A project has been offering language courses with refugee teachers for 6 years

Credit: Disclosure

By: Gabriel Murga / Favela em Pauta – Lupa do Bem

The Cultural Abraço project is an initiative created six years ago, whose objective is to promote the exchange of experience and personal and cultural appreciation, in addition to generating income for refugees residing in Brazil through language courses.

Like many Brazilian stories, the Abraço Cultural project began with a football match. In July 2014, the Atados platform held the 1st Refugee World Cup in the country, which was simultaneously hosting the World Cup organized by the International Football Federation, FIFA.

Both events brought together athletes from different parts of the globe, but with very different realities among the players. This situation caught the attention of the organization’s founders, who were thinking about how to carry out a “more lasting project, capable of contributing to the mission of integrating these immigrants into our society”.

The classes, which have their own methodology and teaching materials, seek to convey more than just learning a new language. “We want to break down prejudices and cultural barriers, bringing different peoples together in a single place”, they emphasize.

The project was born in São Paulo in 2015, in the current headquarters located in the Pinheiros neighborhood, and in a branch in the Tatuapé neighborhood. The following year, the idea landed in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which currently has two units, one in Tijuca and the other in Largo de Machado. In these units, face-to-face classes for Spanish, Arabic, French and English courses take place.

In addition, Abraço Cultural offers the possibility of private and corporate classes, including online, facilitating access for people from all over Brazil and enabling the experience of cultural aspects of other countries.

Cultural Embrace Courses

Classes can be taken in intensive modules – lasting one month, offered in January and July – or regular modules, which last about four months per module. Registration for the January 2022 classes of the course will be open in November for classes in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The organization has its own methodology and materials, and they work not only on linguistic issues but also on specific cultural references, but always seek a communicative approach based on real situations. 

In addition to language classes, “cultural classes” are offered with other perspectives are highlighted, as well as cultural activities such as dance, theater, cooking, literature, music, and history, among others.

Since the beginning of the project, more than 60 teachers from 13 countries have been trained and hired, and more than 8,000 students have already taken the organization’s courses.

Brazil and refugee people

Generally speaking, a refugee is someone who leaves their country due to armed conflict, generalized violence, persecution of a religious or ideological nature, or massive violations of human rights, who is unable or unwilling to return to their place of origin.

As shown by data released last year by the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE), through the “Refuge in Numbers” report, there were more than 57,000 recognized refugees in Brazil.

Half of these requests were received and accepted in the last year alone, and the majority of refugees received between 2011 and 2020 are from countries such as Venezuela, Syria and Congo.

Haiti was one of the nationalities with the highest number of applicants in addition to the countries mentioned above, based on the CONARE report. The survey also points out the predominant age group of people seeking refuge in Brazil, from 25 to 39 years old.

Caritas’ historic support for refugees

One of the organizations that support refugees in Brazil is Cáritas, founded in 1976 during the period of the country’s military regime. The organization gave rise to the first regulated work to assist refugees in the country.

Cáritas has the support of the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR), internationally recognized for the relevant work it has developed over the last 45 years.

One of the projects developed by the Program for Assistance to Refugees and Refugees Seekers (PARES) is “Refugees at School”, which resumed activities last August.

The project seeks to promote the meeting between people in refugee situations and students from public and private schools, seeking to sensitize students about the condition of refugee people in the world, to combat prejudice and xenophobia.

“The meetings between refugees and students were so successful that they became a very important project, as a way of reaching future generations, working with them on the importance of defending human rights”, emphasizes Aline Thuller, general coordinator of PARES Cáritas RJ.

“In the lectures, we clarify who the refugee people are and what are the challenges they face, we bring children and young people closer to the current reality, through the refugee people’s report, and we promote values ​​of empathy and tolerance”, she says.