Our first project partner in Brazil, Viva a Vida, opened its door to its first resident on February 16th, 2005. In a participative residential environment, Viva a Vida provides therapeutic as well as educational intervention for street and low-income adolescent boys in Salvador.
Our fist project partner in Brazil, Viva a Vida, has a Therapeutic Community for street and low-income adolescent boys addicted to crack and other drugs in Salvador, northeast Brazil. In a participative residential environment, Viva a Vida provides therapeutic as well as educational intervention so that the boys can understand and address their addiction as well as gain the educational tools necessary to build productive lives for themselves once they leave the program.
Over the years Viva a Vida has also focused on giving substance abuse prevention talks with the participation of the resident adolescents at Viva a Vida. These talks have been at local schools as well as at the centre where they have hosted visits of adolescents from other NGOs and schools. In May 2007, Viva a Vida also began to invite adolescents in the community to participate in the Sexual Health Workshops provided at the centre as part of the intervention program. As a result of these experiences, Viva a Vida saw a need to formalise and expand this segment of its work. With Bottletop support Viva a Vida, in March 2008, began its “Valuing Life” Prevention Project in Schools.
The main objective of the “Valuing Life” Prevention Project is to offer students of primary and secondary schools located in low-income neighbourhoods a series of workshops about sexual health and substance abuse prevention, facilitated together with peer educators. They discuss the subject matter as well as undergo assertiveness training to be able to avoid risk-taking behaviours.
After one year of the prevention project and multiple workshops, the Prevention Project has reached 773 students across a range of subjects.
Drugs workshops
- What are they? What are licit and ilicit drugs?
- Hard Drugs
- Cigarettes and Alcohol
- Health risks: Diseases cause by different types of drugs
- Making decisions and healthy choices
- Social consequences of substance abuse
Sexual Health workshops
- Getting to know our bodies
- Contraceptive methods
- Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's)
- HIV/AIDS
- Myths and truths about HIV/AIDS
Quotes from the students:
" They told me things I didn't know about drugs and sexuality."
"I learned a lot about the world of drugs."
"They taught me what we should do at the right time and what we shouldn't do."
"We learnt how to protect ourselves. I loved it a lot."
Quotes from the peer educators:
"Before coming in to this project, I saw myself as a person without anyone, without direction. I lived in a world without learning, without thinking. I thought things ddidn't happen to me. But today I don't feel that way anymore. Each day that passes, a great interest in this project grows in me and I am going to dedicate myself andw e are going to gain everyone's trust."
Amanda, 17 years old
"This first stage has been very interesting because a lot of positive things are happening. This is because of our training, which sparked a great interest in me in learning more in order to teach. Also the support and motivation of the teachers at the school has been fundamental to our learning and teaching the students."
Tainan, 18 years old