GlobalGiving.org: Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil

Project report. December 2011.

Roberto Lamego — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:43:55 GMT

Electricity, masonry, painting courses.

Dear donors and Project friends.

Our project advances on its objectives to offer assistance and investment for persons, families or communities wanting to establish organic vegetable gardens or low cost tree nurseries.

We are not doing much because most of the donations received until now have already been spent in several other initiatives as you can see in the former updates and we almost don’t have any funds left. From June 2011 until today the amount of new donations obtained was $531 which is not enough to undertake nothing new.

Two where the activities we were involved in the June report:

1. The training courses ended well and more than 60 students got their diploma as electricity, masonry, painting, and tile setting technician, what was a great gain to Cambota and other neighborhoods.

2. This family we were trying to help but the man had serious health problem seems to be able and willing to start talking again. We could not find them, neither at their garden nor at their homes. See some pictures of their vegetable garden that is starting to produce again.

As you probably know, the Vegetable Gardens project runs along our other project with GlobalGiving, called “Trees and Education Protect the Atlantic Rainforest”. This project brings schoolchildren and groups to visit our wildlife sanctuary and to be close to nature, teaching them the need to protect the waters, the Atlantic Rainforest and the Environment.

The Vegetable Gardens project takes us back to these communities, making possible to bring information on several environmental, educational and citizenship issues, trying to develop an environmental consciousness. There we can promote courses to capacitate and organize local residents and they will contribute to protect the local environment, find new green opportunities and jobs, produce fresh, healthy food in community gardens or individual families gardens. We also work at the houses backyards, trimming old fruit trees and planting new ones.

As we go together, we have new plans for next year which will be possible with totally unexpected super donation that project “Trees and Education Protect the Atlantic Rainforest”, will receive as the winner of the Environment category of the 2011 Wave of Change Neutrogena campaign.

This is really great and rare opportunity for us making possible to plan for the next 4 years, expanding projects operations to 2 or 3 neighboring counties and conveying knowledge and new and up-to-date information to uninformed and unaware citizens with a sub project called SALVEASERRA Caravan, mentioned in other updates.

Here the Neutrogena campaign site: http://www.neutrogena.com/category/wave%2Bfor%2Bchange.do

Another important fact is that next year we are going to introduce in our region the Mandalla’s Integrated Production System, developed by Willy Pessoa, also an ASHOKA fellow, which consists of an innovative agro-cattle production method integrating several social technologies making possible to small rural and urban lands to grow in synergy fruits, vegetables, green leaves as well as to cattle small animals, feeding a entire family and generating surpluses that can be sold to the communities.

For more information on the Madalla System visit:

http://www.agenciamandalla.org.br/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=61

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cjQvKF_jb0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTG_5zpYrgo&feature=related

http://www.changemakers.com/agricultura/entries/mandalla-s-integrated-production-system

We consider that project “Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil” is essential for the success of the work of SALVEASERRA converting your donations into small investments, offering a real chance of a very important economical, social and environmental shift in the lives of many people, preparing them for a better future in this so difficult and problematic world.

Thank you very much for your help and support.

Roberto Lamego

Electricity, masonry, painting courses.

Electricity course.

Family vegetable garden

Pumpkins plantation.

Corn plantation

NEUTROGENA-GlobalGiving Wave for Change campaign.

Roberto Lamego — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:20:29 GMT

Dear donor.

I need your help to vote for and recommend the SALVEASERRA project, which as you probably recall is an NGO in Valença, Rio de Janeiro, an Environmental Protection Group working to save the Serra da Concórdia, one of the very few areas of mountainous Atlantic Rainforest remaining and providing vegetable gardens for families in Brazil. We are finalists in the Wave of Change campaign run by the Neutrogena cosmetics company.

Every year our main sponsor, the GlobalGiving Foundation conducts a partnership with Neutrogena (www.neutrogena.com) for a fundraising campaign called Wave for Change. This raises money for worthwhile projects.

The nine Wave for Change finalists were chosen from the catalog of projects supported by GlobalGiving, in three categories: Education, Environment and Disaster Recovery: Rebuilding Lives.

This year, I am delighted and proud to say, the SALVEASERRA project Trees and Education Protect the Atlantic Rainforest has been selected from among 188 projects to be one of the three finalists in the Environment category. This is a rare opportunity for us.

Now the important thing: only ONE project will be selected in each category to share the money being raised. Winners are being chosen by voting on the Internet. The other six finalists will receive some coverage on MTV and in other media channels and other promotions, but no financial support.

For us this is an uphill struggle. My main competitor is a very good and attractive U.S. project with a strong appeal for nature lovers. It also has a patriotic advantage because of course Neutrogena is an American company. American.

To win this competition we will need a massive mobilization of all our friends, and friends of friends in Brazil and around the world. We need to use Facebook, Twitter, e-mails and whatever personal networks may be available.

That’s why I am seeking your help to vote and ask your friends to do the same. As you know, saving what remains of the Atlantic Rainforest is very important, and SALVEASERRA exists mainly with your donations and without any regular government support. This project walks hand in hand with the vegetable gardens project and in the same communities.

To vote in the campaign you do not have to buy any product; you just go to the Neutrogena page and vote: http://www.neutrogena.com/category/wave+for+change.do

Make sure you click on Protect the Rainforest in Brazil!

Voting closes August 31, 2011, and you can follow the progress of the vote by returning to the same page.

Please accept my sincere thanks.

Roberto Lamego

Please visit these links to see slideshows of a recent visit we had of Melissa Balgley and Joshua Niederman from GlobalGiving made to Valeça when they wrote very pleaseant reports about the 2 projects they visited.

https://picasaweb.google.com/110709315454919422487/MelissaAndJoshVisitToSALVEASERRAInValencaRioDeJaneiroBrazil?authkey=Gv1sRgCI-jl-3ih-LxrAE

https://picasaweb.google.com/110709315454919422487/ADayInTheForestEcologicalTrekkingForJoaoEstevesMunicipalSchoolPentagnaValencaRio?authkey=Gv1sRgCOfZuuKy39KQ5QE

In the Field Travelers visit SALVEASERRA!

Melissa Balgley — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:28:17 GMT

Denise shows off her beautiful radishes!

My name is Melissa Balgley and I am an In the Field intern visiting GlobalGiving partner organizations in Brazil! Read here about my visit to Providing Brazilian Families with Vegetable Gardens…

Last year, Denise Maria Wargas Vieira received a greenhouse from SALVEASERRA and its project “Providing Brazilian Families with Vegetable Gardens”. Denise is the president of the Association of Small Organic Farmers of Valença, and is very involved in the organic movement in the area. Denise’s farm was an oasis after driving around the deforested, dusty, overgrazed fields of the region. It is a beautiful plot of land, with banana plants providing shade from the hot sun. For me, seeing farms like Denise’s always seems to be proof that small scale polyculture farms are so much more natural (and productive) than monoculture productions of sugarcane, banana, or soybeans.

Since receiving her greenhouse, Denise is able to produce seedlings and sprouts that she sells at the weekly market and to other small farmers in her organization. This not only enables Denise to generate more income, but also helps the other farmers because it saves them one month of work waiting for the seedlings to sprout. Before the greenhouse was built, Denise earned about Brazilian minimum wage every month. Now, she makes the equivalent of Brazilian minimum wage every week by selling her products and sprouts at the farmer’s market!

This project is extremely important as it complements the work of SALVEASERRA’s other project, “Trees and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil” (http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/protect-brazil-rainforest/). This project’s goal is helping with the reforestation of degraded land outside of Valenca, Rio de Janeiro. On top of this, SALVEASERRA brings schoolchildren to a beautiful private reserve to appreciate the beauty of the nature and recognize the need to protect the Atlantic Rainforest. SALVEASERRA wants to move towards making community gardens as well as gardens for individual families. With this new addition to the project, communities surrounding Valenca can contribute to protecting the environment and producing fresh, healthy food. This will also give the children who participate in the Trees and Education project continuity in environmental activities.

The Atlantic Forest is a beautiful area of Brazil that is in danger of being completely destroyed. SALVEASERRA is working to protect this area of natural beauty, and appreciates your continued support in order to do this! SALVEASERRA is very excited that they were chosen for Neutrogena’s Wave for Change campaign, but they need your votes! Vote today at http://www.neutrogena.com/category/wave+for+change.do

Sprouts ready to go the the farmer´s market

Links:

Vote for SALVEASERRA's project on Neutrogena's Wave for Change

Project Update June 2011

Roberto Lamego — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:32:41 GMT

Piece of land occupied by future organic producers

Project update June 2011. "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil"

Dear donors and project friends,

“Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil” project goes on and advancing in its objectives, which are: 1. to offer help, assistance and some initial investment for the establishment of organic vegetable gardens or low cost tree nurseries for low income persons and families, and 2. through these actions and in association with the actions of our other GlobalGiving project: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/protect-brazil-rainforest/, reach the communities of students and citizens we take to visit the Concordia Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, through the “A Day in the Forest” ecological/educational guided trekking, and promote with them citizenship, the status of rights and duties of citizens, freedom of will and most important, help the community walk by itself and make their own projects. These projects are in Valença City in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

As said in the last report, we started to work with a community called Cambota, a neighborhood of Valença and we are happy to say that there are already some fruits of this partnership, with the possibility of a new vegetable garden for a group of people and the chance SALVEASERRA had to bring 5 professional technical skills courses (masonry, electrician (two groups), placer of tiles and painter), with 25/30 places in each, to this community, where among other problems, unemployment and lack of qualification is a major concern.

One day I discovered on the city newspaper that the local office of the National Employment Service, which is very much concerned with the near to come 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the immense amount of construction work to be done and the lack of specialized workers, was offering training courses to Valença City and unbelievably, having problems with the local Municipality to place them. As we always thought that the municipal public schools buildings that remain empty every night, during weekends and all 3 months of holidays, could be used permanently as bases of training centers for the development of the inhabitants of a neighborhood, we found this an opportunity and the next day went to see the director of the NES, when, beforehand we offered the Cambota schools and the Local Association headquarters to receive the courses and as practicing ground for students. The director was delighted with the possibility of finding a place for the courses and with the argument that it would be much easier to bring the teachers to the school than move students from this neighborhood, at night, to study in another place. The same day we presented the idea to the directors of the schools that accepted it and consented to proceed with the project. This way we could progress meeting all parts and arranging the details. Everything went well and these courses are happening at this moment at one of the school.

This unique event was a great gain for the Cambota communality that sent most of the students that totaled more than 90 in all 5 courses.Their new official course diploma will certainly facilitate finding a job and the school has two new painted classrooms and some electric repairs and two houses in the community received had some construction work done by students.

With this simple idea and punctual SALVEASERRA intervention everybody won.

You will see below a sequence of pictures of all this process, from the first meetings to the courses and practices.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Boblamego/GlobalGivingProvideVegetableGardensForFamiliesInBrazilUpdateJune20112?authkey=Gv1sRgCM_YhezQtOu-Aw

From Joaquim, the school responsible in charge of opening the school and organizing the courses, we learned that 2 of his brothers, Gilberto and Natalet Dias and an associate, Teresinha, a few years ago used to have a large and productive vegetable garden, but due to a serious disease and the loss of the irrigation system pipes they used, (the owner removed them), stopped producing, but that now, they would be willing to receive some help to restart producing. We went to visit them, to analyze the terrain, their water availability and quality, their condition to produce organic vegetables under the general organic concepts. Everything was excellent, with the possibility of new producers of quality and quantity organic vegetables made real, we were ready to help with a new watering system and other small investments when we received the information that Gilberto was ill with a heart problem and would have to go to a hospital to get a Pacemaker. This made everything stop as the family is worried with this medical situation.

Unfortunately, because of his condition Gilberto cannot work at a vegetable garden anymore and the two remaining ladies are looking for another relative to come help them restart a vegetable garden. We are waiting the deployment of his situation.

Please see a series of photos of our visits to their land.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Boblamego/GlobalGivingProvideVegetableGardensForFamiliesInBrazilUpdateJune2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCI_A2Z2uwvC2aQ

As most of the donations received until now were already spent in several initiatives, (see former updates) we almost don’t have any funds left. The donations obtained so far have reached $1,963.

There is no real problem because this project runs along the “Trees and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil”, but I am sure that we could do well with your new donations that are converted into small investments that help us offer a chance of change to many families in Brazil. This change may represent an economical, social and environmental shift in their lives, preparing them to look for a better future in this so difficult and problematic world.

We really need your help and support,

Roberto Lamego

Katya from SALVEASERRA expaining the project.

They are planning to plant here.

Inspecting their water source.

The first vegetable garden will be here.

SALVEASERRA team and teachers from local school.

All involved. NGO, Local residents, State, School.

Attentive students on medical care conference.

Second group of electrician students

We discussed how to deal with construction waste.

Group of painters.

Painter proud of her new equipment.

Masonry practical course. Scraping classroom walls

Electrician course. First course.

Pavement and wall tiles placing course practice.

Second electrician course.

Painting classroom.

Outside electrician practice.

Project update. February 2011

Roberto Lamego — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:41:48 GMT

Project update February 2011. "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil"

Dear donors and project friends,

In this project report we will show you the accomplishments project "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil" has already obtained in Valença municipality, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. First of all, you will see pictures of the fish harvested by Mr. Helcione in his irrigation tank that the project built for him in 2008. Since 2009 they have collected every month many kilograms of fish from the irrigation tank and as these fish reproduce enormously, they will have fish forever if they manage the production wisely. Please see project updates September, November 2008, December 2009 and link 1.

Next, I want to show some pictures taken by the organic vegetable gardeners that obtained a new greenhouse built by project "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil" in August 2010. Mrs. Denise and husband, Mr. Doca are indeed very happy with this new greenhouse that made their production of good quality organic sprouts of different vegetables almost triple. You will also see pictures of the market were they sell their farm products and organic vegetables. Please see project update August 2010 and link 2.

We have also some new pictures of the tree nursery that the project built recently for Mr. Antonio dos Santos. As you will see the saplings he produces are in good shape and he has plans to increase his production of organic seedlings of fruit trees and coffee plants for the local market. Please see update November 2010 and also link 2.

Project "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil" is now starting a new stage that is to work in a specific community called Cambota, a neighborhood in the outskirts of Valença City, with 900 houses and some 4000 inhabitants, many children and juvenile. As you may know, we have another project with GlobalGiving called “Trees and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil” that among other things, takes students and local citizens to an ecological/educational guided visit to the Concordia Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, called “A Day in the Forest”. Please see this project at: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/protect-brazil-rainforest/.

This is how we made contact with this community when by the end of last year, we took most of the students from the two local public schools, around 160, do the Day in the Forest tour. As we are also starting a new phase of the Day in the Forest project, returning to the schools after the visit, to discuss their day in the forest, to start talking and debating the environmental situation of their school and community and also to evaluate the awareness they have of all these problems. And the most important, to see what can be done and what they can do by themselves to change these facts and improve their chances of having a better future. Our group was very well received by the schools directors and teachers that gladly consented to proceed with the project. As the project evolves, we are planning to create an ecological group of students in each school we work with, to follow the environmental conditions of that area of a city where they live.

As from the start we had the intention of reaching and attracting the student’s parents to new sustainable development projects in this community that can help them to obtain new income or/and increase local revenues, it was not difficult for us to meet with the Local Residents Association and offer a partnership to them to develop and unfold new ideas and future projects, among them, a big communal vegetable garden in one of the many vacant terrains available in the neighborhood. This is what we are doing at this moment. Please see at link 3 pictures of one of these meetings. As this association has a Samba School notice the statues and other figurines used during Carnival.

We do not have many funds but we do the best we can to use them wisely.

I am sure that your donations that are converted in small investments can offer a chance to many and this will represent an economical, social and environmental change in their lives.

Thank you very much for your help and support,

Roberto Lamego

Links:

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2010

Roberto Lamego — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:03:30 GMT

A new vegetable garden we are following.

Dear donors and project friends,

In this new November project report you will see that our project "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil" is advancing and we are already bringing important progress in our community. As you know, we have difficulties to find families that want and need improvements in their vegetable gardens. We are working with a new home vegetable garden, as you will see in some attached pictures. The partnership with Valença County municipality to implement vegetable gardens in the municipal schools stopped because as I said before, the Mayor was obliged to leave his office for legal reasons, and we did not have elections so far. This part of our project will have to wait a little. We really want to start it again because it can be very useful to improve, ameliorate and enrich the school’s kitchens that provide essential meals to students. In many schools there is plenty of space where to make good vegetable gardens, as you will also see in some photos I joined of a new school where are starting to work with our other GlobalGiving project, “Tree and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil”. This month we finished the building a new greenhouse for Mr. Antonio dos Santos and he can now start a new small business of producing different kinds of saplings of trees, fruit trees, palm trees, spices, flowers and garden plants. Attached you will see pictures of the new tree nursery. Please see a Photo Album and play the slideshow here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Boblamego/AntonioSTreeNursery?feat=email#. As I always say, I am sure that these small investments that offer a chance, preserve nature and water and that can be reproduced everywhere, may represent the beginning of economical, social and environmental changes in the living of many Third World citizens. Thank you very much for your help and donations that make all this possible. I am very grateful to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions and who knows some day some of you can come visit us?

Thank you again for this support,

Roberto.

A view of the vegetable garden.

Denise, explaining some technique to the gardener.

Another view of the garden

We have projects in this school in Valença city.

School kitchen and students meal.

One of the cooks.

Free space at school where they can have a garden.

Unoccupied land at this school.

Antonio had this tree nursery

We built a new one. Delivering the covering tissue

Starting to cover the tree nursery.

The whole family helped in the construction.

The tree nursery is ready and with plenty of room.

Antonio moved his seedlings to the new nursery.

We are now working to improve this home garden.

Links:

Follow the construction of a tree nursery donated to Mr. Antonio

Update August 2010

Roberto Lamego — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:28:46 GMT

Old greenhouse

UPDATE AUGUST 2010

Dear donors and project friends,

first of all I want to apologize for leaving you such a long time without a project report but here goes a new one and you will see through this one, that project "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil", is advancing not as fast as we would like, but it is making important progress in our communities. We still have difficulties to find families that want and need a donation of a home vegetable garden. One of the reasons is that people are leaving the country, abandoning their backyards and preferring to buy at the supermarkets. The partnership with Valença County municipality to implement vegetable gardens in the municipal schools stopped because the local Mayor was obliged to leave his office for political and legal reasons. We will have new elections in two months. Then we have to start it all over again. This was the bad part, but the good part is that, at last, an old greenhouse we showed in a picture two reports ago, saying that that we would help reconstruct because it was important for the production of good quality organic sprouts of different vegetables and that we had bought twenty 3 meters concrete poles and 10 crossbars, is ready, beautiful and operating. They have already doubled their production of sprouts that is supplied to other members of the Organic Producers Association as well as the community in general. You will see a sequence of photos of the rebuilding of the greenhouse, from the old one to the placement of the baby vegetables on the market. We continue to look for home vegetable gardeners and recently our team made a presentation to a group of small producers of an association kept by local church. We still do not have any return from them. You will see also some pictures of this meeting. Last month the project sponsored 5 people to attend to an organic agriculture course, the same course we offered in other occasions and that you can see in other earlier updates. We have no photos. We have a new small producer to help as we are going to build a new greenhouse for him. Mr. Antonio dos Santos wants to improve his old one and to start a new small business producing different kinds of saplings of trees, fruit trees, palm trees, spices, flowers and garden plants. Attached you will see two pictures of Antonio and his existing greenhouse. In the next update we will have a new greenhouse to show you. I am sure that these small investments in agricultural models that preserve nature and water and that can be reproduced everywhere, may represent the beginning of economical, social and environmental changes in the living of many Third World citizens. Thank you very much for your help and donations. They make all this possible and I am very grateful to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions and who knows some day some of you can come visit us?

Thank you again for this support,

Roberto.

Old greenhouse 2

Inside old greenhouse

Inside old greenhouse 2

Truck with concrete poles

Denise, concrete poles and crossbars

Greenhouse construction

Greenhouse construction 2

New greenhouse

Denise and new greenhouse

Inside new greehouse

New greenhouse 2

Valença marketplace

Husband now engaged in the production and sale.

Small producers meeting

Small producers meeting 2

Antonio and Denise

Antonio's greenhouse

Update, February 2010

Roberto Lamego — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:58:30 GMT

The canadian filming crew

Dear project donors and friends, last December, we had the visit of a filmmaking team from Canada, working for Lato Sensu Productions that is preparing a documentary series entitled "Architects of change". As I said in the last project update, I was invited to participate in this series that has the aim to explain and highlight the possible solutions to many different environmental and social issues, through the examples of people and experiences that already apply sustainable development principles in their daily lives and work. They expect that these examples will give hope for the future and encourage other people to do something of their own to try to change and improve their lives and communities. Please visit this site to have a better idea of the project: http://www.filmsdocumentaires.com/portail/artisans.html. As this is the second series of documentaries, you can also see on this site, who has accepted the invitation for the first series: http://artisansduchangement.latosensu.tv/. For us it was an unique opportunity to be able to participate in this series and to have our projects chosen to be shown and broadcasted in France (TV5-Monde, Ushuaia TV) and Canada (Radio-Canada and TFO) and to know that talks are under way with Discovery Channel and NHK Japan as well as UNESCO. It was also a fantastic experience to follow, produce and work with this team of professional Canadian filmmakers. We will see these new series of documentaries in the beginning of 2011. The Canadian filmmakers could film some of project “Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil” activities as we organized a Vegetable Garden training course for Passagem, a new community we are starting to work with. Please see attached photos of the filming. We are preparing to start our field operations for 2010 with the vegetable gardens program for the local schools and it is possible that we will obtain some support from the Secretary of Education in order to establish a partnership with them to increase and take this program to more schools in different parts of the County. The plantation season is almost over and we planted again some 2000 trees, palm trees and fruit trees, half of then bought with GlobalGiving donations. Next month there will be a course on organic agriculture on a neighbour village and the project will offer 10 seats for Valença vegetable producers. Thank you all for your support, donations and good wishes that make all this come true and possible. All the best, Roberto

Vegetable garden training course

Visiting a vegetable garden

Update December 2009

Roberto Lamego — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:24:38 GMT

Mr. Helcione and his 300 fish

Dear donors and project friends,

Project “Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil” continues its activities and we have two new vegetable gardens in order to start partnerships with our project. Next month they will join the Organic Producers Association, OPA. Our first recipient continues to work and to sell his production of different vegetables every Sunday at the local market. As the local fishery reopened after being closed for more than one year, we were finally able to furnish Mr. Helcione water tank with 300 baby fish. In six months we can start to eat or sell these fish. We plan to teach him to smoke his fish. The project supplied him with another truck load of cattle manure to his garden. Last month, the project bought 20 3 meters concrete poles and 10 crossbars for the construction of new greenhouse for the OPA. With this they will enhance the production of good quality sprouts of vegetables that are supplied to other member of the association. We are also supplying a plastic water reservoir to another producer. I would like to communicate to donors of this project that I was invited to participate in December 2009, of the second series of documentaries on sustainable development called "Architects of change", produced by a Canadian-French team. http://www.pvp.ca/. Each film will feature 3 "Architects of change" from different cultures and economic sectors from all over the world and the aim of the series is to explain and highlight solutions to environmental and social issues, presented through people who already apply sustainable development principles in their daily lives and work. This documentary series will be broadcaster worldwide. Of course I am very much honored and proud to be among one of the "Architects of change" and I hope that the examples of what we are doing here in Valença, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, can show that it is possible to change the ways of dealing, caring and treating our planet Earth and its people, and mainly to encourage others to do their own changes and have their own projects to improve their lives, communities, countries, all over the World. I will show then what we do here: 1. the 3 agroforestry systems experimental areas and the coffee under shade plantations, 2. the "Day in the Forest" ecological guided tour we offer to municipal public school students, 3. the irrigated organic vegetable gardens donation project, Project Oasis, 4. the SALVEASERRA Caravan Project meant to bring information and to take knowledge to rural and urban communities, and two of the training courses we offer to local communities, in this case, one of how to make a good vegetable garden a another one on banana plant fiber handcrafting. Thank you all those contribute to make this project possible and please see bellow the invitation letter and some links to documentary trailers. Roberto Lamego, director.

Documentary on sustainable development Dear Mr. Roberto Lamego, I am writing you today to find out if you would be interested and available to participate in a documentary series on sustainable development. Last year, the French TV producer Lato Sensu and the Productions Vic Pelletier from Canada, co-produced a documentary series entitled "Architects of change". And we now currently working on the second season. The documentary series consists of 10 X 52 minutes episodes, each featuring 3 "Architects of change" from different cultures and economic sectors all over the world. Again, the series will be broadcasted in France (TV5-Monde, Ushuaia TV) and Canada (Radio-Canada and TFO). Talks are under way with Discovery Channel and NHK Japan as well and UNESCO is one of our partners. The aim of the series is to explain and highlight solutions to environmental and social issues, presented through people who already apply sustainable development principles in their daily lives. We discovered your work as the founder of SALVEASERRA and would be honored to count you among our "Architects of change". Individuals such as you give hope for the future and encourage people to do something of their own. Please let me know if you are interested in participating in this series. We plan to film between November 2009 and April 2010. You can go on this site so you will have a better idea of our project: http://www.filmsdocumentaires.com/portail/artisans.html And on our site, you will see who have accepted our invitation last year: http://artisansduchangement.latosensu.tv/ All the best, Geneviève Bougie Scénariste-Writer Les Artisans du changement (Architects of change) Les Productions Vic Pelletier inc. Pleae see also at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMvbh8D8aeo http://www1.radio-canada.ca/emissions/les_artisans_du_changement/

The fish arrive at the water reservoir

Old greenhouse

Project Update

Roberto Lamego — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:42:00 GMT

Training of a school gardener.

Dear donors and project friends,

Project “Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil” continues its activities, and since last update report, this project made possible many things to happen here in our communities. We continue to search for possible recipients for new vegetable gardens donations, but this is not an easy task. Our first recipient continues his work and sells his production of different vegetables every Sunday at the local market. Mr. Helcione works as a mason most of his time but I am sure the income he gets from his garden helps a lot at the end of the month. With the end of the winter and with milder temperatures we will supply baby fishes for his water reservoir. He now has the means to feed these fish. We are supplying a truck load of cattle manure to his garden in a week or two. But, as I said, for many reasons it is not easy to locate and find new recipients for vegetable gardens donations. We even placed ads at the local newspaper and posters at the local market, without any result. As most of possible recipients are not ready to start an organic vegetable garden exploitation, we decided that the first thing to do was to improve the knowledge or in most cases introduce Organic Farming to them. Luckily there is a big organic producer in a neighboring town that regularly gives courses on organic agriculture and so in a course he gave in May we could offer 10 seats for possible recipients. His next training will be in September we will offer another 10 places. Please see the pictures of this course at the project page. As you know, this project runs together with GG project “Trees and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil”, that among other things, takes students for “a Day in the Forest” Ecological Trekking to the Concordia Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. Please find at the project page a link to this other project page. Most of these schools have vegetable gardens to provide the kitchen. But, believe it or not, these Municipal Schools gardens receive very little or no assistance at all from the Municipality. We saw that they needed help and we are trying to help, improving the vegetable gardens of these Municipal schools of Valença County. We are attending two schools and after winter holidays another two will receive our assistance and help. The two gardeners were students of the Organic Farming training course. For one of the schools we are providing a new watering system. Please see attached pictures of these two schools. As it has not being easy to find new recipients, we are working to enhance the production of sprouts of vegetables that are supplied to producers, helping one of them to make a new and much better production center. We are also studying the possibility of supplying a plastic water reservoir to another producer, all members of the local Organic Producers Association. The work continues, the project is better known today and some people are beginning to make contact with us looking for help or partnerships. I am sure that in the next report we will have many more achievements to show you. SALVEASERRA counts with your support to be able to develop these actions in a so needed and poor environment. Thank you all for your help and donations that make all this possible. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions. Thank you again for this support, Roberto.

The Organic Farming Course.

Students and the planting trays

GlobalGiving 1911 update.

Roberto Lamego — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:27:38 GMT

The project Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil is running slowly but well and Mr. Helcione, owner of the first vegetable garden is now producing several different products for the local organic market. At least 1/3 of his revenue is already coming from his garden. His water tank is full and with not much use during the rainy season, but we are starting to grow fish in this reservoir. Most of the food for these fish will come from his vegetable garden. The project administration is very happy with the achievements already obtained with this first donated vegetable garden and we consider that this is the beginning of the first Oasis. Looking for new places for Small Family Oasis project is not an easy task and two possible recipients recently inspected could not be assisted by SALVEASERRA/GlobalGiving Fund. As we can only support organic producers, Mr. Luis, a hard working man, could not be aided because his neighbor has a conventional production of non organic vegetables where chemicals products are used. Unfortunately these toxic products are carried away to his propriety by the wind and for this reason Mr. Luis could not be certified as an organic producer and we could not help him. A second example is Mrs. Margarida and a friend who are volunteer organizers and workers in a communal vegetable garden, in a very poor quarter of Valença. For the Oasis project this could be a wonderful opportunity to support this garden inside the city, already producing and with a big chance to involve local teenagers in the work for better food and some pocket money. This vegetable garden is very close to community houses and it could surely provide food and other products to many people in the neighborhood. But, as the land was lent to these people, the first thing to do was to communicate with the owner, explain the new project and ask her permission to go on with it. We don’t exactly what happened but the landlord said no and we unhappily could not proceed with this new Small Family Oasis project. We were all very sad with the impossibility of placing this vegetable garden and helping the enormous effort of these people. But the project goes on and this week, two schools in two other poor quarters of the town are having their vegetable gardens improved with the project help. Thank you all for your support and donations that make all this possible. Roberto

Project report

Roberto Lamego — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:51:42 GMT

Pumping water

Rainforest was explored with non-sustainable production methods that led to severe soil, water and landscape degradation, causing rural poverty and migration to cities.

The project just donated the first Irrigated Organic Vegetable Garden for a Brazilian rural family, in this case a Land Reform settler. This donation is helping him become an organic producer and is giving him means to live and produce on his land and from his land. In his "Small Family Oasis", the family can find work all year round, food, produce goods for the market, and there is occupation for women and young. We hope that this will bring them security, stability, better habitat and environmental conditions and income. SALVEASERRA have already located three new possible families to receive donations to support personal projects. Two vegetable gardens and a tree nursery. We are still getting to know them and their work, and before anything else, they are going to receive some training in a course on Organic Agriculture we are sending them this late November. In a new project, we are also helping to recover the vegetable gardens of two municipal schools in the outskirts of Valença, one with 250 students and another with plus than 550, hoping that from there we will be able to reach these poor communities. This project and approach to these needed citizens is made first with a lecture on environmental matters we give at the school and a week later, groups of 30 students and teachers and school aids are invited to visit the Serra da Concordia Wildlife Sanctuary, for "A Day in the Forest" a free environmental education program, in buses we hire for them. We receive these groups twice a month. All these activities are funded through the SALVEASERRA/GLOBALGIVING FUND created with part of GLOBALGIVING donations received. This Fund has the purpose of donating irrigated vegetable gardens and tree nurseries for needed people and communities and also to offer training courses on environmental and agricultural matters. I am sure that a small investment in a model that preserves nature and water and that can be reproduced everywhere, may represent the beginning of economical, social and environmental changes in the perspective of living of many Third World citizens and countries.

Placing water pipes

Sprinkling water

Project report

Roberto Lamego — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:21:50 GMT

Organic Vegetable Garden in production.

The Rainforest was explored with non-sustainable production methods that led to severe soil, water and landscape degradation, causing rural poverty and migration to cities. This project promotes the donation of Irrigated Organic Vegetable Gardens for Brazilian rural families, poor farmers and Land Reform settlers, searching to establish then as organic farmers and agroforestry producers and to hold them living on their land, practicing self sustainable ecological techniques and interacting with nature. The donation of Irrigated Vegetable Gardens makes possible to irrigate land and so create "Small Family Oasis" where families or associated workers can live all year round, planting their food, producing goods for the organic market, with occupation for women and young, bringing them security, stability, better habitat and environmental conditions. With these advances, the income of this family will raise and other improvements will be made in water and house sanitation, all resulting in more health and an increased living situation. Each vegetable garden donated will be treated and cared as an Oasis, here people work every bit of land and water is utilized carefully, making the best use of soil and water. How it works? At first, a fast growing irrigated vegetable garden area is established for the production of food and goods for the market. With the water of this central water reservoir, that has fish and ducks, it is possible to have permanent crops of different vegetables with distinct production cycles. Small sized farm animals can be raised in this area. The irrigated plantation of numerous kinds of fruit, palms and useful trees, planted the Agroforestry way, is undertaken as soon as possible because of their longer cycle to start producing. These trees, that provide food, shade, organic matter and protect the soil from the strong tropical sun and the presence of water, form a protected shelter that attracts birds and other fauna. At this moment, we are finishing the implantation the first Irrigated Organic Vegetable Garden donated to a Land Reform settled family. We expect that at least three people can immediately work from this vegetable garden and we hope that in one or two years from now two families will feed and live from this garden. Please see Photo Gallery for all the steps of the construction. We are already looking for another person to receive a second donation. This project already starts with the support of the SALVEASERRA FUND created with part of GLOBALGIVING donations, with the purpose of donating irrigated vegetable gardens and tree nurseries for needed people and communities and also to offer training courses on environmental and agricultural matters. I am sure that a small investment in a model that preserves nature and water and that can be reproduced everywhere, may represent the beginning of economical, social and environmental changes in the perspective of living of many Third World citizens and countries.

Roberto Lamego, director.

Peas. More than 7 kilograms were sold from this bed that is stil

The irrigation tank is ready.