Job Training for poor mother- sick children Brazil

JOB TRAINING FOR POOR MOTHER-SICK CHILDREN BRAZIL

Update October 2011

 The Professionalization Project  increase and improve a lot since the beginning.

 Saúde Criança made some huge changed in the last year, becoming a social franchise and spreading the methodology on that model through Brazil.

 Since the beginning of the project, during the past  years now we have offered to students 1730 work tools and 2725 professional training courses, internal and external and we hope to keep increasing the numbers of graduation.

 During those years, we had a lot be proud. Some great results and families histories that make us going, searching from results like that mother Silvana and her daughter Renatha.

Renatha was a healthy eight-year old when, all of a sudden, she started to get weak fevers that would come and go, with no particular symptoms associated with them. Silvana, her mother, thought these fevers were caused by a mere cold. But the fevers would not go away. Renatha was taken to a local health unit, and later remitted to a hospital. Nobody knew what was wrong. At last, Silvana took her daughter, Renatha, to Hospital da Lagoa, where she was diagnosed with a lymphoma. “Okay, so what does that mean?” –said Silvana, unaware of the gravity of the disease. “It’s a type of cancer,” said the doctor. “If she gets chemo she could leave the hospital, if she doesn’t get chemo, she will leave us,” he added.

 After the initial shock, Silvana turned to Saúde Criança: “I got there expecting the worst. What am I doing here?” –she wondered. “I never thought one day I would need help.” Time management was a great concern for her, as she would have to spend an undetermined period of time at the hospital with her daughter. Before Renatha was diagnosed with cancer, Silvana had managed to make ends meet as a manicurist in São João de Meriti, Baixada Fluminense (RJ). Her daughter’s disease, however, changed everything. Silvana would now have to stop working, a luxury that, as an independent beautician, she could not afford.

 Silvana was not alone. “You come from a life where you never get any words of encouragement. Suddenly you get there [Saúde Criança] and they say: “you are not alone.” That’s how it works at Saúde Criança: you’re never alone.” In addition to receiving a housing stipend, in her two years at Saúde Criança, Silvana received formal training as a manicurist, hairdresser, hair colorist, and make-up artist. She earned a diploma, working tools, and self-esteem. Renatha got chemo and lost all her hair, but she never lost her courage and the will to move on. She continued her studies and defeated cancer. Today she is her mother’s greatest supporter. She started a blog , so that her mother could advertize her work as an independent beautician. Renatha responds to all the emails, is engaged in various social networks, and is always looking for new ways to support her mother. Silvana, in turn, decided to reciprocate all the help she got when she most needed it. She has participated as a volunteer at Saúde Criança’s “Beauty Day,” where students and volunteers from the institution’s beauty courses offer free services for women. Additionally, Silvana is a hairdressing instructor at Roda Viva, an NGO in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro.

Links:

• Search for us on internet
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• Mother and her daughter (DOCX)

The project Bringing Families together trough education increase and improve a lot since the beginning.

During those 19 years of project we realized that the majority of our families don’t have any income or profession qualification. From that we realized that the professionalization of them is essential to allow them to leave the cycle of needed of assistance and truly walk to be a citizen and have social dignity.

Now in December we had our graduation day, 56 mothers form the families attend gratuated in our Professionalization Project divided in seven different areas: Cooking, Beauty classes that involves Hair dressing, manicure, make up, wax and hair dye. The party was in our headquarter and the cooking students did the cake and snacks.

The courses are during the year and each one has the length of 2 to 4 months with the goal of giving income for the family.In 19 years,the project already graduated 2569 persons, like the hairdresser Andrea, that lived in a huge favela in Rio de Janeiro. She entered Saúde Criança when her son had a serious asthma crises and had to stayed in Lagoa Hospital.The doctors there sent her to Saúde Criança and since that her life changed a lot.

In her words "With Saúde Criança I'm able to but my son medicines.My income and the food in my home also improve a lot."Now she is graduated in hairdresser and work at home with clients form the community.

Links:

• See our website