St Michael’s Successful Mission Trip to Fortaleza
October 4th, 2013
Back in May, we wrote an article about 10 members of St Michael s Church who planned to travel to Fortaleza for 10 days and to work closely with Univida, an organisation committed to offering opportunity to children living in poverty in Brazil.
This week, we caught up with Laura Thomas, one of the members, who told us all about their very successful journey.
We spent nearly two weeks at the project, and were well looked after by our hosts. The project, which is situated in a favela in Forteleza, provides additional education and support for local children. State education is very different in Brazil to the UK, and the project provides what state education doesn’t.
It was glorious hot and sunny weather, but it was no holiday for the team (although we all enjoyed our experience). Each day we would divide our time between physical work on the upkeep of the buildings, and spending time playing with the children or doing arts and crafts with them. They really appreciated having undivided adult attention as this is something they don’t get much of.
The children mostly come from broken and deprived homes, and don’t have much. They lead a very different sort of life to children here, but were all fantastic to be with, and really enjoyed having us there. Some of their favourite things to do, were the clapping games we taught them on the first day. We found that all the staff and children were really gracious and welcoming, and whilst the language barrier was there we still managed to communicate.
We were able to obtain a grant to purchase some sports equipment prior to going, and they all really enjoyed using that. Whilst we were there we completely renovated their sports area, and also painted the kitchen and did other jobs on the buildings themselves. Lots of the team were doing such things for the first time!
Although the team are now home, St Michael s will continue to support Univida going forward through the Mission Action Group (MAG), which has various mission partners. The MAG is also supported by St Michael’s Heart of the Community Project which has previously been reported on in Matters Magazine.
Some of the team are organising a joint fundraiser in November between the Heart of The Community Project and Univida. They will be holding a fantastic evening of Folk music, with the wonderfully energetic Gloucestershire Folk band Folklaw, on Saturday 9th November 2013. Tickets are £5 and can be purchased in advance by emailing [email protected] or calling the office on 0117 9692486.
Tags: Fortaleza, St Michaels Church Back to news