View our latest mission trips to Campo Largo here.
Open Hands is building 8 transitional homes in Campo Largo – a suburb of the city of Curitiba, to help vulnerable families move from the favelas (slums).
This second Open Hands community will also provide ongoing pastoral support, a family/education centre and a playground. Mission Direct has been involved from the start of both this project and Open Hands 1, helping to prepare the sites, build and decorate the homes.
In phase 1, 21 houses were completed and 21 families’ lives were transformed. Now in the second phase, two houses have already been built and work on a third is well underway.
For more information, visit their website.
Lar Feliz is Portuguese for ‘Happy Home’. The purpose of this children’s home is to provide a new life for vulnerable sibling groups. The original Curitiba building was no longer suitable, so we assisted with the building, tiling and decorating of the three new houses. We continue to take volunteers here to meet the house parents and their amazing children – each rescued from lives of violence and abuse, to provide support to this incredible programme.
A residential adult addiction treatment centre which operates a very structured programme lasting seven months, based on Christian principles. You will spend an afternoon taking part in a Q&A session with the residents, sharing a snack with them and touring the facility, You will hear some of the most amazing stories of faith in action and lives being completely turned around.
An outreach ministry based in the heart of the city supporting and caring for the homeless, women working on the street and those living in poverty. The project is run by dedicated members of the local Baptist church. They hold twice weekly evangelical services and bible studies prior to providing a wholesome meal for the attendees. You will join in one of these lively services and help the project volunteers to serve a meal to the men and women attending.
School for many children in Brazil lasts just half a day because of the lack of resources, meaning that only core subjects are taught. Pre & after school clubs such as these provide additional activities such as art, drama, bible teaching and sport – but just as importantly, these activities keep young children occupied and reduce the chances of them drifting into crime, gangs and drug use. They also raise their awareness that life offers them opportunities outside the favela. Many of the children have suffered abuse at the hands of one or more family members and these projects provide them with much needed love and support in a caring environment and work closely with the local child protection agencies.
This project provides a safe home for vulnerable and abused mothers to raise their babies and to get the help and support they need to start planning a better, independent future.
View our latest mission trips to Rio de Janeiro here.
CADI (Centre of Assistance & Full Development) is located in Complexo da Mare to challenge the culture and belief that ‘drug trafficking is the only way out of poverty for young men & women’ in the favela. Our work with them aims to prevent children being lured into the world of drug trafficking for easy money, where they are met with the reality of gang violence, crime and exploitation.
We are aiming to construct a further floor of the CADI building to create two new classrooms. One of the classrooms will be used to run a sewing workshop which will empower local women from the favela to develop skills, helping them to generate a legitimate income for their family outside of drug trafficking. The workshops will also help women with social and psychological issues that prevent them realizing their potential. The other classroom will be a multi-purpose area, but will essentially be used as a robotic workshop with the aim of providing children with an alternative to entering into a lifestyle of drugs and sex.
There are also plans to develop the old baptistery to create new toilets and restrooms for the community building. The main rooms also need decorating, so there are a variety of jobs to do.
Having identified the cultural needs of people living in the community, this educational project provides extra support for teenagers and adults to realise their dreams of going on to university or college. The centre also provides literary classes for adults.
A sports complex developed and built for the Mare community providing many sports and other activities for children and adults. The project brings divided communities together through various sports and teaches potential gang members to respect and live peaceably with one another.
Memory museum – the only museum in the world showing the history of the favela – how the favela formed and has developed over the years – based on the Mare Community. We start each of our trips here to give context to the mission.
Started 23 years ago as a shelter for street children, this Christian project is now a school, many of whom are victims of aggression, domestic violence, truancy from school and child slavery.
