“He was 7 and had difficulties learning at school. His mother asked me to help him.”

At that time, Valdênia was in high school, but had no hope to get into a university. Today, three years later, she can see that she was practicing her vocation.

Valdênia studies Pedagogy at one of the most important universities in northeast Brazil, and this opportunity was only possible because she attended a pre-university course supported through a Complementary Intervention offered by Compassion.

Valdênia was one of 47 teenagers who benefited from a scholarship to study at Instituto Coração de Estudante (Heart of Student Institute), a pre-university course created to serve students who couldn’t attend good and effective high schools.

In Brazil, the best universities are federal or state funded. Vacancies are limited, and only the best students, who dedicate hours and hours to study, have the chance to compete for enrollment.

Coming from a poor family who lives in Fortaleza, Valdênia is the first in her family to attend a university. Her mother knows only how to sign her own name; Valdênia’s father taught her and her other siblings to work for the basics in order to survive in life.

For Valdênia’s parents who only completed basic schooling, this is how life was like: to be born, to grow up, to learn the basics to survive, and to work their entire life to earn a living. Getting a better life was meant for other people, not for their family.

But Escola Evangélica Monte Sinai Child Development Center (Evangelical School Mount Sinai) taught Valdênia that it was possible to get a better life, and for it she would need to study hard to achieve. Valdênia kept this in her heart.

“Once, a teacher told to us not to give up on our dreams. She used King David as an example of life. He waited to be king.”

When she got to high school, she tried to find a job to please her parents, but because she was a minor (in Brazil, 18 is the adulthood age) she couldn’t find one, even with her mother pressing her.

The last year of high school, she finally decided to stop looking for a job; she would use her free time to study for university. Her mother didn’t agree with this and warned Valdênia that she had one chance. If she didn’t get into a university, she would have to find a job in the next year and forget about studying.

Valdênia waited anxiously for the start of the pre-university course. During this time, she embarked on studies by herself.

“In order to earn my own money and help my father, not giving more expenses to him, I started tutoring children in the neighborhood.”

Through this initiative, Valdênia began learning how to teach others, and this ability would be important when she got the pre-university course.

The pre-university course she took serves needy adolescents. All its teaching methods are designed to fill the gaps these students had.

In small groups, the students are encouraged to share their knowledge and teach each other. The study is collaborative.

Before the courses begin, the students, who are taught by university students, are subjected to a test to measure their level of learning, then they are separated into peer groups.

“This method was important for me. I had difficulty with chemistry, and I could learn it by studying in small groups. I’m very good in geography, so I could help students who had difficulties with in this subject.”

Compassion supported Valdênia and others buy covering the course’s monthly payment, bus ticket, books and study material for three months, which is the duration of the course. It costs approximately $300 per person for the course.

Taiane was another sponsored child who benefited. Age 18 and attending Pleno Florescer Child Development Center (Full Bloom) since she was 9, she had tried to get into the federal university in 2008, but was unsuccessful as she failed in some essay questions.

When Taiane started pre-university course she was surprised at the method.

“In the beginning it was complicated for me, because we used to sit and just watch the class. But during the course, I realized that this different method is excellent. I had to learn to help the others. So, I learned more than I knew!”

Like Valdênia, Taiane is the first one in her family to attend university. She successfully got into the Federal University as a Library major.

“When I graduate, I’ll open a library in my community to encourage children to read.”

When Valdênia saw her name on the approval list, she couldn’t believe it.

“I asked the monitor to search for my name on the list. I started to jump when he read my name. I was trembling. I got 50 cents (about $0.25) and I went to a cyber cafe. There, I looked for my name on the list again! When I found out, I closed the Web page and opened it again. I did it three times!”

Because of the pre-university course, Valdênia and Taiane are college students and they have taken another important step toward freedom from poverty.

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At sunset, when everyone has come back from lounging at the seaside, bars and restaurants turn their lights on and visitors leave their fancy hotels seeking nice dinners and fun with their families.

From the shadows, boys and girls appear on the corners, letting their skin show through their little clothes. With distorted values they struggle for life. No one knows their life story or their dreams.

At Iracema Beach, male foreigners between the ages of 30 and 50, of middle or low class, crowd into nightclubs where children and adolescents anesthetized by cocaine and alcohol offer them sexual experiences for just a few dollars.

All of this begins with trips booked through specialized companies – mostly European – that provide special packages that include the tickets on exclusive flights and scheduled meetings with Brazilian boys and girls.

Once visitors arrive at the airport in Brazil, taxi drivers involved in the scheme of sexual recruitment of minors provide all necessary contacts.

Five of Brazil’s largest cities have high rates of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, almost all in the northeast region: Salvador, Natal, Recife, Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro. The last three are home to Compassion partner churches.

Fortaleza is a tourist center located in northeastern Brazil. A land of beautiful beaches, the city has more than 2 million inhabitants and is marked by significant social inequalities. Around 720,000 people, or 36 percent of the population, live in the slums.

Fortaleza is also the fifth largest city in Brazil, with 336 square kilometers of totally urbanized areas. Among metropolitan areas it has the second largest percentage of people living in poverty.

The sea shore of Fortaleza is composed of Iracema, Meireles and Mucuripe beaches. Each of these beaches serves as a tourist attraction for both Brazilians and foreigners.

Within three kilometers are found the fanciest hotels and a mix of leisure, shopping and entertainment. This is also the main place where children and adolescents are offered to male tourists.

According to research conducted by the Brazilian Multidisciplinary Association for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (ABRAPIA), Fortaleza has the highest rate of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in the northeast region of Brazil. In the national ranking, it has the third highest number of complaints — after Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The causes are numerous and complex, but poverty is one of the main factors. There are about 500,000 children, especially in the north and northeast regions, investing their lives in the hands of foreign pedophiles.

Young people fill the sidewalks, and are found in front of the dirty hotels, waiting for their next clients. Illiterate or of low education, these young people are unprepared for the labor market. In prostitution they have found a mode of survival.

In the most dangerous slum in Fortaleza – Serviluz – are located two child development centers, Projeto Vilamar and Espaco Viva Vida Student Center.

The two centers in the area are working hard to tackle child prostitution in a preventive manner. The staff have been trained on and given material that will help them address the issues of children affected by prostitution. Weekly visits paid by Compassion staff to the children’s homes contribute to the identification of incidents of exploitation.

“The community is composed of approximately 35,000 inhabitants earning less than the Brazilian minimum wage of US $223 a month. The homes are less than 20 square meters in size where families of up to 10 people — between adults and children — live together.

“Without any conditions of privacy, there is often the occurrence of domestic violence or sexual abuse against the small ones. Frustrated and without any encouragement, all the children want is to be far from home. So they quit studying and become an easy target for the drug dealers. … In order to maintain their addiction, they simply go to the streets.

“The arts, dancing and theater workshops, the sports, the mentoring and the labor marketing the children learn at our center have been motivating boys and girls to dream about a better future where knowledge and hard work are the essential tools. The result is that today we see our adolescents finishing high school, far from the streets and changing the course of their lives.”

– Joyce, the director of Projeto Vilamar for 25 years

“The families are emotionally unstructured and the community grows in a disorganized way. The habitation is precarious; there is uncertainty in the community due to the war between gangs over drug power; there is a lack of basic sanitation. Many children eat only while they are here … some of them, with the consent of their families, offer their bodies in exchange for some rice.

“The first step is to assist the child more closely, advise and warn the family about the harm they are causing. Teachers, psychologists and the church are involved in the process. If there are no changes, then we access the government authorities.”

– Josilene, director of Espaco Viva Vida Student Center

Across the coastline is another dangerous slum of Fortaleza – the Pirambu. It is in the community of Pirambu that Carmem has been directing Centro Estudantil Bom Samaritano for five years, with more than 900 children sponsored through Compassion.

“Many mothers here are prostitutes and they are a strong example for their children, who grow up believing that prostitution is the fastest way to earn money. But today, after working inside the community, these mothers hope for a different future for their babies. And they count on us in order to achieve it.”

Jane is one of these mothers. At age 22, she has been working in the nightclubs of Iracema Beach for almost eight years. Illiterate, Jane left school when she got pregnant by her first boyfriend; she was 12 years old and the boy, a delinquent youth addicted to crack, was 16. A baby boy with curious eyes was born.

At the age of 16, Jane quit fighting against her “husband’s” addiction to drugs. Advised by some experienced friends, Jane left her husband and started dancing at a strip club. Her son is now registered with Compassion.

“It was an aunt of mine who enrolled my little boy at the child center; he attends the same church as her. And I like it because he can play with other children and have good meals … sometimes we have nothing to eat at home.”

Because of the Compassion centers, children like Jane’s son have the opportunities they need to lead a lifestyle different than that of their parents.

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Thanks to the Leadership Development Program (LDP), Talita is living in the best moment of her life, not only professionally, but also spiritually. Her life story is about striving for excellence. Her dedication makes her an example to be followed by others and a reference of struggle and Christian character.

Petite and delicate, 20-year-old Talita teaches the 5- and 6-year-olds at her former child development center. God, the Father, has made her a great woman.

The public system of education in Brazil is full of contrast. The best universities are public, and to be accepted in to one, the student has to have a good and strong education during high school. But when talking about a young person who’s attended a public school, the odds are small.

Public schools are the worst ones and rarely prepare for the next step. Besides all the hardship and risks children in poverty have to face, their academic and professional path can be compromised due to the lack of good education.

Talita attended a public school in her town, Tauá, a small city about 330 kilometers from Fortaleza – the capital of Ceará state. But different from most of the students of lower class who barely finish their studies in order to get a job and help their families, she devoted herself – and still does – to study. She overcame the statistics and got a vacancy in a public university – the “Universidade Estadual do Ceará” (University of Ceará State).

“The challenges in my life are still many, but smaller in comparison to my childhood. I hadn’t even been born when my mother had to ask my drunken father to choose between us and ‘the bottles.’

“At a certain time in our lives, she was pretty concerned over me and my brother. Then my father decided to leave us and never came back. I have never accepted growing up without him.

“But despite all the feelings my mother could have had at that moment, she had to be strong for us, working hard and trying to teach some good principles to me and my brother Tiago.”

At the age of 10, Talita had a decisive moment in her life, at her child development center. She finally understood all the teachings she had been learning about Jesus Christ and discovered that she had a real Father who gave His own life in order to save hers, and would never abandon His little girl.

“The educational support, the investment on my self-esteem and hope I have received through Compassion contributed to make me feel loved and protected. This is what I want to teach to my students. God has been transforming my difficulties into victory.”

Talita also recognizes the blessing of being sponsored from 3 until she turned 18 years old.

“This relationship was fundamental in my personal development … someone who just stopped, looked at you and cared about your life was very edifying. Without such a thing I am sure I would have taken a different path. Maybe I would be a single mother, or would be working as a cleaning woman instead of teaching my children.”

After her graduation from the Child Sponsorship Program, Talita could not accept just being seated at the church. She was willing to make the difference, and the LDP was the answer.

“I prayed a lot, asking God a way to be used by Him and that what is happening know. For a moment I did not believe that I could be accepted in Compassion LDP, and my approval was a surprise; but I had never lost faith. I think I was chosen due to my commitment with Christ and my great desire to serve people.”

Besides attending college at night, Talita spends her whole day at her former development center.

“Talita is an inspiration,” says Sélia, the director of the center. “We saw how much she grew and how blessed she is. We hired her as a teacher due her life testimony and dedication. She used to be a volunteer, but her love and commitment impressed us.”

Talita’s time to study is only after 11 or on weekends, when she reads and does research. She suffers with the distance from her LDP friends. In order to take part in the LDP meetings, Talita has to travel from Tauá to Fortaleza, which takes about 4 1/2 hours – but she knows she has friends whom she can count on.

“He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). – Mark 5:41, NIV

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What if you don’t make it? But I will.

And if you don’t? All my efforts and expectations are focused on LDP. I know I will make it.

“She was not the only one of my children to have the opportunity to attend high school, but she was the only one to have the will and opportunity to attend college. I thank God for her life,” says Mrs. Maria, a 54-year-old widow who raised her five children, including Ana Cláudia, by herself.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” – Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV)

Ana Cláudia’s father was murdered during a holdup at the company where he used to work as a sentinel. She was only 15 days old.

Compassion became part of Ana Cláudia’s life when she was 9 and was enrolled at the child development center near her home.

“The child center was and still is a reference in my neighborhood. Here where we live, children have so many options of wrong things they can choose to do. They have no orientation or hope, and many times no respect or love.

“For this reason I see my former child center as a shelter offering to the children a healthy life in many ways. Just like it happened to me.”

Most of Ana Cláudia’s childhood friends are pregnant or have already had babies.

Ana Cláudia used to be a very present child. Every day after school she was there, anxious about lunch – sometimes the best meal of her day – and play. Ballet, arts and guitar were her favorite classes.

“Sometimes I had to ask her to come back home. Otherwise she would live there forever!” laughs Mrs. Maria.

It was also there where Ana Cláudia had a meeting with Jesus, accepting Him as her Lord and Savior during a youth camp. She was 14 when it happened.

Talkative, kind and funny, this young woman leaves home every morning at 6 and goes to the university by bus. On her lap are books about education and leadership. On her heart are many plans and dreams about the future – she makes checklists about her next conquests.

After classes, Ana Cláudia goes to work at an informatics school where she started by giving advertising pamphlets to people on the streets. Now, 1 1/2 years later, she is the pedagogical coordinator there.

“My child center used to have a partnership with an informatics school. So, when I turned the right age to attend a course, I started it. After three months when I finally finished it, they invited me to work there. It was one of my goals for that year – get a new job. And I knew would get it.

“I think people see leadership qualities in me because I am responsible, involved in whatever I am doing, besides being a very determined person.”

Ana Cláudia earns about $300 a month, and with her wage she joined her 23-year-old sister, the last single sibling besides her, and bought brand-new furniture for their kitchen and living room. But her day-to-day life is not easy, and to give herself and her mother a better life, every night after work at about 9 p.m., Ana Cláudia returns home taking three buses. She could take only one, but the way from her job to the bus stop is very dangerous.

“It takes more time, but doing this way is safer for me. The first bus takes me in front of the informatics school, and the last one leaves me five minutes by foot from my home.”

It’s almost 12 a.m. and only some boys smoking marijuana are on the street when the leader of the future arrives at home. And to ensure she is really safe, Mrs. Maria is there at the bus stop, waiting for her child.

“It is worse when I am on my tests period at college and have to study until 3 in the morning. Sometimes I just sleep over my books.”

With so many tasks, attending church is only possible on weekends, when Ana Cláudia takes part in the child ministry.

Ana Cláudia may have lost her father, but according to her she has now a great family that she can count on. Her classmates from the LDP are seven other  students taking the same course. She loves the books on leadership that they read and discuss together.

“Everything I know about leadership and teamwork I have been learning through LDP meetings, books and the relationships I have there. It is so amazing!

“I am becoming a better person each day – learning more with my mentor and classmates. I just admire each one of them.”

Her next goal is to achieve a higher position at her company and share Jesus’ love with children. She already has the determination and appropriate tools to achieve it.

Right now, we have more than 150 LDP students waiting for sponsors. These students have been handpicked as future Christian leaders. They have excelled in high school, proven their leadership abilities, and demonstrated strong Christian character.

Will you sponsor a leadership student?

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