The World Cup here in Brasil was a mixed emotions event. The WC is basically a event run by FIFA and that means money. People in the favelas don't have access to going to games as the prices are just too much for people here to afford.
We made a tour here for 3 Americans who enjoyed their time here. I got an email from John Perdoch saying that him and his friends were leaving Rio to go to Sao Paulo. He had 3 WC tickets that he couldn't use and wanted to give them to us. I was shocked because the tickets were for 175 dollars which is about 450 reais each ticket, about half the monthly salary of a person here in the favela. I ended up giving the tickets to people who have worked with us and live in the favela. I want to thank John Perdoch and his friends for this awesome opportunity!
There are so many people who visited us over the World Cup that gave donations as well.
Cindy Matias who operates a website called Bag Tag Studio in Australia, brought school supplies. Andy Benbow kept with the theme of the World Cup and brought football pins that I gave out to kids playing football. Mina Mata thank you for your bag of donations. Debbie Bannister we will ensure all that you brought will be passed on to the respective destinations. The health supplies we are going to talk to a daycare and see if they can use some of them and the clinic can use the stethoscopes etc..
Janet Webb brought paintbrushes which are really a need for an Art School Espaco das Artes run by Rogerio Roque who not only handles the art school for children but also teaches about preserving the environment. Please check out his facebook page is he is one of our main recipients of donations.
Here's is Rogerio picking up bags of art supplies for his project. After he got to the art school he took a photo of what his school received.
Another person who impressed me with their energy and kindness was Nate Lewis. He came to do a tour with his 2 huge suitcases in hand because they had no where else to bring them. Jody, one of our helpers was able to store Nate's bags in his house so they could complete the tour. Nate brought many donations of school supplies for the projects we support here. Here is a photo of Nate enjoying posing with the kids he was playing football with. Nate please come back and stay here and we will find you a football team where you can join.
I had a woman contact me from a day care here in the favela requesting items for the children. Her name is Leidy Martins and she works at daycare called Creche Municipal Castelinho. This was great
because I have received so many donations of different kinds so I found items that are good for this little daycare school. Most of what I gave were school supplies, calculators, pens, colored pencils, erasers and sharpeners. She came by with her daughter to pick up two bags from our dj school during a class. See the photos below and please check out their facebook page Creche Municipal Castelinho.
This has been difficult for me because on July 11th, I caught a serious flu/cold and just today I am starting to get over it. Please be patient as through some time I will make sure all the donations are being distributed to the projects we support. When I receive donations, I first separate them into 3 sections. One for school supplies, one for games, toys or puzzles and the other for art supplies. I then contact the various projects and have one of the representative of the project comes by and picks up the donations which are already set for them. There are several projects we donate to. Just to name some Escola Moranguinhos, Fabrica Verde, Espaco das Artes and now the Creche Municipal Castelinho.
The important thing I need to say is the projects who receive these donations do not receive outside help from anyone. It has always been my objective to find the most needy projects and then give to them. There are over 60 NGO's in Rocinha and many receive help, but many also don't receive anything. So, I want to find those projects who are in need. I am always keeping my eyes open for others that need this help. If you know of a project that is in need, contact me. If you were an individual who donated and I did not include your name, my apologies! Your donation(s) will be distributed to one of our projects. To ALL of you a huge THANK YOU!!!!!
