Learning outdoors for children of the favelas

We are happy to report our partnership with Rocinha Creative English, an initiative that hosts a groups of kids from the Rocinha favela to teach them English and Art, has strengthened and we have developed a plan to host a group of 15 children every 2 months at SINAL to explore different aspects of environmental education, mindfulness and art!

Our last encounter was in December 2021, and we had a very special day. We used our ecodesign lab to play with clay extracted from our own campus, making bunny figurines, then we practiced meditation in the bamboo forest, followed by a free interpretation painting session!

After that, the kids had a chance to explore the magical bamboo forest and swim. We prepared foods based on our farm produce.

The kids will come back in February for a new day of activities!

A big thank you to all our donors who help us give children a space full of possibilities to get to know themselves, fall in love with the beautiful nature surrounding them, and have fun in the process! 

This month we had the opportunity to host for the first time in over a year a learning journey with children from impoverished communities in our campus!

Because of the pandemic, we hadn't been bringing people to SINAL. However, with the advances of the vaccination we were able to host the children from The Rocinha Creative English Programme to come and participate in many activities. The goal was to transmit a sense of care for the environment and show them the importance of sustainability.  

This group was particularly curious and full of energy, so it was great to kickstart our learning journeys again!

While on the journey, they had the chance to practice their English with SINAL’s team, which consists of people from different countries. Among the activities we  put together, we learned about the different types of soil and how to improve them for planting and reforestation, and how to treat different animals, by putting ourselves in their place.

We are so grateful to our donors for supporting us even through this unusual year. We are looking forward to creating more of these opportunities for children of marginalized communities with your help!

We continue to have caution with visits during pandemic. Most of our volunteering planting sessions have evolved into a program called Bosques da Memoria, a network of reforestation areas that organize tree planting sessions in honor of family members and friends victims of COVID. 

We have been humbled and honored to create that space for family members, receiving people of all ages. In the case of the little ones, they enjoy learning something new next to their families, being able to be an active part of the ceremony, and playing with SINAL's friendly pet Calu! 

We will continue to hold these events as an opportunity for people to honor their loved ones and get away from the city, and as vaccination progresses will open up more events specifically for children! 

A big thank you to our donors who have helped us keep going in these difficult times.

As health measures from the pandemic evolve, we have been slowly recieving a few volunteers to plant trees in one of our reforestation areas. We have been particularly careful to invite family members, especially if they have children, so they can have an opportunity to be outdoors, learn about their environment, and get their hands in the ground. 

We teach them about soil health with a little experiment comparing different samples, and explain the interdependence between the soil, the plants, and the animals, and how that keeps the sky clean and healthy too!

Both in the neighboring areas of SINAL, as well as in Rio, most families live in apartment complexes and other types of infrastructure without gardens for the families to safely spend some time outside. We have been very happy to provide a safe space for families to get back in touch with the environment!

Last report, we told you the story of the American School of Rio de Janeiro's project to teach children online about sustainability based on the day-to-day life at Sinal do Vale. The project was such a success, that Sinal do Vale has been working on the creation of its own online platform -this time in portuguese- to support teachers of the third grade in public schools of the area. 

With 7 knowledge stations with a video clip, a quiz and activities, the platform is designed for children to explore SINAL online, and carry out experiments at home with materials they can easily find. The launch will roll out the next school year, beginning in March 2021. For now, almost 500 schools in the Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Petrópolis areas are included in the launch plan!

You can see the platform here 

A big thank you to all our donors who have supported us particularly during this hard time - your generous donations have helped us adapt and offer relevant solutions to keep up our work as environmental educators!