Mission Champion: Avril Shipton
June 2022 Review
UniViDa - review
An update from our Mission Partners at the Univida project in Fortaleza Brazil. Founded by Marc in 1985 it is called Universidade da Vida, (University of Life). There are seventeen staff who run the after school project for 260 children aged 7 to 14 years, from the local favela. The Covid-19 pandemic has created much turmoil, pain and bereavement in so many lives, but there are positives that have emerged. Below is a brief summary of Marc and Ruth’s presentation at Christ Church.
Staff Update
Several of our staff have been having a very difficult time with illnesses recently. Our year 5 teacher has been hospitalized for over a month with an infection after a gall bladder operation. She remains in a serious condition. Marcia, our year 6 teacher has swollen joints as a result of Chikungunya, a nasty mosquito borne illness. Lisiane and Oseias, have also been sick with different virus’ which are so prevalent in the rainy season. Adner is a new and talented young teacher with a strong desire that her profession and her faith in God would overlap in her workplace. Please keep them all in your prayers.
New Promo Video
Over the last few months we have spent a lot of time thinking about how best to communicate the reality of life in the slums to people in the UK. We can’t emphasize enough just how beneficial The University of Life is for all the children in our community given the closeness of violence and pain that their young lives have experienced.
We are delighted to release this 9 minute film on You Tube, and hope that you find it helpful in understanding both the challenges that our children face in the favelas and the hope they find at the project. Most importantly it shows their lives are being changed for the better.
You can find the video at… www.youtube.com/unividacharity
New Kitchen
During the Christmas break, the heartwarming stomach filling epicenter of the project was changing. The kitchen, where staff meet to relax at break time, celebrate special occasions and rally as a team when we hear bad news, was being renewed. New tiles, cupboards sinks and flooring plus hot water arrived! We are so happy to be able to share these great photos. The first part of this project is now completed and we are moving into the second phase. This will involve a small extension to create a laundry area, food storage and new cloakroom.
The kitchen is now much better equipped to serve the 7,000 meals per month which we prepare for all our students and staff. Our cooks Maze and Josie are delighted with the results and feel like they are coming to work in a dream kitchen each day!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this a reality.
From Ruth