The distance between the city of Recife and Tamandaré is 105 km. A two-hour journey on a dangerous, single-lane road, full of potholes and trucks on the route. This is the reality for Stephano Lima every Saturday.
The 27-year-old is a psychology graduate but has a true passion for the world of technology. He graduated as an IT Technician during his teenage years and shares: “I’ve always liked computers. When I was a child, I got my first computer and I even disassembled and reassembled it to understand how everything worked. I wanted to study a degree in the field and even enrolled at the time, but the university closed, and I had to choose another course.”
His story with the Tamandaré Project, a partner of Happy Child in Brazil, began when he accepted the invitation to become one of the IT course teachers for teenagers. What made Stephano take on this new challenge was his commitment to social transformation. He comments: “Tamandaré is a coastal city, so many families make a living from shellfish fishing and depend on seasonal factors. I want to show the teenagers that they can earn much more than their parents and improve their family’s lives because the tech industry is growing a lot. There are always jobs, and often you can work remotely.”
That’s why all the classes are pre-planned with the course coordinator, always taking into account external factors that could hinder learning. Stephano says: “The teaching method is a collective construction. In the first group, the biggest challenge was functional illiteracy (they can read and write but can’t interpret). The teenagers from the city’s public schools struggled a lot. Sometimes there’s a lack of encouragement at home. Most of the guardians can’t read, so how can they motivate their children, you know?” Analysing these external factors directly impacts the quality of learning, and Stephano makes sure to observe them to simplify the explanation of the content without losing its essence.
Stephano’s dedication has directly impacted 40 teenagers, who are discovering a new world beyond technology – a world full of future possibilities, a world with a different reality. The teacher comments: “When we visited Porto Digital in Recife – the largest technology hub in Latin America – one of the students asked, ‘If I pass a course here in Recife, how will I get around the city? It’s such a big city.’ So, I made a point of saying there’s no need to be afraid of Recife’s size and I started presenting possibilities. All of this to build confidence and show that it’s possible.”
How lucky we would be if the world had more Stephanos, who give up their day of rest because they believe in the potential of teenagers in vulnerable social situations, who position themselves as agents of transformation not for personal merit but for passion for the cause.
Written by Eduarda Teixeira
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