Estrela da Favela is an educational project in Rio de Janeiro’s Mangueira favela, founded in 2012 by Dutchman Edwin Roodenburg and Brazilian Edna Silveira. Edwin had previously set up a number of social projects in other notorious favelas, while Edna brings a wealth of experience as a social worker and more than 20 years of working experience in an orphanage. There are also five teachers working at Estrela da Favela, a sports teacher and two music teachers. A varying number of volunteers also put in a lot of work.
In Estrela da Favela’s two buildings, teachers teach more than 150 children aged 5 to 17 every day. They are tutored in subjects that are taught far below par in public schools. The children receive lessons in math, Portuguese, geography, history and English. Besides the regular lessons, we also pay a lot of attention to life skills and social skills. We organize biweekly meetings with children and/or their mothers where life questions and problems are discussed.
During sports activities, such as beachtennis and soccer, the children learn that besides being healthy, fun and relaxing, sports are also educational. Thus, they learn at an early age that cooperation, rules and structure are necessary to achieve common goals. Every week a van leaves from the neighborhood to the Copacabana beach for beachtennis!
Mangueira has traditionally been one of the most important favelas in terms of samba and carnival. But samba is losing popularity as youth prefer to listen to pop music and favela funk. At Estrela da Favela, two music teachers are working to keep the samba alive in Mangueira, and the kids are enthusiastically taking advantage of it. It has already resulted in an Estrela da Favela song – heard on Spotify – in collaboration with Nilze Carvalho.
Our goal is to prepare children for further education or a dignified job, while at the same time teaching them social skills for life. This gives them a chance to escape poverty and strengthen their place in society. We pay special attention to the development of girls, because in the macho culture of the favela, they will usually raise the next generation. But, we also teach boys in particular that the relationship between men and women can be different from what they are used to in the favela.
Eight students have been accepted to college and the first three recently graduated! Dozens of children have gone on to high school. But the greatest success is that in all the years of our existence, only one teenage girl has become pregnant, a common phenomenon in the favelas. Also, only one student was unable to resist the temptations of crime, but he fortunately came to his senses and is now back on track.
Estrela da Favela is an educational project in Rio de Janeiro’s Mangueira favela, founded in 2012 by Dutchman Edwin Roodenburg and Brazilian Edna Silveira. Edwin had previously set up a number of social projects in other notorious favelas, while Edna brings a wealth of experience as a social worker and more than 20 years of working experience in an orphanage. There are also five teachers working at Estrela da Favela, a sports teacher and two music teachers. A varying number of volunteers also put in a lot of work.
In Estrela da Favela’s two buildings, teachers teach more than 150 children aged 5 to 17 every day. They are tutored in subjects that are taught far below par in public schools. The children receive lessons in math, Portuguese, geography, history and English. Besides the regular lessons, we also pay a lot of attention to life skills and social skills. We organize biweekly meetings with children and/or their mothers where life questions and problems are discussed.
During sports activities, such as beachtennis and soccer, the children learn that besides being healthy, fun and relaxing, sports are also educational. Thus, they learn at an early age that cooperation, rules and structure are necessary to achieve common goals. Every week a van leaves from the neighborhood to the Copacabana beach for beachtennis!
Mangueira has traditionally been one of the most important favelas in terms of samba and carnival. But samba is losing popularity as youth prefer to listen to pop music and favela funk. At Estrela da Favela, two music teachers are working to keep the samba alive in Mangueira, and the kids are enthusiastically taking advantage of it. It has already resulted in an Estrela da Favela song – heard on Spotify – in collaboration with Nilze Carvalho.
Our goal is to prepare children for further education or a dignified job, while at the same time teaching them social skills for life. This gives them a chance to escape poverty and strengthen their place in society. We pay special attention to the development of girls, because in the macho culture of the favela, they will usually raise the next generation. But, we also teach boys in particular that the relationship between men and women can be different from what they are used to in the favela.
Eight students have been accepted to college and the first three recently graduated! Dozens of children have gone on to high school. But the greatest success is that in all the years of our existence, only one teenage girl has become pregnant, a common phenomenon in the favelas. Also, only one student was unable to resist the temptations of crime, but he fortunately came to his senses and is now back on track.
