To return to my main Brazil Web-site Home Page simply click on 'Page Reset' in the upper frame. To return to the good works sub-site Home Page click on the back arrow on your Browser navigation bar - but please note that this will only work if you have not yet clicked on a hyperlink on this page!!
If you read About This Web-site on my main Brazil Web-site
Home Page, you already understand that one purpose of this site is to encourage people to
get involved. But more needs to be said.
Grupo Acupe is an excellent program worthy of your assistance. Be sure to click on the
'GrupoAcupe' hyperlink in the top frame to learn about this program. You can always get back
to this page by clicking on 'PageReset' and then retracing your steps to return here.
Most inquiries I receive from people wanting to get involved come from people who want
to travel to Brazil to offer their time and services, so I will address that issue first. But
each of the following is discussed.
While time and assistance are needed, it often isn't as simple as it sounds. If you don't know Portuguese, or don't know it well enough to express yourself in Portuguese, that's a problem. Portuguese is a challenging language and English isn't as well known in many parts of Brazil as you might imagine.
Your safety is an issue, just as it would be if you were traveling to Los Angeles or New York or Miami without knowing your way around, and without already appreciating cultural differences between those communities and your own. Before you can be of any value to a struggling social program in Brazil, you must already have accounted for each of the following:
Few people have ever contacted us asking how they may contribute financially to support this web site. Donations to support maintenance of this site have never been solicited, and up until 2003, were never accepted. But losing my job of 26 years on 4 November, 2002, working with aging hardware and software, relying on phone line access, and realizing that the limitations of our personal resources are not likely to improve dramatically over time, I decided to accept unsolicited donations when offered. Anyone wanting to support this web site may mail a donation to:
Phillip Wagner
7358 Frederick East Drive
Indianapolis, Indiana 46260
USA
I strongly encourage anyone with the desire, and the resources, to underwrite constructive social engagement (that is "helping people to help themselves") in Brazil to invest some time and effort to identify a credible opportunity for doing so. Specific programs are only as deserving as the individuals involved are reliable. Even then, many deserving programs have never developed an infrastructure to accept and account for the disposition of formalized funding. Langauge barriers and communications infrastructure shortcomings often make it difficult to conduct a dialogue for providing the much needed (financial) assistance. Overcoming these barriers can be discouraging, so good intentions must be accompanied by persistent determination. Many good programs in Brazil are unsophisticated, loosely organized, and without English speaking representatives. Funding the provision of material, rather than direct financial, support is an excellent alternative approach. But be aware that mailing packages to Brazil is a very expensive proposition - so be sure to factor that cost into your budget from the start.
If this site should ever welcome the visit of a well to do philanthropist looking for a good cause, I would be happy to assist him, or her, to establish a program in Brazil (or elsewhere) that will be worthy of their time, intent and generosity.
Whether you want to contribute directly to support this web site, underwrite the work of an existing program in Brazil, or establish a foundation, here's what I recommend:
First decide on an amount, because how much you will contribute will largely determine your opportunitiy to do so. And note that checks drawn on American banks are not easy for programs in Brazil to cash. Small financial donation opportunities should focus on something like sponsoring a child in one of the social programs, providing a child with funds to purchase clothing, attend a good school, or maybe to take English lessons. Larger donations are more suitable for helping to underwrite activities at a program level.
Salvador da Bahia is the perfect example of something good waiting to happen. Bahia is the true cradle of African-Brazilian culture and an oasis of preserved culture in the African diaspora. Tourist dollars are a major source of economic development in Bahia. African-Americans today have more disposable income than ever before, and many of them are seeking to reconnect with their African heritage. There are few better places than Bahia for doing so. Even Africans have been known to make pilgrimage there to rediscover lost traditions. Spending your way through Brazil is as good as donating directly, since it helps to fuel economic development.
If you want to volunteer your services helping to maintain or improve this web site please contact me at the email address you see in the lower (footer) frame below.
Beyond this Web-site, Danielle Valim and I have assisted BBC radio, a French-German television crew, and a European film documentary crew that traveled to Bahia on assignment. Their work helps to raise awareness in immeasurable ways and any similar projects would be of considerable assistance.
Raising awareness is something everyone can do. Most people don't take the time contribute in this way, perhaps not realizing how simple it is or how helpful it is. You can help to create greater awareness of existing programs like Dida and Ile Aiye. You can help create greater awareness of the need for assistance. And you can help make people aware of existing efforts, like this Web-site, to do the same. Anyone can create a Web-site or - at a minimum - make a real effort to just tell people what you already know about what's going on.
Opportunities to help are as varied as the people who have an interest in helping. I provided contact information for a Swiss dentist who establishes 'dental clinics on wheels' in Brazil. They travel from favela (slum) to favela serving the poor. One man's desire to bridge the digital divide in Rio has grown into a major program that refurbishes donated used computers. With those computers, he has established Internet Cafes throughout Brazil that offer access to people who would otherwise not have it. Excess stock of simple items like paper and pencils can fill a critial need - reference my Brazzil Magazine article on Dida from my main Brazil Web-site Home Page. If you have a serious idea, and will reliably follow through on your commitments, then I'd be happy to discuss it with you - my own time permitting.
No link back to my main site ("Phillip's Brazil Web Pages") is needed. Simply click on 'Page Reset' in the top frame to reset my Web-site to it's original display. If you don't see what I'm talking about you probably got to this page directly. In that case; please logoff and re-enter at http://www.iei.net/~pwagner/brazilhome.htm. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Return to the "Good Works of Brasil" (Social Programs in Brazil) gallery page
Maintained by Phillip Wagner. Last updated: 05/07/03
Copyright 1998 Philip Wagner