Jamds Association seeks to assist the communication of children and young people with hearing impairment

Associação Jurema Amor nas Mãos para Deficientes Surdos (Jamds) (Jurema Amor Association in Hands for Deaf Disabled, in English) is located in the Urucânia housing estate in Santa Cruz, west of Rio de Janeiro. It is a colorful and cheerful space near the Supervia station, Tancredo Neves, where nursing assistant Jurema Duarte, 69, does beautiful social work out of pure love for others.

The land where it operates was granted by the state government, and the construction of the headquarters, which includes a soccer field, was financed by the program of the presenter Luciano Huck. It all started when Dona (Mrs. in English) Jurema, a very poor child, was taken by her mother to an aunt’s house for lunch. One of the children in the house was hearing impaired and Jurema had a great desire to communicate with her. That was how the desire to learn Libras, the Brazilian Sign Language, was born. Time passed and, already 54 years old, Dona Jurema started studying. As she says, she is still learning – she has already taken seven courses. But at that time, she just wanted to learn.

The start of Jamds

Some time passed and she realized that there was a lot of difficulty in communication between mothers with hearing impaired children. Where she lives, none of them knew Libras. Dona Jurema then combined the useful with the pleasant: she invited these mothers to teach them the language in her own home, as she could not do the mandatory internships to complete the courses. That’s how she realized that there were many deaf people living there, and she started teaching her children as well.

After a few years of teaching mothers together with their children, she decided to make a tribute, a get-together for the children, with the presence of a social worker, a psychologist and a pedagogue. On that day, children with Down Syndrome, wheelchair users, blind people, among other disabled people came. It was enough for Jurema’s heart to open to everyone, and the decision to institutionalize the work came.

The foundation took place on February 13, 2007, and only after ten years using her house as headquarters, with the help of merchants and neighbors, Dona Jurema won the assignment of the land to have the new headquarters built.

The association’s activities today

Today, in addition to children and young people with special needs, it also serves non-disabled people in situations of social vulnerability, living in and around the area.

The NGO Jamds offers trips and visits to cultural and leisure centers, ballet classes, jiu-jitsu, handicrafts, capoeira, soccer school, computer science, theater, folk dance, school reinforcement, and pounds, which is the flagship of the institution.

Dona Jurema Duarte says she has a lot of love for what she does, but that this is not enough, and that children, with disabilities or not, need professional care. The institution is in need of volunteers and the vacancies are for: occupational therapist, speech therapists, psychologists, psychopedagogues and computer teachers. Dona Jurema is also looking for a partnership with a company that donates material and/or builds a court on the site. Donations of computers are also welcome.

“They call me crazy for embracing this cause, but I take great pleasure in doing what I do. I am a drop in the ocean, but that drop makes a difference in the lives of these people. Many who have passed through here are now doing college, are teachers, micro-entrepreneurs, among others. If we can get a partner company to raise the court, the institution will be able to serve many more children, preventing many from staying on the streets learning things that are not cool.”, says Dona Jurema.

How to help

To help Dona Jurema, please contact: +55 (21) 967556598.

For financial aid, use the Pix key 08909057000110 (CNPJ of the institution).

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