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Life on the streets is incredibly dangerous, largely due to violence and the prolific drug smuggling trade. For over 10 years, we have provided a home and sanctuary for children on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The majority of these children have been abandoned by their parents or have been victims of domestic violence or sexual exploitation.
A Vital Refuge
Since the Brazilian government published their National Family and Community Life Plan in 2005, the municipal government has begun providing shelters for the street children.
Although these children now have a roof over their heads at night, they are still far from safe. Spending all their days on the streets, they are still easy prey to drug traffickers and vulnerable exploitation.
New Purpose
With the government now providing shelter and protection overnight, we found ourselves free to move out of these activities and to help these still vulnerable children in different ways.
To that end, our former home has been converted to expand the activities of our adjacent community centre. We have started a new music school in this building which provides a fun and sociable musical education while protecting children from the dangers of the streets.
In the first year of the Music School's opening, 80 children have attended and started learning different musical instruments. In their second year now, the children will all choose the instrument they would like to specialise in and learn to play together as a cohesive ensemble.
The kitchen area of the former home has also been put to good use as the base for new cooking workshops. Many of the street children are malnourished as they don't have the money to buy healthy, well-balanced meals. The cooking workshops teach the families of the street children how to cook nutritious meals at low cost so the children can be well-nourished.
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