Institute inspires changes by promoting literacy among women and children

It all started because Ilaci Oliveira Luiz, director and coordinator of the Instituto Nacional Lar dos Sonhos (“National Institute Lar dos Sonhos”) felt uncomfortable with the fact that the majority of the waste pickers working in the community landfill were functionally illiterate.

These women lived in extreme poverty because their only income came from the waste they collected to sell. Many of them died during the pandemic.

How did the organization help these women?

Ilaci explains that she assisted with food through donations of basic food baskets, in impactful literacy, and the result is that we have eight women attending school.

“After going through the institute and learning the basics, such as writing their names and recognizing numbers from 1 to 100, we refer them to school. We also refer women who want to undergo tubal ligation to the family clinic, in the case of those who have been pregnant more than twice.”

Other areas of operation

In 2010, Ilaci recounts that the arrival of the UPP – Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (‘Pacifying Police Unit’) made her more aware and focused on doing targeted work. It was then that she realized that men coming out of prison were seeking the Instituto Nacional Lar dos Sonhos (“National Institute Lar dos Sonhos”) for employability assistance, thinking they could get help, but Lar dos Sonhos couldn’t do much.

Ilaci, in addition to volunteering at the institution, also works as a parent educator, assisting parents and children in education.

Today, the main activities of the institute are adult and youth literacy, school reinforcement for children, family support, discussion circles with parents and older children focusing on general health topics such as cancer, breast cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, AIDS, STDs, diabetes and others.

These discussion circles are organized and conducted by healthcare professionals who provide services to the Clínica da Família Felippe Cardoso (‘Felipe Cardoso Family Clinic’), located nearby.

The current goal of the Institute is to bring sustainability to women living in the community, advance education, and develop higher quality work to gain recognition for the institute.

Additionally, it aims to empower more families involved in the organization while simultaneously benefiting from its services. There is also a concern to guide young people into the job market, engage in social and environmental work with families within the territory, through selective recycling collection.

The target audience includes mostly black women in a state of social and economic vulnerability. There are also 10 African families, individuals from the LGBT group, people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), dementia, and an average of 15 PwDs – People with Disabilities.

Needs of the Instituto Nacional Lar dos Sonhos

• Materials such as packs of A4 paper, whiteboards, pens, pencils, erasers, desks, chairs, and other school supplies.
• Volunteers who operate within the Complexo da Penha, to conduct workshops and provide academic support, but who are not afraid, because nobody messes with anyone.
• Funds to help pay rent, purchase snacks for the children, cover the costs of collecting various donations, and also bear the costs of outings with the children.
• Ilaci also mentions that they receive many donations but lose them because they cannot afford freight charges to collect them.

Did you like the project?

Help them! It’s a beautiful work that serves those in need and is very necessary in the community where it operates.

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