Projeto Gramachinho transforms the lives of over 300 children through food and education
Initiative offers daily meals and facilitates access to other social benefits
Projeto Gramachinho is a non-profit institution that brings education, professionalization and food proposals to over 300 children in the region of Duque de Caxias, in Rio de Janeiro.
Created in 2013, Gramachinho operates where there was once a landfill, deactivated in 2012 and considered the largest dump in Latin America. With the extinction of the landfill, the place became a region of even greater misery, since the collectors and their families – who already lived in unhealthy conditions, but with the earnings that came from recycling material from the landfill – were left with no option of income.
Outraged with the situation of extreme poverty and exclusion, the founder Júlia Blakeney, along with other volunteers, started going to the community with books and food in her backpack. These items became the basis of the work that began there: food and education.
Over months and years, the initiative gained strength and engagement, transforming itself into a solid school that operates six days a week. The project’s proposal is always to bring education initiatives, professional training and permanent actions to combat hunger and reduce the vulnerability present in all homes. There are also proposals for technical courses with the objective to bring empowerment through education, culture and inclusion.
The beneficiaries are children, teenagers, solo-mothers, people in extreme social vulnerability and below the poverty line, without access to potable water, basic sanitation, public lighting or toilets.
Julia talks about some marks already achieved through the project’s development: “I consider as positive results so far the fact that we have held 76 art and culture workshops; the set up of a communitary library; the graduation of 46 mothers in professional courses; food and following of 300 children and teenagers, along with the partnership with UFRJ in the program of DHAA – Direito Humano a Alimentação Adequada (Human Right to Adequate Food)”, says her.
Among the activities offered by the project, there are: providing meals, the creation of a community library, shipping of food parcels, art and capoeira classes, tutoring, dental care, nutritional monitoring, professional training, fraternizations and monthly health collective efforts. According to Julia, the most important at the moment is people who show interest and commitment to increase the project’s development.
“Our NGO doesn’t have government help and neither has political associations, we survive exclusively with donations from those who want to impact lives in a positive way. The project needs your support, as its biggest difficulties are the lack of recurrent resources, since the donations are seasonal”, she says.
Julia is a 28 year old carioca (person who was born in Rio de Janeiro), graduated in Law School and post-graduated in Administrative Law, besides being a clinical psychologist by the Instituto Brasileiro de Psicanálise Clínica (Brazilian Institute of Clinical Psychoanalysis). She has written two children’s books, in addition to ten years of experience in social work and being completely passionate about transforming lives and changing the world through social projects.
To help the Gramachinho project, you can donate on the institution’s website.
Júlia é uma carioca de 28 anos, formada em Direito e pós-graduada em Direito Administrativo, além de psicanalista clínica pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Psicanálise Clínica. Ela já escreveu dois livros infantis, além de ter dez anos de experiência no trabalho social e ser completamente apaixonada por transformar vidas e mudar o mundo através de projetos sociais.
