A study by PUCRS Social Data showed that the rate of extreme poverty in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has increased by 85 percent in the last ten years. Currently, the state capital has 68,400 more people in extreme poverty than it did in 2012. When compared to 2013, this difference is even greater, at nearly 89,000 people. Many of these people live in villages, in houses made of scraps of wood that suffer from the area’s harsh climate.
It was with this in mind that the idea arose in a classroom at Porto Alegre Adventist Academy (CAPA) to join the Brasil sem Frestas (“Brazil without Gaps”) project to help vulnerable families, especially in times of heavy rain and cold, by covering wooden houses with milk cartons. The initiative was conceived by teacher Jozy Araújo and carried out by the 3rd- and 4th-grade classes as students collected milk cartons from their families and friends.
"The idea was to teach the students about the love and respect we should have for everyone in need. They understood that by doing our bit to help others, we can live happier and more united lives," says Araújo.
The project ran for two months, with the launch taking place during a special program in which the students were able to see photos of other houses that had been covered with milk cartons and the reaction of the families who had benefited from the collections. As a result, more than 4,300 cartons have been collected. In terms of cladding (i.e., insulating), that number could be used to clad three entire houses.
"Some students weren't able to contribute boxes, so other students brought in much larger quantities to help those who couldn't.… Parents already sent several separate quantities with the children's names on them," explains Araújo.
At the end of the project, the Brasil Sem Frestas team went to the school to collect all the donated material from the students. The volunteers present were moved by the children's dedication and the amount of money collected. "You can see all the love that was involved in the collection process," says Maria Luíza Camozzato, president of Brasil Sem Frestas. "This partnership is very important for our project."
The students, family members, and staff not only collected the cartons but also did all the work of sanitizing them and cutting them up properly to make the plaques. In addition to the milk cartons, bottle caps were also collected and will be sold, and the money from the sale will go towards buying thread to sew the cartons together.
"The purpose of the Adventist school is to provide education that goes beyond, and that includes blessing the lives of people in our community. This project is one of the many actions we do that demonstrate this in practice," says Juliana Oliveira, CAPA's education coordinator.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Portuguese-language news site.