Projects of Casa do Caminho

The Orphanage

10 years ago, a German investor made it possible to extend Casa do Caminho to its current state. While Casa do Caminho is still relatively primitive, there are now more bedrooms, better toilet facilities and better shower facilities as a result of this contribution. The orphanage has a separate conference room, a large recreational room for the children to watch TV and play, a classroom where the children can reinforce their studies by doing their homework, an Arts & Crafts studio, a large kitchen and dining room, three houses for international volunteers, and a separate laundry area. Fruits and vegetables are homegrown in order to provide the children with a healthy and balanced diet.

The children range from 5 to 12 years old. Most of the children have brothers and sisters also living at the orphanage because they share the same unfortunate circumstances. Many of them have sad and violent pasts. While they are undeniably troubled, overall the children seem optimistic and appear to enjoy their life at Casa do Caminho. Sounds of happiness are more common than the shedding of tears.

Casa CAM & Casa Heppenheim

In order to give the Casa do Caminho program a longer range and to make it possible for the older children at Casa do Caminho to study and to find employment, a new adolescent’s center was needed.

In February of 2003, Casa CAM opened in the center of Xerém, and it provides a safe shelter for 12 teenage girls.  Now they have better access to attend high school and receive technical training.  In December 2005, Casa Heppenheim opened, housing 12 teenage boys.  The house was named after the German town “Heppenheim” which has sponsored Casa do Caminho for over 10 years.

Language Centre - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro

Casa do Caminho decided to start a social enterprise in order to create incoming cash flows and support the orphanage with continuous and independent funds.  A language school was established in Ipanema, a district in the city of Rio de Janeiro with one of the highest toursim densities of Rio de Janeiro.  The general idea was to undercut the prices of the competition by recruiting volunteer staff that do not receive a salary.  (With the exception of our native Brazilian professors)  Furthermore, due to the fact that the market for Portuguese schools was not saturated yet, the Language Centre positioned itself in the Portuguese-teaching market. The idea worked out and the Language Centre had to rent bigger commercial space in order to accommodate the volume of interested students.  As a matter of fact, the Language Centre also offers English and Spanish lessons at similar prices. 

 Clube Verde (The Green Club)

The main focus of this project lies in the development of green plots of land and utilization of sustainable resources. Three “micro-gardens” have already been established based on the idea of an edible garden consisting of fruits and vegetables.  New ideas such as the construction of a hen house for egg, meat, and chicken production and a man-made pond where local fish species can be farmed are also being implemented.

The objective is to make Clube Verde a profitable business and to provide education and vocational skills to the inhabitants of Xerém and the children and teenagers of Casa do Caminho in particular.  Not only is making it a business important, but using sustainable methods is one of the key ideas behind Clube Verde.

Delicias da Verônica

One of the reasons why Casa do Caminho is able to extend its facilities range of social projects is because of the help of the many very generous donors.  Another reason is because Casa do Caminho is very creative in generating its own funds.  "Delicia de Verônica" (Treats of Verônica) is the next fundraising project in line.  Casa do Caminho grows its own fruits and vegetables.  However, there is always a lot of surplus.  Therefore, Casa do Caminho has started producing all kinds of organical treats.  The concept is a great success locally and the next step is expand Delicas de Verônica to a regional level of distribution.

The Cultural Centre

Casa do Caminho is now focusing more on education and culture for it's residents and surrounding community.  Casa do Caminho is adapting to the needs of it's community because education in the region is limited and only few reach university.  For the majority of teenagers and young adults the step from high school to university is too big, and attending quality vocational courses costly.  Aside from these problems there are hardly any cultural or recreational activities available in Xerém, which gives at risk teenagers and young adults nothing else to do other than hang around, use drugs, or become sexually active at an age too young and unprepared.  This increases the risk of STDs and adolescent parenthood. 

The overall objective of the Cultural Centre is to benefit the entire community by exchanging knowledge and resources.  The priority hereby is to increase  education and provide growth and work opportunities for the disadvantaged youth of Xerém. 

In February 2010 Casa do Caminho opened it's new Cultural Centre near the central praça Mantiqueira of Xerém.  We are already offering: Theater, Music, Guitar, Dance, Yoga, Sexual Education, Math, Handcrafts,  Visual Arts, English and Spanish classes.  Our aim is that at least 50% of the courses are offered entirely free of cost for the people in need.  People who can afford our R$ 50 monthly fees can pay for the course.  These funds will be used to run the Cultural Centre with the objective of the Centre being self-sustaining within 6 months.  For more information visit the Cultural Centre blog and Casa Comunitária Blog.

ICT Project - Information, Communication, Technology

Currently the project is still in the development phase.  It aims to develop the use of information and communication technologies in the orphanage in Xerém.  Casa do Caminho would like to offer free internet access and teach computer skills to children and teenagers because the need for access to computers and modern communication technology is great.  Once the computers are in place, Casa do Caminho will start to design workshops that will fall in line with the local needs.

Sport and Community Centre

There are no sport facilities in the surrounding area of Casa do Camihno, therefore the community was in need of a proper sport facility.  The health benefits are obviously high, but even more important is that the children and young adults of the area get a chance to train social skills such as cooperation, the ability to lose, and more importantly the ability to win in an honorable way! For some of them sport will become something they can hold on to.

Thanks to great international donations, the floor, main frame and the roof of the sport facility are already in place.  Now it is only a matter of time until the Sport and Community Centre will be ready for usage.  Laura, a fourth year student of the NHTV will help prepare the Sport and Community Centre and with her help the Centre will open up soon and will be a great success.

Sexual Education Project

The goal of the project is to educate children and young adults on sexuality and create more awareness and openness to the topic.  It is intended to increase knowledge about HIV/AIDs, teach safe sex practices, and give appropriate counselling for children, adolescents, and community members.  Besides the educational foundation of this initiative, the program also plans to offer basic health services and treatments.  There will be workshops covering important issues such as self-esteem, healthy relationships, gender roles, identity, sexual harassment and abuse.