Feed & Educate: Keep Kids Safe in Brazil's Favelas

School Support and Literacy for Children

The first time slot of the reforço (school reinforcement) half-days remains dedicated to school support: two half-days per week are focused on Portuguese, and the other two on mathematics.

Most of the 15 new participants in reforço are aged 7 to 8 and are in the process of learning to read. Alongside them are those who, despite attending school support for one or more years, have been unable to progress in this area. In total, about 20 children are at the syllable-reading stage. As we do every year, we grouped the children by level after a first week of evaluating their respective skills.

For the group at the lowest level, we organize daily playful activities around reading, using basic materials like cards, cubes, and alphabet boards. It’s a joy to already see some progress, with certain children becoming more focused. Unfortunately, for others, reading difficulties seem more deeply rooted and sometimes appear to be linked to what seems to us like dyslexia. These children would require more specialized support than the association can provide.

For the more advanced children, we continue to offer activities designed to cultivate their love for reading, writing, and creativity: group writing exercises, poetry creation, and song composition for Mother’s Day or Easter. These activities are tailored to the themes we address (see the dedicated page). They also have a workbook, similar to a vacation activity book, where they complete small tasks such as reading texts with comprehension questions, grammar exercises, and punctuation practice.

Motivating them can be challenging, as many come from families where the parents are illiterate and do not see the necessity of these skills. Some children also believe they are “stupid” and incapable of succeeding. This is where reforço takes on its true meaning: we encourage them, value their efforts, and show them that they are capable.

The Project with Teenagers

The project continues to thrive with the same energy and enthusiasm, but a few new initiatives have been introduced to better address our educational mission with these adolescents: awakening their curiosity and developing their talents.

One key change has been dividing the two groups (morning and afternoon) into five teams. Inspired by scouting principles, the pedagogical aim of these teams of four or five adolescents is twofold: to empower the older members, who act as team leaders and mentors for the younger ones, and to foster a genuine sense of teamwork. This is not the kind of teamwork they often associate with football, where others are valuable only if they help you win, but a spirit where everyone uses their talents for the benefit of the group. For instance, each week, a different team is responsible for various duties in the activity room. As a team, they assign tasks such as filling water bottles, turning off the lights when leaving the room, and so on. After one semester, we are pleased to see promising results from this new structure.

Another change has been the discontinuation of academic support for the teenage group. Last year, we devoted two hours a week to school support, but the group’s academic levels were too varied, making the sessions too challenging to manage. For now, we have shifted our focus to more hands-on activities aimed at helping them discover their talents and sparking their curiosity. Among other activities, we’ve made candles, Brazilian bracelets, and collaborative drawings. We are currently exploring a system for next year that could allow those interested to continue benefiting from academic support.

This semester has been marked by memorable moments in the vegetable garden. All the teenagers actively participated in gardening activities, and it was a joy to see them encourage one another as they worked together to pull out a large root or focus intently on planting tomato seedlings correctly. We had a bountiful harvest of cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, basil, and chili peppers, and the teens were thrilled to pick the fruits of their labor.

The only downside was the fate of our beautiful tomatoes, which couldn’t resist curious hands and theft. However, this proved to be an educational opportunity, as the teens gained a firsthand understanding of the harm caused by stealing—even something as small as a tomato.