Heading South...

I arrived in Rio de Janeiro on December 17th and I probably miss Bahia now more than I did then. I finished the semester in Capim Grosso and headed South to take on my other volunteer project in Rio. I started working this week (since they were closed for the holidays) at two NGOs that my cousin volunteers with part-time. They are both with children from ages 4-15 who live in the Morro de Formiga ("Aunt Hill") Community, one of the many slums of Rio which is part of Tijuca, a part of town. The kids usually attend these organizations for academic reenforcement, but since they are on Summer break, it´s all recreational until after carnaval. So Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I walk to the bottom of the hill where you get a motorbike or car (usually the guys standing around beat up cars with holes in them) for R$2. They climb the favela (which is extrememly steep so in this summer heat, most don´t attempt to walk it) and drop others off on the way, the favela taxi so to speak. Up there on those mornings, the kids are hyper and already running around at 9am. There are only around 20 kids right now, however, apparently during the school year, that number doubles. There are only 4 teachers to handle all these kids. We jump rope, the older guys play soccer, we play games, etc.. Then I go back down and the kids go up to their homes for lunch. Everyday of the week in the afternoons, I go to the other NGO at the bottom of the slum adjacent to one of the access stairways on up to the hill. The kids come down and we go up. There, I work with one other teacher and there are only 10 kids. Half of this group is also part of the other morning project that I mentioned previously. We do arts and crafts, play games, etc.. It never seems like they grow tired especially in the heat that it´s been lately. I have plans to reform a mural and do other art projects with both NGOs before I leave in late February. I will have pictures and more information soon! Just wanted to give a quick update...

The Student Exhibition!

I realize this post is overdue, but I finally remembered / found the time to update my blog and show the amazing fruits of our labor - the end of semester student exhibit in the city square in Capim Grosso. The photos are of the opening day of the exhibit which we decided to showcase in the square and had over 500 visitors! The students were glowing all day with pride and excitement. The work they displayed was from their semester-long project entitled, Family and I. Some of the photos chosen for the exhibit are shown in an earlier post where I show the students´ work. The frames were all hand built with the help of the volunteers from AEC-TEA. The students photos were accompanied by texts they wrote, speaking personally about family. I am so proud of these students and will miss them sooooo much!!!!

Some pictures from the start of the day...