With our help, life for the children in Curitiba, Brazil, should improve "Peça por Peça” (step by step). In the Vila Verde district of Curitiba, 14,000 people live in abject poverty, including 4,000 children up to the age of 14. Since 2000, Bosch associates have been working in tandem with the local authorities on the “Peça por Peça” project to improve the living conditions and future prospects of the children living there.
There are many areas in which the project can help. Childhood in Vila Verde is shaped by a great many problems, including bad eating habits, poor hygiene, a lack of discipline, and a lack of respect toward classmates and teachers. That’s why the program devised by the HR department of the local Bosch plant and the children’s teachers is committed to providing education in the widest sense, ranging from healthcare and classroom activities to sports and cultural activities. In total, 1,500 Bosch associates are involved in this program, where they work alongside other volunteers.
Anyone visiting Vila Verde today will see what it means to give children hope for the future. For example, the children put on their own show focusing on oral hygiene, demonstrating the difference between healthy and decayed teeth. What’s more, the primary school – from which the children often played hooky in the past – is now open all day and offers a whole range of leisure activities, which is also having a positive impact on the crime statistics. In 2006, the program was extended to Vila Barigui, another district of Curitiba. The association “Primavera Hilfe für Kinder in Not e.V.”, founded by Bosch associates, funds parts of the program through donations and has enabled the construction of a cultural center and various workshops in Vila Verde.
