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Realizing your dreams


Sonia is 67 years old.  She is already a great grandmother and has played a key role in bringing up 5 of her grandchildren, one of whom is 16 year old Tiago and whose story we are going to tell you.  They live in a humble home in the low income community of Sapo Nu, Recife, Northeast Brazil. Here drug trafficking and violence are the norm.  


Despite their circumstances Sonia fostered a personal dream to give her grandchildren a better start in life than her own.  For years they all scrapped by on a combination of state benefits and her doing what work she could. Today their situation has improved enormously.  With grit and determination the house has now been paid for, two of her grandchildren have completed the Mentoring and Skills Training project and are working at the Gerdau Iron and Steel Company. Now 16 year old Tiago, having also completed the Mentoring & Training Skills project, has secured an apprenticeship with Brazil’s largest state bank the Caixa Econômica Federal. Sonia is proud of all their achievements and acknowledges the vital help given to them by the Project. She says that without this support all of these achievements may have been out of their reach.


When we talked to Tiago he told us that he gets up at 6 am every day to go to work.  It’s a bus journey of over an hour and a half to reach the office. He said that receiving a salary of over R$ 1000 reals a month is a dream come true and now he can contribute to the families household expenses. He says that his confidence has really increased and all his fears about work have dissipated.


When the Happy Child International team visited him at the Caixa Econômica Federal he was beaming with pride wearing his company uniform and badge.  Both his line Managers commented that Tiago arrived ready for work and with the correct mindset and set of manners.  The Mentoring and Skills Training Co ordinator was very encouraged to hear this feedback from the Bank staff about one of its former trainees.


Tiago’s shift ends at lunchtime in order to continue his school studies in the afternoon. His classes then finish at 8.30 pm. It’s a long day for Tiago with a packed schedule but its obvious to us that he wants to make the best of the opportunities he has and to forge a more meaningful and fulfilling future for him and his family.   


Research indicates that Brazil is a country with one of the largest proportions of young people neither working or studying. National Policy has encouraged apprenticeship schemes to give 4 million young people an opportunity to enter the workforce. 


The Mentoring and Skills Training which Happy Child supports through its Brazilian partners provides vital experiences for young people like Tiago to prepare for the world of work.   There needs to be many more schemes like the Mentoring and Skills training which can equip those from poorer and more vulnerable families for work, foster social inclusion and facilitate income generation and lift young people and their families out of poverty.


  • Written by Caroline Taylor

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