep the sponsors and to provide them with material. They come from international and Brazilian private donors as well as from some foundations and companies. The project finances itself solely by donations. In this context, Yvonne's book, in which she summarizes her experiences of 30 years of working with street and slum children, is an excellent foundation.Ī further aspect of the professionalization is the financing of the project. They are eager to learn but certainly their experiences of war and crisis need to be taken into account and worked on. In Germany we are experiencing the problems with refugee kids from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. It would be wonderful if this book could be translated into other languages because the method can not only help children in Brazil but also traumatized children around the world. The book was published in Brazil in 2010. Yvonne Bezerra de Mello has written a profound book about the individual steps of their method. The costs for private schools are paid for by private or corporate donors. The staff also try to find out which children can be further supported and can go on to private schools. The teachers and the staff take good personal care of each child. There is a lot of knowledge about each child. It should be noted that all the children in Uerê also attend state-funded schools, which, unfortunately, are badly organized in Brazil because the teachers are poorly-paid and the classes are too large and thus the children cannot overcome their learning difficulties. Playful learning is very important: the learning material is mixed and often presented as a game so that they enjoy learning. For some time they have been offered violin lessons. Sports, especially Capoeira, and music play an important role. A second important point is that the children are encouraged again and again to understand that they are not stupid, that they possess many talents and abilities. Every day the kids are encouraged to report on their day, their most recent experiences, to stabilize the connection between long-term and short-term memory. To re-establish the connection their memory is trained in the classroom. This is the reason why they have problems with learning. ![]() Children who had traumatic experiences have problems connecting their short-term-memory with long-term-memory. The most important point is the incorporation of insights from trauma psychology into the teaching methods. ![]() Can you briefly summarize the special method that Yvonne Bezerra de Mello has developed? The project has been professionalized pedagogically. Particularly interesting is the fact that they now as young women are very affectionate with their own children and try to give them the attention that they themselves never received from their parents. That alone is a huge achievement, which was made possible by their education in Projeto Uerê. In ZONA NORTE we now re-encounter them and find out that they now have jobs, they are healthy and confident and have a roof over their heads. Through research on social media platforms I finally managed to find all the kids we portrayed 15 years ago. In many favelas there are no addresses in the conventional sense. Many have left the favela of Maré without leaving an address. Since the project has become very large – about 430 children are now cared for – it is almost impossible to follow the lives of the children after they have completed their training there. The second reason for revisiting the project was that I was repeatedly asked what has become of the children that were portrayed in WARRIOR OF LIGHT - a question that is also very important to me. So a sustainable structure has developed. This has always annoyed me because over the years I could see the project growing and positioning itself more and more professionally: all the teachers and the other staff are well-trained and paid fair wages. They say that if Yvonne Bezerra de Mello got sick or left the project, it would not be able to survive. The film is still shown and sometimes people make the criticism that Projeto Uerê is too dependent on its founder. My film WARRIOR OF LIGHT was made in 2001 and portrayed Yvonne Bezerra de Mello, the founder of the project and the beginnings of their work. Why was it important for you to document the work of Yvonne Bezerra de Mello again? You have visited Projeto Uerê several times in the last 15 years. ![]()
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