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A refuge from the hardships of poverty

About the size of the continental United States, Brazil boasts modern cities, a 4,000-mile coastline and the largest rain forest in the world—the Amazon. But the colorful pageantry of Carnival, lively samba and beautiful beaches mask the extreme poverty found in Brazil.

CFCA’s Hope for a Family sponsorship program in Brazil reaches out to children, youth and elderly members through projects in Cipauba and Mineiros. Although the assistance provided through each project addresses different needs—Cipauba is a rural environment and Mineiros is urban—both offer resources and support to help families on the path toward self-reliance, and to give the elderly hope.

St. Gabriel School is an oasis of learning

The Hope for a Family program in Cipauba offers 180 sponsored children from preschool through seventh grade the opportunity for a high quality education combined with family outreach. Were it not for the local community São Gabriel (St. Gabriel) School, students would have to travel nearly 10 miles to attend the closest public school.

The school, founded in 1996, also serves as the CFCA project office. São Gabriel is run by Coordinator Maria Zilda Barros (right), whose husband, Adão, built the school. Their adult children teach, train other teachers, and help administer the school. Because of the Barros family’s commitment to their community and passion for education, the school provides a safe, nurturing environment for children from 22 surrounding communities.

The families that benefit from the São Gabriel School outreach are subsistence farmers who barely earn enough to cover basic necessities. Parents of São Gabriel students attend parent-teacher meetings and are taught how to support their children’s education at home.

The project maintains detailed records about family life which help the staff tend to the holistic needs of the sponsored children, who are exposed to the harsh realities that often accompany poverty. Staff members work with the families to help address their nutritional, health, emotional and social needs.

Hope for a Family helps families become homeowners

Families living in poverty exert so much energy on their day-to-day survival that they cannot get ahead. Hope for a Family sponsorship helps relieve the intense pressure to get by and frees family resources to build long-term security. One of the most important symbols of long-term security is home ownership.

The Dourado family was able to celebrate this important milestone when they moved into their concrete house. Sponsorship of their three boys through the Mineiros project helped the family stretch their household budget. The food, health care and educational assistance provided through the Hope for a Family program allowed them to save little by little toward a plot of land and a new home.

Companionship and care for the elderly

For aging members of the Mineiros project who find themselves with no family and no income, the Hope for a Family sponsorship program is a true lifeline.

Mineiros staff members offer a smile and an outstretched hand to the sponsored elderly who live at the Good Shepherd nursing home. They read letters and help correspond to the elderly members’ sponsors. Staff members organize Christmas and birthday parties and deliver needed medicine.

For elderly members still at home, regular visits from a CFCA staff member provide an opportunity for companionship to counteract feelings of loneliness and deliver nutritious food baskets, medicine and personal hygiene items. Thanks to Hope for a Family outreach, the elderly receive the respect and comfort they deserve at this stage of their lives.

Read a letter from the Cipaúba project coordinator.

Read a letter from the Mineiros project coordinator.

Become a sponsor

You can now select your sponsored friend on our Walk2gether site.
View photos and read profiles of children, youth and aging who are waiting for a sponsor.