Brazil

Helena Bates, our first volunteer at the São Francisco Children’s Home writes…

Sao Paulo Street Kids centre (review by the first Brazilians!) The Recanto São Francisco sits on top of a mountain, 40 minutes drive away from the nearest town. It is a stunning place and, as a volunteer, you get used to seeing the horses cantering up and down and to welcoming the occasional frog into your bathroom.

It is a spot where many wealthy São Paulo businessmen choose to build their luxurious weekend getaways. However, the Recanto São Francisco is not a holiday resort, it is an orphanage that houses some of Brazil’s most troublesome street children. In fact the reason for this beautiful and isolated location is so that the children are removed from the streets and cannot easily get back to them.

Some are the children of prostitutes and drug addicts, some have already been involved in crime, some have seen their parents killed and the vast majority have been abused. But what struck me was the incredible endurance and resilience of these kids who have been through so much and emerged, happy, enthusiastic, welcoming and well-adjusted.

Now, after six months of living with the kids from when they wake up until when they go to sleep, it’s not a sob story I want to tell- that’s not what I’ll be remembering about my time in Brazil. I’ll be remembering the time when we shoved 35 kids, not to mention a good few volunteers and orphanage workers into a jeep to go down to the city for a party and every child sat holding their breath hoping the car wouldn’t break on the way down the mountain.

I’ll remember the excitement of Easter as everyone hunted down their Easter eggs with music blaring out at full volume. I’ll remember the exceptional break-dancing, acrobatic and capoeira skills of the boys as they completed back-flip after backflip on the grass outside without breaking a sweat. I’ll remember the deafening noise and excitement in the orphanage when Brazil defeated Argentina at football to win gold in the Pan-American games. I’ll remember introducing an enraptured 2-year-old to his first cat. I’ll remember being buried by kids as they watch films in the dark in the evening.

The warmth and energy of Brazil will stay with me forever as will the friendships I made when I became part of the orphanage family.