ORCHESTRA DE CORDAS DA GROTA RELEASES FIRST CD
With special participation of musicians of the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra
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The first CD of students from Orquestra de Cordas da Grota.
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In June, the students of the Orquestra de Cordas da Grota (the Grotto String Orchestra) from the community Grota do Surucucu in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, a project BrazilFoundation supports, will launch their first CD presenting a diverse repertoire, including the classics of Vivaldi and Bach and popular Brazilian tunes such as “Tico-Tico no Fuba” and “Asa Branca.”
The release ceremony will take place in the Fine Arts Center of UFF in Niteroi on June 25 at 10:30 a.m. with a concert that will include the participation of David Chew, Nayran Pessanha, and Ubiratan Rodrigues, musicians from the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra (OSB).
Students from the community attend the concert in the Municipal Theater of Rio
On May 6, the Orquestra de Cordas da Grota received the visit of Leonardo Sa in their headquarters at Instituto Reciclarte in Niteroi; Sa is a member of the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra. The meeting was made possible by Armando Strozenberg, president of the advertising agency Contemporânea and an advisor to BrazilFoundation.
During his visit, Sa explained how a symphony orchestra works, the characteristics of the main instruments, and some details about how concerts are organized. He also made a brief analysis of the styles, similarities, and differences between Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40.” The OSB offered the students 40 tickets to a concert in the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro.
At the institute, dozens of children, adolescents, and young people take music lessons with a focus on string instruments such as violin, viola, and cello. BrazilFoundation has supported this project since 2004.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Partnership with Avina Foundation aims to improve management and communications in the institutions BrazilFoundation supports
The coordinators for projects supported by BrazilFoundation participated in two workshops on management and communication, which were organized in partnership with the Swiss foundation Avina as part of the Partnership Network. These meetings took place in August in Rio de Janeiro and in São Paulo with the goal of training 50 coordinators of projects selected by BrazilFoundation since 2002 in the Southeast region of Brazil. The meetings allowed the project leaders to share the experiences and challenges faced by the 25 participating institutions with the idea of improving the efficiency of their work and the sustainability of the organizations.
The workshops were run in groups coordinated by BrazilFoundation’s team and other specialized professionals. The expectation is that the participating institutions become stronger and expand their management capacity by raising funds and creating new partnerships.
In phase one held on March 28 and 29, BrazilFoundation’s project analysts and the leaders of Avina defined the content and methodology of the meetings and held workshops on management and communications in social organizations in Rio de Janeiro. Participants included Gilberto de Palma (Ágora Defesa do Eleitor e da Democracia), Ângela Dannemann (Instituto Multiplicar), Susana Machado (Ipê Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas), Luiz Guilherme Gomes (Oficina de Imagem), as well as Maria Eduarda Mattar (Rede de Informações para o Terceiro Setor – Rits) and Ana Cristina Nascimento (Firjan).).
BrazilFoundation believes that its role vis-à-vis these social institutions is much broader than that of a financial supporter, and for this reason it offers technical support and strives to stimulate the exchange of work experiences among the organizations that receive financing. BrazilFoundation intends to hold similar meetings and workshops in other regions of Brazil and to incorporate them into its monitoring and evaluation Program.
BRAZILFOUNDATION AND TAM FLY TOGETHER The airline donates tickets for visits to the foundation’s projects in Brazil
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A classroom and students of the project ASAS.
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TAM donated 70 tickets to BrazilFoundation to be used for visits to the foundation’s social programs throughout Brazil. This partnership, now in its second year, is essential for the foundation’s analysts to see up close the projects that are finalists in the project selection process and to monitor those that have already been chosen for funding.
Last year, in addition to donating tickets, TAM also financed five social projects “withdrawn” from the foundation’s Project Bank. BrazilFoundation’s team of analysts is monitoring these activities.
Training Projects for the Handicapped in Sao Paulo
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| A student of the project ASAS. |
One of the projects TAM supports, called ASAS (wings) promoted by the Institute for the Support of Children and Adolescents of Mogi-Mirim (São Paulo), is offering the handicapped classes in mathematics, writing, computer science, and specialized knowledge to enable them to enter into the job market. This project permitted the institute to sign partnership agreements with language schools and, since March 16, students have been taking classes in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.
Another project TAM supports, called Qualifying for Hire, run by the Paraplegic Association of Uberlândia, aims to inform the handicapped about the job market, labor laws, health and safety on the job, social security, and the development of team work. The goal of these two projects is to provide the tools to help young people find jobs in the formal (legal) job market.
The other three projects TAM supports are Ecological Patrol, in Caravelas, Bahia; Family and Life, run by the Diocesan Center for Support to the Small Farmer (CEDAPP) in Pesqueira, Pernambuco; and Health Support for the Elderly, run by the Casa de Santa Ana, in Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
PROJECT SUPPORTED BY BRAZILFOUNDATION WINS AWARD FROM MINISTRY OF CULTURE
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Members of Jongo celebrate with Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil.
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The project Pelos Caminhos do Jongo (Along the Ways of Jongo), supported by BrazilFoundation, won first place in the category “Traditional Expression,” part of the Ministry of Culture’s Living Culture award. The winners, chosen from 1,500 registered projects in three categories (Traditional Expression, Socio-cultural Technology, and Public Management), were announced with the presence of Gilberto Gil, an advisor to BrazilFoundation and the minister of culture, in the theatre, Circo Voador, on June 6 in Rio.
Délcio Bernardo, the projects coordinator, and other members of the Jongo group, were present to receive the award. Bernardo dedicated the victory to his community. He thanked the ministry of culture and BrazilFoundation, “the first organization to recognize and give visibility to the group’s activities.”
Jongo, one of the oldest expressions of African-Brazilian culture, combines body language, rhythm, dance and characteristic dress. Through the traditional group of “jongoeiros,” the project promotes and preserves the culture of Bracuí, a town where the descendents of a slave maroon society still live in Angra dos Reis and Paraty (RJ). The group also works with other cultural styles, such as maculelê, malabares, Angolan capoeira and gives classes about African history.
BRAZILFOUNDATION PARTICIPATES IN TEIA, THE FAIR OF POPULAR CULTURE AND ECONOMIC SOLIDARITY ORGANIZED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE
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Cleide Almeida shows a dress designed by women from Vila Mimosa.
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BrazilFoundation presented its mission and structure and explained the social projects it supports in the area of culture to the attendees of the Fair of Popular Culture and Economic Solidarity (TEIA) presented in São Paulo by the Ministry of Culture between April 6 and 9. This event brought together entities from all Brazilian states with the objective of highlighting culture as a tool for social transformation and supporting a network of popular commercial outlets.
Many community leaders visited BrazilFoundation’s stand looking for information on how to prepare their proposals for the next annual selection of projects. Present were representatives of social institutions from areas outside of the large urban centers, from places like Roraima, Amazonas, and Mato Grosso. BrazilFoundation was able to learn about their projects and hopes to expand its contact with organizations from these states.
Some of the institutions BrazilFoundation already supports had their own stands at TEIA, including eight organizations selected by the Ministry of Culture as “Culture Spots”. One highlight was the project called Griô: A Living Tradition from the city of Lençois in Bahia, which preserves the oral Afro-Brazilian traditions. Following the project’s notoriety, the Ministry of Culture was prompted to create a new category, called Griôs, within the Live Culture program.
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Raquel Diniz explains BrazilFoundation's work to a visitor at TEIA.
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Another “Culture Spot” present at TEIA was Ladies of Camelia, which put on a fashion show of clothing made by women from Vila Mimosa, the largest red light zone in Rio de Janeiro. BrazilFoundation supported the project run by the Association of Friends and Neighbors of the Vila Mimosa (AMOCAVIM) in 2005.
In addition to presenting and explaining its projects, BrazilFoundation also displayed products made by some of the institutions it supports. Many visitors were interested in buying the dolls, cosmetics, food items, and handicrafts that were on display and said they would contact the entities which make them.
Among the products that piqued most interest were the gourds made by the Association of Artisans of Santarém, in Pará, supported in 2004, and the wooden dolls made by young people on conditional leave from prison under auspices of the Gepeto Cre-ation from Ijui in Rio Grande do Sul, which has been receiving support since last year.
Raquel Diniz coordinated setting up BrazilFoundation’s stand, and the presentation of the foundation’s projects and programs was made possible by volunteers Gabriel Moron, Peggy Silveira, Carla Netto, Clarissa Correa and Fernanda Barroso.
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