Message-ID: <9509032150.AA10491@cr-df.rnp.br> Date: Sun, 3 Sep 1995 18:50:44 EST From: Joaquim Moura <mailto:poa-bsb@CR-DF.RNP.BR> Subject: brasilia e-news # 22 To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Brasilia e-news # 22Dear Friends,
1. Workshop on "Banking for the Poor" The most important recent fact, related to our community development project, was the workshop (last week) gathering every Secretary of Labor= from all the Brazilian states, just to talk about social banking and lending to= =20 the poor. This meeting was promoted by the federal agency Solidary Community Council, ruled by the Brazilian First Lady (Ruth Cardoso, an anthropologist PhD married with the President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, also a doctor on Sociology, formerly teacher in the USA). Ruth was there, at the workshop, as well the Governor of Brasilia, Cristovam Buarque (PhD on Economic by Sorbonne). They are all very interested in community and micro-entrepreneurial development and it is a very important opportunity we= have now, to work with them - at least scholars and writers as many of us...=7F
I suppose I am helping a lot, by collecting on the Internet all the= information I find about social banking and community sustainable development, then (desktop) publishing it, printing it, and distributing it to the many= agencies (federal and local) dealing with this issues. The last important information= I found and spread around is about local currency, which, associated with=20 community banking, becomes a powerful tool to overcome misery and relief poverty.= There is already a group of volunteers social workers very interested in implement a= =20 network on local currency here, starting with Santa Maria project participants.
In that workshop, last Wednesday, I talked with Ms. Ruth Cardoso and told= her about the joint work we are doing together, our Brasilia Partners committee and many developers friends from the USA, through the Net. She told me she is traveling to Beijing and, when she comes back, she would like to meet= me again to talk about our many initiatives, local and internationally.
In Santa Maria, we have already identified the 400 poorest families on the= =20 selected neighborhood, to start our program combining food security with income=20 generation (food local production, micromicroenterprise development and community= banking). I was charged by the program's executive secretary (Marilu Ibanez, wife of= the Secretary of Education of the Brasilia Government) to design the informative= =20 material to be distributed to the local population explaining about the project's=20 issues and possibilities. I plan to publish a monthly popular newsletter aiming at that= =20 quite illiterate people, to make them aware about their potential, since they organize=20 themselves. Does someone among you publish such kind of printed material, aiming at such= a illiterate clientele?
2. Community Organic Agriculture Seminar Friday and Saturday (Aug. 27-28), at the Open House of the Street Children= of Brasilia, we have promoted the Practical Seminar on Community Organic Agriculture, gathering almost 100 people around four topics: earthworm culture, composting, tilling with horse and the community labor= organization.
Then we have distributed around 1,000 seed packets to the attendees, most coming from very poor communities where they are trying to cultivate their gardens. The seminar was an initiative of our coalition, gathering the Labor Secretary (Government of Brasilia), the Brasilia committee of the Action of the Citizenship against Hunger and Misery and the Brasilia / DC chapter of the Partners of the Americas.
3. TV Globe broadcasts the former street children=B4s garden Saturday (Aug. 27) morning the TV Globe reporters were at the Open House to register the work the youngsters are doing there, with our support (Partners Brasilia - DC chapter). TV Globe is the most important Brazilian TV network and among the top 4 or 5 networks globally. Everybody (almost) here attends to its soap operas and news programs. For sure many hundred thousand people saw the kids and I working on the beds and listened to our reasons to love working among the natural elements. The TV has broadcasted the same material in three different news programs they transmit during last Monday.
4. Internet Brasilia - DC Partners home page Thanks to James Yven (from Fairfax and George Mason University) we have now a home page to better structure the information about our common work. Of course it is still under construction, but you can see there some sights of our activities and read some information. There are also other American friends already helping us a lot (hello, Lew) and others have told about their wishes to participate on our bold project - to avoid social - cultural - environmental decaying and to promote the recovering as fast as possible. Maybe some methods we develop here to reach the multitudes will be also useful there, in the USA, and everywhere.=20 ______________________________________________________________ Joaquim Moura Youth & Citizenship Development Commission Partners of the Americas - Brasilia / Washington DC Committee SHCGN 713 - Bloco I - Apt. 202 - 70760-739 - Brazil Phone (55 61): 414-1780 (w); 273-5613 (h); 414-1898 (fax)=20