{"id":20093,"date":"2015-02-08T17:12:09","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T20:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=20093"},"modified":"2016-01-28T17:50:28","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T20:50:28","slug":"summer-camp-in-santa-marta-resists-despite-lack-of-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=20093","title":{"rendered":"Summer Camp in Santa Marta Resists Despite Lack of Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For the original in Portuguese, published in Viva Favela, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Every year, children between 6\u00a0and 12 years old, from Santa Marta<\/a> favela in Botafogo in Rio\u2019s South Zone<\/a>, have a date with Rio’s\u00a0beaches, parks and other leisure spaces across the city. This summer\u00a0camp, which goes by the name of Col\u00f4nia Eco, has been active\u00a0every year for the last 36 years. It\u00a0has received\u00a0up\u00a0to 350 children in past summers, and this summer the number stands at\u00a0200 children. However, this year, a lack of sponsorship for the camp, as occurred\u00a0last year, means\u00a0the camp program has\u00a0been\u00a0reduced from 15 days to just a week and some of the traditional trips have been removed from the program.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The camp provides children with different options for keeping entertained during the holidays. Photo by Amaury Alves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The creators of the summer program have adapted it to account for the lack of sponsorship, but they are mobilized and ready to change things for the better.\u00a0\u201cFor 34 years, we have put on a 15 day program of activities. Due to a lack of resources we\u2019ve had to cut down to a week. The costs are high. Transport for the children alone costs R$3,000 per day. In the past we had sponsorship from the Brazilian Insurance Confederation, CNSEG, and at the end of February we\u2019re going to have some meetings with people interested in sponsoring us so we can go back to the original program,\u201d says Itamar Silva<\/a>, the coordinator of Grupo Eco<\/a>, the community organization that\u00a0first created the project in\u00a0the late\u00a01970s.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

On January 5, children participating in this year\u2019s summer program spent the day at Clube Megaville, a water park in Guaratiba in the west of the city. The following day they went for a walk on the beach in Flamengo and swam in the sea. The week\u2019s program also included a trip to the cinema. \u201cThe program is put together according to the children\u2019s requests,\u201d says Joc\u00e9lia Montes, one of the coordinators, who also regretted the reduced time frame. Another staff member, Barbara Barreto, agreed: \u201cWe can\u2019t let this work die.\u201d<\/p>\n

A history of solid partnerships<\/h3>\n
\"Itamar,<\/a>
Itamar, general coordinator, has been at the front of Grupo Eco for 36 years. Photo by Amaury Alves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1977, the then journalism student Itamar Silva, born and raised\u00a0in Santa Marta, created Grupo Eco with the intention of strengthening ties between the residents of the community in order to produce news about, and for, the favela. \u201cIt was a difficult period at the time and the idea was to motivate\u00a0people to think about issues in the favela, such as the lack of basic sanitation and problems caused by narrow streets, among others.” Grupo Eco produced a printed publication that reached a circulation of 3,000 and even a community TV station–Favela TV–which was active\u00a0until 2013.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Alongside the main\u00a0aim of improving community communication, Itamar had another idea which came out of a childhood memory. \u201cWhen I was a child, my teacher used to ask us to write an essay on our summer vacation\u00a0when we returned to class. For me, playing marbles and flying kites on the hillside was nothing special to write about, as it was what I did every day of the year. When I grew up, I decided to create a summer camp to take kids on trips so that they would have something to talk about,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhat characterizes our work is the focus on a right to leisure: the right to go anywhere<\/a> in the city, to be a child and to be able to occupy different spaces,\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most loyal\u00a0supporters of the project since it began has been the private school Col\u00e9gio Santo In\u00e1cio, that has loaned the use of its playground, sports grounds and swimming pools for children to use during one or two days of the holiday camp. The school also paid for the backpacks and shirts used by the group. \u201cSanto In\u00e1cio is a most important partner, which allows the children to play in a clean, tidy and safe\u00a0space where they are well looked after. The children deserve this and I believe it is our role to provide this–to look after them in a way that balances leisure with their safety,\u201d Itamar says. He credits other\u00a0partners including\u00a0SESC Tijuca and SESC Nova Igua\u00e7u (Servi\u00e7o Social do Com\u00e9rcio or Commerce Social Service–a private non-profit institution that acts throughout Brazil) which has helped create the program for the participating children. \u201cThis is a great partnership, especially because it allows us to discuss the role of these organizations that use public money.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Megalife”<\/h3>\n
\"Janara<\/a>
Janara Siqueira, who took part in the summer camp as a child, with her children Ra\u00ed and Ra\u00edssa. Photo by Amaury Alves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity that few children have access to,\u201d says camp monitor Janara Siqueira, 27, who took part in the summer camp as a child. This year she is accompanied by her two children. The eldest, Ra\u00edssa, 10, started taking part four years ago, to the dismay of her brother Ra\u00ed, now 6, who used to watch her through the window, crying as he waited for his sister to return. \u201cNow he is pure happiness,\u201d says their mother. \u201cI think it\u2019s great, really fun. I loved going to Megavida!\u201d shouts Ra\u00ed, referring to the Megaville water park. His mother laughs at his mistake, but she agrees with him.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

The affection Santa Marta residents have for the Col\u00f4nia Eco summer camp is such that some of them dedicate their time to volunteer for it. This is the case of the photographer Roberto Sousa. \u201cI was invited by one of the coordinators to take photos to mark the camp\u2019s thirtieth anniversary and the plan was just to spend one day taking photographs. But I came back for a second day, then a third day, and now I\u2019ve been here for six years,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Ana<\/a>
Ana Alice, 11, and her friend Raine, nine, sum up their experience: It\u2019s good to share!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those who take part in the summer activities as children often become volunteers and even coordinators of the program. Today the team consists of 40 people, all volunteers. \u201cThe work is about having fun, making friends, transmitting values and strengthening a sense of responsibility and companionship,\u201d explains\u00a0Joc\u00e9lia Gomes, who is accompanied by her granddaughter Nathalia. \u201cIt breaks our\u00a0hearts. If we could, we’d\u00a0make the summer camp last a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorlene Meirelles, one of the coordinators of the project, has been participating for 36 years. She\u00a0first took\u00a0part as a child at the age of 10\u00a0and three years later had already become a camp monitor. Today her role is to look after the group of children aged 11 and 12 years old. Her colleague Michael Luiz da Silva, 29 years old and participant in the project for 16 years, is responsible for the group of older children. According to him, the role includes monitoring activities as well as environmental and citizenship education.<\/p>\n

Ana Alice Souza Batista, 11, and her friend Raiane, nine, are part of the second generation of their respective families to attend the summer camp. They summarize their experience in a few words: \u201cIt\u2019s so great to be here and to share experiences\u00a0with others.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original in Portuguese, published in Viva Favela, click\u00a0here. Every year, children between 6\u00a0and 12 years old, from Santa Marta favela in Botafogo in Rio\u2019s South Zone, have a date […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":20195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1290,1503,1330],"tags":[378,1163,756,258,364,397,385,1292,1011,66,156,259],"writer":[1523],"translator":[1401],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-civilsociety","8":"category-opportunities-to-support-favelas","9":"category-translation","10":"tag-child-protective-services","11":"tag-civil-society","12":"tag-community-organizing","13":"tag-community-solution","14":"tag-community-based-organization-cbo","15":"tag-education","16":"tag-environmental-education","17":"tag-organizing","18":"tag-right-to-come-and-go","19":"tag-santa-marta","20":"tag-south-zone","21":"tag-youth","22":"writer-sol-mendonca","23":"translator-sarah-jacobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20093"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=20093"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=20093"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=20093"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=20093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}