In an exclusive interview, deacon Mauro Furlan and Sister Adma Cassab talk about the catholic ONG’s performance with more than 280 beneficiaries in Grajaú, São Cristóvão, Duque de Caxias e Vila Isabel
For 20 years, Associação Beneficente AMAR has worked tirelessly and lovingly defending the rights of children and adolescents in situations of economic poverty and social vulnerability. Inspired by Catholicism, it was founded in July 2000 by the nun Sister Adma Cassab Fadel and the deacon Roberto José dos Santos, who are part of the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, and by the deacons Sebastião Bernardino de Andrade and Mário Loureiro de Morais, from Duque de Caxias – RJ.
In a very relaxed and charismatic interview, Mauro Furlan, Project Coordinator at AMAR, and Sister Adma Cassab Fadel, who participated in the process of creating the Statute for Children and Adolescents (ECA) in 1990, talk about this important work in the Rio de Janeiro in which the two have been involved since the beginning. Deacon Furlan reveals that currently the biggest challenges for social projects are fundraising and keeping the projects running, considered an ongoing challenge.
“The challenge is to keep us up to date in two ways: always having all the documentation up to date and meeting the requirements of funders. As they are financiers from other countries such as Italy, Belgium and Germany, it is necessary for the institution to adapt to the needs of the direct beneficiaries, financiers and employees, because, if there is no harmonious construction, any institution breaks down, it is a living body. This is how we have been keeping the institution on its feet for 20 years, this is a victory”, says Furlan.
Follow the Mauro Furlan interview in full:
Neuza Nascimento: What are AMAR’s projects?
Mauro Furlan: Today, the School Reinforcement after school hours is one of the main projects, where work is carried out to rescue homeless children in downtown Rio de Janeiro and in Greater Tijuca. In addition, we have the Rio Girls Project, for girls and young people in situations of social difficulty, the Casa de Acolhida Integral, where 20 boys live, and the Vocational Courses, for young people who are socially-educated and with limited freedom. These are recurring projects that directly impact the lives of these young people, who are referred by the Integrated Resource Center for Adolescent Care (CRIAD) in Rio de Janeiro, with whom we have a partnership. We also have a project aimed at pregnant girls and adolescents, where sponsorship of beneficiaries and other smaller initiatives is carried out. This is AMAR’s job. Currently, there are more than 280 direct beneficiaries and their families, indirectly, who are served among the four AMAR centers, with social assistance monitoring and receive Basic Baskets.
Neuza Nascimento: What age group is served?
Mauro Furlan: School Reinforcement, from 7 to 14 years old, because we realized 20 years ago that school dropout occurs precisely in the 10 to 12 age group. The shelter ranges from 7 to 14 years old, because that was the age of most of the children we found on the streets that it was possible to recover, because from 15 or 16 years old onwards it was more complicated. And the service to young people aged 14 to 23 is more focused on professional training. This age group is being attended to because in 2014, with the Olympics and the World Cup, they cleaned up the city, sending all the street children away and with that we changed the focus to young people with the intention of preparing them for the world of work.
Neuza Nascimento: What is the process for joining AMAR?
Mauro Furlan: Children and adolescents from the communities arrive through dialogues with the local Residents’ Association or are referred by the Social Assistance Reference Center (CRAS). Publicity on social networks also helps, either by spontaneous demand, which those who are already attending the project and calling others. And, in the case of the shelter, they arrive on the order of a judge for abandonment, mistreatment, carelessness or abuse. In spontaneous demand, an interview is carried out and, depending on age, the presence of a responsible person is required.
Neuza Nascimento: In the case of children referred by a judge, how long do they stay with you?
Mauro Furlan: They stay with us until they find a close relative, a substitute family or return to their family of origin, if possible.
Neuza Nascimento: How is the AMAR team formed?
Mauro Furlan: We have 40 employees, divided between the four houses, each with its own team. They are sociologists, coordinators, social workers, educators, pedagogues and pedagogical coordinators. All are paid.
Neuza Nascimento: How does the institution maintain itself financially?
Mauro Furlan: Each project has a funder or funders that were built during these 20 years of AMAR’s existence. We have partnerships with Italy, Belgium and Germany. In Brazil, donations are voluntary from individuals and legal entities and we also always participate in public notices, such as Criança Esperança. We had a great partnership with Petrobras for many years, but with the entry of the last government, all support for Petrobras’ social projects ended. We are always looking for partnerships, because professionals who work with Education need to be paid, and this is the biggest problem for any non-profit institution.
Neuza Nascimento: How was the service during the height of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic?
Mauro Furlan: In March of last year, we only kept the full reception, delivery of Basic Baskets and administrative work. In September, we started face-to-face service with small groups. We had to go back because the children were abandoned, as the schools were closed. Overall, one way or another, we managed to stay present in the families. The inflow of funds decreased significantly, but, due to our structure, there were no layoffs.
The creation of the Association, its challenges and victories
Sister Adma Cassab Fadel, with 84 years of pure charisma, vitality and joy, participated in the process of creating the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA), the main legal and regulatory framework for the rights of children and adolescents in Brazil, and was honored in 2016 as a Benevolent Citizen, with the Pedro Ernesto Medal, by the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. Today she is active as vice president of Associação AMAR, in addition to being one of its founders. Defender of the rights of children and adolescents, she also protects women’s rights.
Follow the interview with Sister Adma Cassab Fadel:
Neuza Nascimento: How was AMAR created?
Sister Adma: Each of us founders had already worked with street children on our own initiative. I am a religious of the Don Bosco Salesian Congregation, created to welcome children and adolescents in situations of risk and extreme poverty, providing these children with a foundation of education, knowledge, instruction and guidance for life. At the time, I met with Professor Roberto José dos Santos, who worked at the General Department of Socio-educational Actions (DEGASE) in Rio de Janeiro and, by chance, he was looking for someone to help him in an initiative with street children. . During our conversation, ideas emerged, however, without support, it was very difficult to achieve our goals. We met with several other people who were already doing this work of welcoming, protecting the most impoverished and that’s when we met a Dutch priest. This priest was very uncomfortable seeing street children around Sala Cecília Meireles, in Lapa, and being a foreigner, with advanced age and with other occupations, he could not and did not know how to get close to a child. When we talk to him, we expose our work with street children. This matched exactly what he needed. He said: “I am distressed by the abandoned children who are there in Lapa, I don’t know how to approach them, but I can finance a job that is at their service”. And that was all we didn’t have, funding, while he needed the ability to get close to a child. It was the happiest encounter I had in my vocational life to help the poorest and most abandoned.
Neuza Nascimento: What was the biggest challenge?
Sister Adma: The biggest challenge was meeting people who didn’t understand our work, didn’t know the reality of those children and mistreated them for it. And when they mistreat these children, they mistreat us too. This was the great challenge, seeing how those people felt uncomfortable with the presence of those children, without realizing that they were not to blame for being in that situation. They were children and teenagers who were simply abandoned by the family, the school, the government. Understanding this reality really was our biggest challenge.
Neuza Nascimento: What does victory mean to you?
Sister Adma: Victory for me is fulfillment, it is the success of the lives of the boys who passed through here. The success of each of them, that is victory. I have to live the rest of my life on my knees, thanking the Lord for the opportunity to witness this. Everyone I meet is in a situation of dignity. I live in a house with other elderly sisters and the other day a health team went there to vaccinate us. A young gentleman, a member of this team, came to meet me, calling me by name. I got scared and asked who he was. He replied that he was one of the boys I had taken in in the past. I was very happy. It was a very special moment, it’s not rare, I’ve had many, but this was the most recent.
Purpose of the NGO AMAR
The NGO AMAR started by helping people in situations of social vulnerability and homeless people. Currently, the actions have been extended to the communities, strengthening the dialogue with the local Residents’ Associations. AMAR was born to continue the work and personal will of its founders to provide equality and human rights.
Its own headquarters is located at Rua Visconde Isabel, in Grajaú, Rio de Janeiro. AMAR has four centers, namely Casa Dom Helder Câmara, located in Grajaú, Centro Educativo São Cristóvão, in São Cristóvão, Casa São Mathias, in Duque de Caxias and Casa de Acolhida Frei Carmelo Cox, in Vila Isabel.
How to support AMAR
You can join and be a contributing member through the website. Donations are welcomed through the campaign hosted on the Benfeitoria page or can be made directly at one of AMAR’s offices. Food, clothing, shoes and hygiene and cleaning materials are accepted. Offers from volunteers who want to organize parties and events for the children in foster care are also accepted. The institution is open to any and all help.
To become a volunteer, it is possible to schedule an interview through the telephone numbers (21) 2258-7890, (21) 2258-7898, (21) 97603-2081 (also WhatsApp) or contact via email contato@associacaoamar .org.br
Everyone is invited to get to know the AMAR Association and see up close the work carried out on behalf of children and young people with love and respect.
The main office is located at Rua Visconde de Santa Isabel, 480, Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro. You can also find AMAR on Instagram and Facebook.
