odebrecht informa #164
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Odebrecht Informa #164TRANSCRIPT
# 164 vol. XL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 English Edition
ESSENTIAL ACTIONInitiatives that make it possible for Odebrecht Group
companies to fulfill their social responsibility
II informa
1informa
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Online edition Online archive
> An Angolan group brings together personal statements to form an archive and produce a documentary on their country’s independence.
> Based on interactive experiments, a museum in Camaçari, Bahia, teaches science to children and adolescents.
> A competition awards prizes to schools that produce sustainability projects and fosters environmental education.
> Blood donations and professional education mobilize company members building Pier IV, and their families.
> Access all back issues of Odebrecht Informa since no. 1, and download full issues in PDF.
> Odebrecht Annual Reports since 2002.
> Special publications (Special Issue on Social Programs, 60 years of the Odebrecht Group, 40 Years of the Odebrecht Foundation and 10 Years of Odeprev).
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# 164 vol. XL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013English Edition
ESSENTIAL ACTIONInitiatives that make it possible for Odebrecht Group
companies to ful� ll their social responsibility
informa 3
Video reports Blog
> Production of red propolis, a unique Brazilian commo-dity on the global market, revs up the economies of Alagoas communities.
> At Frontiers of Thinking 2012, Mozambican writer Mia Couto discusses the importance of Africa for Brazil.
www.odebrechtonline.com.br > Online edition of Odebrecht Informa.> Reports, features, videos, photos, animations and infographics.
> Support for small businesses and malaria prevention are some of the initiatives that are contributing to the development of communities in Guinea.
> The principles of cooperativism applied to plastic recycling produce skilled workers and sources of income.
> In Valongo, a region of low-income communities in Santos, São Paulo, soccer is a tool for the social inclusion of local youths
> RECYCLING IS LIVING
Through its support for recycling projects, Braskem creates work and income opportunities in the Brazilian states of São Paulo, Alagoas, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul.
> Follow Odebrecht Informa on Twitter and get news in real time @odbinforma
> Comment on blog posts and participate by sending your suggestions to the editors.
> You can also read Odebrecht Informa on your iPad. The magazine can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store.
4 informa
SOCIAL PROGRAMS #164Born on the Santo Antônio Dam construction site in Brazil, the Acreditar professional education program is going global
For highway concessionaires, paths are also built by investing in basic education, training young professionals and supporting small businesses
Panama: a partnership for health is getting highly positive results, inside and outside the jobsites
Folks: Rafael Tamashiro, Minerva Gómez and Thamara Wanderley are helping improve life in their communities in Peru, Panama and Brazil
Fonte Nova Arena provides opportunities for ex-convicts to rejoin society
While revamping Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the company scores some important victories, including literacy for its members
In São Lourenço da Mata, Pernambuco, the Arena Education Program offers computer classes for youths and adults
A program developed in Santa Catarina, Espírito Santo, Bahia and Tocantins spotlights the important social role of health workers
Interview: Francisco Martins and the stories, learnings and current challenges of a person whose greatest passion is helping people grow and develop
Theater, dance, music, lectures: the various (and highly qualified) facets of Braskem’s contribution to the arts and culture
Support for small businesses, digital inclusion and combating malaria raise fresh expectations for growth in Guinea’s communities
Soccer guarantees fun, activity, and especially prospects for children and youths in the Valongo region of Santos, São Paulo
The joint venture responsible for building the Abreu e Lima Refinery in Suape energizes Olinda’s already lively Carnival
Transnordestina opens up its jobsites to the community, giving them a detailed look at how the railroad is being built
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Cover: Lauren Pereira, from Odebrecht, with children and young people from the village of Tamiandou in the Kissidougou region of Guinea.
Photo by Guilherme Afonso.
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CAPAIlustração de Rico Lins
SOCIAL PROGRAMSA story about the joy and pride of learning to read and write, from the Trensurb construction project in the Porto Alegre metropolitan region
Recycling projects in four Brazilian states focus on used plastic as one way to overcome a major environmental challenge
Community: in Rondônia, a professional education initiative has become more than a business tool - it forms a strong social bond
Angola: in Huambo and Cambambe, initiatives help promote citizenship, health, education and professional training
Luanda’s Structuring Routes Project confirms the positive value of getting families involved in the day-to-day operations of a construction project
A youth orchestra goes on a tour that includes the Teles Pires Dam construction site
Portugal: an example of appreciation for and preservation of intangible heritage in the vicinity of the Baixo Sabor Dam project
Profile: Cláudio Castro and his everyday interaction with the type of worker he got to know and learned to admire as a child
An inspiring transformation in the lives of a group of women, made possible thanks to a pioneer’s persistence
Argument: Ana Cristina Barros and the need for businesses to play an active role in improving the living conditions of the communities in which they operate
Southern Bahia Lowlands: practicing the principle that everyone can contribute to the balance of their local habitatThe map shows
the countries and Brazilian states (in beige) where the projects and programs described in this issue of Odebrecht Informa are located, and where the people who feature in these stories live and work
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EDITORIAL
Initiativesthat make the
differencen Guinea, Madeleine Kondiano knows that her dream of sending her six children to college is closer to coming true. Orlando Quintero is better able to carry on his fight against HIV/AIDS in Panama. Geraldo Simme, Roberto Silveira and
Gabriel Garcia are experiencing a new phase in their lives be-cause their recycling project has created fresh prospects in Rio Grande do Sul. In the same southern Brazilian state, Fran-cisco Alves and Claudino Guareski are discovering the fasci-nating world of the written word. In Portugal, archaeologist Rita Gaspar is celebrating the circumstances enabling her to provide more encouraging results for the community through her work; and in Angola, Conceição Jamba can, as she says herself, go anywhere now, because she has finally managed to obtain an ID card.
These are some of the exciting, exemplary and inspiring stories you will find in this issue of Odebrecht Informa, which showcases social programs carried out with the participation of Group companies in the context of the organization’s opera-tions in Brazil and around the world. These initiatives are fo-cused on improving health and education, providing job skills, creating jobs and sources of income, regaining citizenship, and other areas of decisive importance for enabling people to enjoy a better quality of life.
Firmly and enthusiastically grounded in the principles of the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO), the Group’s teams seek to offer contributions that make the difference. When it is lived the way it should be, that is, continuously en-hanced and deepened, the ethos of service leads to the desire and the need to do more, and do it better. This practice dem-onstrates the positive social impact a company can and must have.
Good reading.
“When it is lived the way it should be, that
is, continuously enhanced and deepened, the
ethos of service leads to the desire
and the need to do more,
and do it better”
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believingThe Acreditar Program’s international experience attests to its ability to adapt to the most varied and challenging situations
he Department of Malargüe, in the Ar-
gentine province of Mendoza, is nothing
like the famous wine-producing provin-
cial capital. Malargüe’s main products
are potatoes, onions and garlic. Another
strong point for the local economy is mining. Techint and
Odebrecht are building the Rio Colorado potash mine in
Malargüe for Vale, with a production capacity of 2.9 mil-
lion metric tons per year. The mine’s arrival and the eco-
nomic boost it brought with it have generated growth in
Malargüe and six other Mendoza departments. And the
demand for skilled workers has grown along with them.
This was the situation when the first edition of Creer
(Believe), the Spanish-speaking version of the Group’s
Ongoing Professional Education Program, was born in
Argentina.
TClaudio Alejandro Flores, 36, used to work as a brick-
layer. He had no specialized job skills when he enrolled
in Creer and took the electrician course. “It’s good to ac-
quire a skill and learn about all stages of a project,” he
says. After finishing the course, Claudio started his own
small construction business. Former seamstress Orfilia
Roca, 47, graduated from the program as an electrical
technician to set an example for her kids. “I was never
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written by Fabiana Cabral (Coordinator and MozaMbique, Cláudio lovato Filho (PanaMa), elea alMeida (Guinea), Júlio César soares (arGentina) and luCiana lana (anGola)
SeeInG IS
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In 2009, the program arrived in Angola and adapted to
the realities of that rapidly growing country. The first step
was to determine the demands of the Group’s various
projects. The survey revealed what would become one of
the biggest challenges: the low level of schooling and the
disparity between the workers’ education levels.
“Based on the Brazilian experience, we developed an
educational method that was adapted to and by the An-
golan people,” explains Adriana Correia Bezerra, the offi-
cer Responsible for the program. More than 3,200 people
signed up in the first year, and 1,200 were certified (Ode-
brecht hired almost 100% of the graduates in some fields).
Today, the program has more than 2,900 graduates and
6,200 applicants. Other companies are hiring people who
acquired job skills through the program, which is also en-
abling women to enter the labor market.
Women are also a highlight of the program in Mo-
zambique, where Odebrecht is building Nacala Interna-
tional Airport and expanding the Moatize Coal Project:
20% of Acreditar’s participants are female.
In a country where 48% of adults cannot read or write,
the rate in Nacala is even more alarming: 81% of women
are illiterate. The Acreditar Literacy program was developed
in August 2012 to train local teachers with a method that
emphasizes reading and writing. Forty-five literacy teachers
were certified in three months.
able to finish school, and this has always been some-
thing I needed to do,” she says. Two of her children have
completed the basic module of Creer.
According to program coordinator Jorge Alfredo De
Angeli, since Creer got started in Mendoza Province in
December 2011, more than 2,800 people have applied,
775 have completed the basic and technical modules,
and 85 are working on the potash mine project. Marina
Gonzalez Ugarte, the officer Responsible for the pro-
gram at Odebrecht Argentina says: “We have to think
about local development along with social inclusion.”
From Brazil to the worldCreated by Odebrecht in 2008 in Porto Velho, Bra-
zil, with the Portuguese name Acreditar (Believe), the
program was initially intended to enable local workers
to acquire the job skills they needed to build the Santo
Antônio hydroelectric plant. Four years later, the initia-
tive is now being successfully deployed in 10 Brazilian
states, with more than 117,000 applicants. A total of
53,300 have graduated, and 34,500 are working on Ode-
brecht projects. Currently, nine countries besides Bra-
zil are implementing the program (Angola, Argentina,
Cuba, Colombia, Liberia, Mozambique, Peru, Panama
and Venezuela), with a total of 36,900 applicants, 18,200
graduates, and 7,600 people hired.
Jennifer Bartley and Mauricio Castillo, in Panama City: professional education benefits individuals and society
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Young Mozambicans (aged 13 to 18) are also getting
a chance to start a career through Acreditar Apprentice,
introduced in Nacala in April 2012 with a focus on com-
pany members’ families. “We believe that teens are the
protagonists of social change,” says Adriana Brito, the
officer Responsible for Odebrecht Social Programs in
Mozambique. In seven months, 65% of the program’s
56 young graduates showed improved academic perfor-
mance, and more than 90% demonstrated positive be-
havioral changes. Using their new skills, the apprentices
have created the Young Protagonists Association (AJP),
which organizes cleaning task forces, collects clothing
and helps sell pictures made from recycled materials.
Sofia Saide, 17, is the coordinator of AJP. “Being a pro-
tagonist means being the first to play their part and join
forces to find solutions.”
The Acreditar Professional Education Program got
started in Nacala in January 2012, and has graduated
1,244 people. Also deployed in Moatize in July 2012
through a partnership with Vale, the program has trained
578 people there to work as carpenters, bricklayers and
excavator operators.
Just as it did in Angola and Mozambique, so Acredi-
tar has also undergone adaptations in Guinea. The first
thing to change was its name, which is Programme
Espoir, since the country’s official language is French.
According to Lauren Pereira, the Odebrecht Institutional
and Community Relations Coordinator, the Guinean pro-
gram is intended for residents already on the company’s
payroll who are working in the region of Kissidougou,
the host city of the Simandou road project. The basic
module provides information on health, the environment
and behavior in such a way that company members can
share what they learn with their relatives and neighbors.
“By influencing workers, we are imparting knowledge to
people outside the company,” says Lauren.
One group of 16 members is taking part in the pilot
program and another 72 have already studied equipment
ho
lan
da C
ava
lCa
nti
The Creer Program in Argentina: instructor Miguel Arturo Conesa (right) with students Ramón Chaile (center) and Walter Javier Molina. Opposite, Acreditar graduates in Mozambique: development and social inclusion
11informa
maintenance at the jobiste. “Espoir has been very well
received by the client, Rio Tinto, which has a 50-year plan
in that country,” says Equipment Training Coordinator
Raimundo Filho.
The instructor Souleymane Doumbouya was recruited
from the mechanics hired to work on the project. Fluent
in French, English and local languages, he is such a good
teacher that his fame has spread throughout the com-
munity. He is now giving free lessons in his own home.
“Because they know that Odebrecht is educating people
here, young people are striving to do better in school so
they can improve their lives and grow,” he says. “We want
to enable Guineans to work for other companies and even
start their own businesses,” adds the project’s Construc-
tion Manager, Daniel Fernandes.
More work, less violenceBack in the Americas, we are now in Panama, where
Jennifer Bartley, 30, and Mauricio Castillo Harding, 45,
have taken advantage of the opportunities afforded by
the Creer program. They live in Chorrillo, the low-income
community of Panama City where they were born. That is
where Odebrecht is working on stage three of the Coastal
Beltway project.
“My mother used to say that construction work is for
men,” says Jennifer, “but I like to build and transform
things.” After working in a beauty salon and doing some
carpentry, she took the basic module of Creer in October
2011. She started working on the Coastal Beltway III proj-
ect as a general assistant, sought out fresh challenges
and worked in the stockroom before becoming the op-
erations manager on the People team. “I want to learn to
read blueprints. You never stop learning at Odebrecht,”
she says. Mauricio Castillo used to own a barbershop. He
had also done some welding and sold snacks for a living
before taking the basic module of the program. After that,
he became a general assistant and went on to his current
job as a welder. “I want to study engineering,” he says.
The Creer program was introduced on the Coastal Belt-
way III project in October 2011. The first two groups to take
the course were made up of 500 company members. All of
them were from Chorrillo, an area with a long and serious
history of urban violence. “The program certified 440 people,
and over half of them were hired to work on the project,”
says Administrative and Financial Manager Arturo Graell.
The participants are between the ages of 18 and 60
years, and 30% of them are women. The Coastal Beltway
was the company’s first project to introduce Creer, and
the program’s benefits for the community go beyond the
creation of job and income opportunities. “Violence has
gone down. Creer is helping raise the Chorrillo commu-
nity’s self-esteem,” says Arturo.
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ahead,
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written by Eduardo Souza Lima photos by ÉLvio Luiz, FErnando vivaS and rogÉrio rEiS
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ahead,Concessionaires are developing social outreach programs on several fronts – from health to digital inclusion, from training entrepreneurs to promoting citizenship – in four Brazilian states
written by Eduardo Souza Lima photos by ÉLvio Luiz, FErnando vivaS and rogÉrio rEiS
concession is a two-way street. This concept guides and
lends its name to the professional education program
adopted at the Bahia Norte and Litoral Norte concession-
aires. It also directs initiatives at Odebrecht TransPort’s
other concessionaires, such as Rota dos Coqueiros’s Via
School, in Pernambuco; Rota das Bandeiras’s Route of Education, Hit the
Net, and Action Against Dengue, in São Paulo, and the SuperVia Apprentice
program, in Rio de Janeiro.
The Two-Way Street program is providing skills to 400 small business own-
ers in Bahia established along highways BA-093 and BA-099, Via School aims
to benefit about 4,800 students in Pernambuco, and SuperVia Apprentice is
giving 160 young Rio residents an opportunity to acquire their first job experi-
ence. More than enough reason to hope for a decent and rewarding future.
“My neighbor was invited to participate but didn’t want to. Now, I think
she regrets that decision,” says Marcos Santana, who inherited his father’s
small restaurant, Mário do Mocotó, in Vila de Abrantes, Camaçari. Marcos’s
business stands alongside the BA-099, better known as Estrada do Coco
(Coconut Highway). Organized by the OAS-Odebrecht joint venture, the Ba-
hia Norte and Litoral Norte concessionaires, and SEBRAE, Two-Way Street
was first implemented in January 2011 by the Institute of Applied Research
and Technology Management (IPGA), with support from the Invepar Insti-
tute. The program covers the municipalities of Lauro de Freitas, Camaçari,
Simões Filho, Dias D’Avila, Mata de São João, Ipojuca, Entre Rios, Esplana-
da, Conde and Jandaira.
The first challenge was gaining the trust of small business owners along
the route. “We realized that they were skeptical. It’s a new project. No one
had ever taken an interest in them before, and they were afraid of losing their
businesses,” says Wellington Ribeiro, IGPA’s manager for this project. “We
A
Mariana Lopes “I’m coming out of my shell”
LeT’S MOVe
TOGeTheR!
14 informa
are working with everyone from the guy selling corn on
the cob on the street to the owner of a tire repair shop.
It’s not an easy job to get these entrepreneurs into the
classroom. They think that if they close their business
to study, just for a minute, they’ll lose money. But when
they start trusting us, we become part of the family,”
says IGPA supervisor Arlete Cruz.
The small business owners received training from
SEBRAE agents through classes that cover the ba-
sics of food handling, financial management, personal
marketing and environmental education, among other
topics. “The idea is not only to qualify them profession-
ally but to help them regain their sense of citizenship
and boost their self-esteem,” says Wellington Ribeiro.
In addition to taking classes, the entrepreneurs
receive monthly visits from SEBRAE mentors, are en-
couraged to register their companies, and can use a
support fund to enhance and expand their businesses.
“We realized that physical limitations were inhibiting
their growth. It’s hard to talk about giving good cus-
tomer service when they often lack the basics, like ta-
bles, chairs, shelves and a freezer,” says Leana Mattei,
who is in charge of Social/Environmental Development
at the Bahia Norte Concessionaire.
Using resources from the project’s support fund,
Marcos Santana not only bought another freezer for
his establishment but registered his restaurant and
obtained a federal tax number (CNPJ). His initiative
is already paying off: “Sometimes I’d lose customers
because I couldn’t issue invoices and official receipts,”
he says. Aquelina Moreira, who owns a small tailor
shop near his restaurant, can now take large orders
since she bought an industrial sewing machine and
obtained a business permit: “I’m making a company’s
uniforms.”
In Simões Filho, sales at Livro da Vida (Book of Life),
a bookshop and stationery store run by Maria Apare-
cida Ribas, have almost doubled thanks to a few simple
measures: “It used to be hard to sell our merchandise.
We had plenty in stock but no way to display it. My only
customers were the neighbors. Now, people some-
times drive by, see the items on display, and come in to
buy them.” Another valuable lesson: controlling costs
and setting a monthly withdrawal. “I’ve also learned
to buy, sell, and take care of the inventory. It used to
be that I’d go shopping and have no idea of what was
needed in the store. I’ve also started adding our costs
to the final price. I didn’t used to take into account what
I spent on gasoline, on lunch... And I’d get the store’s
earnings mixed up with the household budget. Pre-
viously, my daughter would ask me for BRL 10 and I
wouldn’t keep a record of it. Now I have things under
control,” explains Maria Aparecida.
Dengue prevention, traffic education and digital inclusionThe Rota das Bandeiras Concessionaire, which
runs the Dom Pedro Corridor highways, has deployed
Marcos Santana: losing business without official invoices
15informa
three social projects covering 17 counties in São Paulo
State. The Action against Dengue program is staging
a play called “The Lost Boys against Captain Dengue
and his Mosquitoes” in schools in Campinas, Paulínia,
Atibaia, Cosmópolis, Mogi Guaçu and Louveira. More
than 1,200 students have seen the play to date. “We
found that there were dengue epidemics in six towns
and cities on the Dom Pedro Corridor, so we produced
the play and are presenting it in schools in the districts
with the highest incidence of the disease, according to
the Municipal Health Department. The idea is to teach
kids to prevent and combat dengue,” explains Rota das
Bandeiras Social Responsibility Manager Adherbal
Vieira da Silva.
Elementary school students are also the target
audience of Route of Education, a traffic education
program that also enables kids to learn about mo-
bility, citizenship and the environment. The program
is currently underway in 22 municipal schools in
seven towns: Conchal, Igaratá, Jarinu, Bom Jesus
dos Perdões, Artur Nogueira, Mogi Guaçu and Ita-
tiba. “We provide training for teachers from the 1st
to 5th grades. The goal is for children to pass on
what they learn to their families and friends,” ex-
plains Adherbal.
Hit the Net, in turn, is directed at people of all ages
and will be deployed in 17 municipalities. The five-
year goal for this program is to set up 150 classrooms
throughout the Dom Pedro Corridor. “This is a digital
inclusion project that aims to offer communities ac-
cess to information, knowledge and relationships.
The local governments provide the facilities where
the classrooms are installed, and we cover the costs
of remodeling and equipment,” explains Adherbal. Hit
the Net offers 20-hour courses on the basics of com-
puting. Currently, it is active in 10 classrooms in three
towns, with a total of 280 students.
Helping passengersSuperVia Apprentice is a project focused on the
company itself: it is part of the program of improve-
ments that the concessionaire is implementing in rail
transportation in Rio de Janeiro. “The focus is on cus-
tomer service; the goal is to better serve our clients,”
explains Roberta Tanajura, the officer Responsible for
People and Organization. The project has selected 160
young people between the ages of 18 to 22, many of
them the company members’ children. Their job is to
answer questions and help passengers with disabili-
ties to get around.
Aquelina Moreira: “I’m making a company’suniforms
16 informa
“The idea arose when I paid a visit to Companhia
Paulista Trens Metropolitanos in São Paulo, which
has a similar project. Our young apprentices receive a
grant that goes beyond what the Apprentice Law stipu-
lates. They are entitled to social security, health care
and their full rights according to Brazilian labor laws.
And we have already received numerous compliments
about their work through the Customer Service Cen-
ter,” says Sonia Antunes proudly. She is the company’s
Commercial Officer and the creator of the program.
SuperVia trains carry 540,000 passengers per day,
on average. The company operates 270 km of tracks
that run through Rio de Janeiro and 11 counties in
the metropolitan area (Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu,
Nilópolis, Mesquita, Queimados, São João de Meriti,
Belford Roxo, Japeri, Magé, Paracambi and Guapi-
mirim).
The program received more than 2,000 résumés
during the process of selecting apprentices. The young
participants, most of whom live near the railway sta-
tion, were recruited and trained for two weeks by the
Mudes Foundation, where they took classes in citizen-
ship, customer service, Portuguese and basic infor-
mation about rail systems.
They are also applying what they learned in the
classroom to their personal lives. “I’m very shy. I came
here with the aim of coming out of my shell, and get-
ting over my shyness. Another thing I’ve learned is to
be more patient and not get stressed out,” says Mari-
ana Lopes, 19, who lives in Morro da Providência and
wants to go to college and become an archivist or so-
cial worker. The opportunity to work for SuperVia, her
first job experience, has also enabled Mariana to con-
tinue taking a prep course for college admissions ex-
ams. “I’ve started studying in the mornings. It’s a piece
of cake – I work six hours a day,” she says.
A resident of Engenho Novo, Lucas Silva Carvalho,
18, is a high school graduate who is looking for his
first job opportunity before going to college. He wants
to study Advertising, and can already see a future for
himself with the company: “I’ve heard that SuperVia
is thinking of putting apprentices to good use in other
17informa
areas after our contract expires. I could find a place in
their marketing or PR program.”
Quality education“Most concessionaire members live in neighbor-
ing communities, and some have kids who are study-
ing in schools participating in the Via School Program,
which helps get them more involved in their children’s
education,” says Flávia Queiroz, the Sustainability co-
ordinator at the Rota dos Coqueiros concessionaire in
Pernambuco. The company started Via School in 2012
in partnership with the Cornélio Brennand Group. This
social responsibility program aims to help develop ba-
sic education through the continuous training of edu-
cators from schools in the highway’s sphere of influ-
ence in the municipalities of Jaboatão dos Guararapes,
Cabo de Santo Agostinho and Ipojuca. A pilot project
that is expected to be firmly consolidated by 2014, Via
School is already active in 19 schools.
Using a method developed by the Chapada Educa-
tion and Research Institute (ICEP), the program encour-
ages students to read and write in the early years of el-
ementary school. To do so, Via School provides ongoing
training to 397 educators, including teachers, supervi-
sors, principals and members of the technical staffs of
the Departments of Education in the three participating
municipalities. “Our social outreach programs in gen-
eral used to be carried out on an ad hoc basis in certain
communities for a specific time. We were looking for
a more enduring program that all the concessionaires
could adopt. Via School is the first step in this new pol-
icy. We’ve decided to focus on basic education, but the
initial stages of literacy are a crucial time in a child’s
education. The idea is to replicate the program in all our
concessionaires and share this experience with other
companies,” explains Odebrecht TransPort Regional
Director (North/Northeast/Midwest) Renato Mello.
“I’ve worked in the municipal school system for 17
years, and now I see a program that makes me happy and
excited. This focus on training was exactly what we need-
ed. We’re just getting started, but today the library is no
longer closed,” says Arleide Santana Vieira, an Elemen-
tary School 1 educational supervisor at José Rodovalho
Municipal School in Jaboatão dos Guararapes. “They used
to read because they had to, but now they like it. Today, the
students know the authors’ names, and take better care
of the books,” adds Vilma Guedes, who teaches the early
grades of Elementary School 1 at Maria Madalena Tabosa
Municipal School, in Cabo de São Agostinho.
“The project works directly with the technical staff
and indirectly encompasses the entire school system,
but the dream is to reach all the schools. We want a
project that is not paternalistic; one that the local gov-
ernment can keep going with its own teacher trainers,”
explains Flávia Queiroz.
This is already starting to happen in Jaboatão dos
Guararapes: “The pilot schools we chose were the
ones with the lowest IDEBS (Basic Education Develop-
ment Index). The results of education take a long time
in coming, but the improvements are already visible.
We want to raise educational indicators and reduce
the dropout rate and age/grade disparity. Supervisors
at the pilot schools are training other supervisors who
go on to train their teachers. We have also exchanged
experiences with other municipalities. The goal is to
ensure this is not a government policy but a State
policy,” says Edilene Soares, the Municipal Education
Secretary for that county.
“They used to read because they had to, but now they like it. Today the students know the authors’ names, and take better care of the books”
Vilma Guedes
18 informa
TRuSTInG TheIR Own
abilities
18In Panama, a partnership takes information about combating HIV/AIDS to the jobsites
written by CLaudio Lovato FiLho photos by gEraLdo PEStaLozzi
Workers at the Metro Line 1 jobsite in Panama City: beneficiaries and agents of an exchange of information
19informa
rlando Quintero’s daily routine involves
a profusion of visits to communities,
government agencies and educational
institutions, media contacts, and more
recently, construction sites. Those more
attached to numbers would say he does not show
the 57 years shown on his ID card. A pediatrician by
training, he could not slow his pace if he wanted to.
Quintero is the founder and Executive Director of the
Foundation for the Welfare and Dignity of Persons
Affected by HIV/AIDS (Probidsida), an NGO that is a
model for combating the AIDS virus in Panama.
Using a map on the wall of his office at Probid-
sida’s headquarters in downtown Panama City, Quin-
tero shows the Odebrecht Informa team the situa-
tion of his country with regard to the incidence of HIV
infection. Quintero, who discovered that he was HIV
positive 25 years ago and created Probidsia in 1998,
points to the colors and numbers on the map and
says, with a tone of regret but without dismay, that
Panama is among the six countries with the highest
rates of the disease in the Americas. Estimates are
that there are 20,000 to 30,000 HIV-positive people in
Panama. That’s a large number for a country with a
population of under 3.5 million.
“This situation is due to a combination of factors,”
says Quintero. “We have large ports on the Pacific
and Atlantic coasts, there is a steady influx of tour-
ists, and the nightlife in our major cities is quite hec-
tic. But the main problem is the lack of sex educa-
tion. We face many obstacles to speaking openly, in
the classrooms, about the importance of using con-
doms, for example.”
These barriers, erected by stubborn conservatism
in powerful sectors of society, are not the only ones
that Probidsida has had to face. Until recently, it was
a major challenge for Quintero and his team to get
the financial and material resources they needed
to keep the foundation going. It has 42 people on its
staff, who are responsible, among many other ser-
vices, for hospital and home visits, producing edu-
cational materials, providing psychological guidance
and legal aid, and organizing information campaigns
focusing on prevention, besides conducting tests
(HIV and general), and providing aftercare following
HIV tests. Despite the Federal Government’s support,
the challenges were growing.
OFortunately, Probidsida got a significant boost
in its struggle to overcome those obstacles in 2011
when it signed a partnership with Odebrecht Pana-
ma. The company views supporting the foundation
Orlando Quintero heads as an opportunity to help
the country find a solution to a serious problem by
strengthening some of its most reputable, experi-
enced institutions. Through this partnership, Probid-
sida is now conducting all the employment medical
tests for Odebrecht’s projects in that country. This,
however, was just the first step in their relationship.
Contributing its specific focus and primary mis-
sion, Probidsida has worked synergistically with
Odebrecht Panama’s Sustainability team to orga-
nize an extensive campaign to combat HIV/AIDS that
benefits company members, their families and the
communities where they live. However, they also
involve a broad alliance between businesses and
exchanges between Panamanian and Brazilian re-
search institutions to share experiences and trans-
fer technology.
Cooperation agreements are currently being stud-
ied and defined, but 15 companies based in Panama
have already joined the Business Committee for the
program, which means that they have undertaken to
adopt corporate policies and projects to combat HIV.
“Odebrecht is the spearhead in Panama in this pro-
cess in which large companies have taken an inter-
est due to the importance of this issue. They need to
understand that they must ensure the protection of
their most important asset, which is people and their
knowledge.”
Life at the jobsitesOn the jobsites, workers’ participation in the cam-
paigns that the Probidsida and Odebrecht team orga-
nized have surpassed the highest expectations. The
attendance rate at lectures is over 90%. After the lec-
tures, which are given by foundation members who
share their personal experiences, almost everyone in
the audience decides to take the HIV test offered and
administered by the Probidsida team. The results are
completely confidential. One of the campaigns, titled
“AIDS is not a game,” carried out throughout 2012,
included the distribution of publications and an invi-
tation to be tested. It raised the awareness of more
than 3,000 workers.
For the Metro Line 1 construction project in Pan-
ama City, Probidsida has set up a clinic through its
own investments in equipment. That unit has con-
ducted more than 20,000 tests, including audiom-
etry (hearing), EKGs, EEGs and X-rays, in addition to
testing for HIV.
Dr. Belkis Santamaría, a specialist in emergency
and occupational medicine, is the officer Respon-
sible for Health on the Metro Line 1 project. She
leads a team of 28 people with the support of 20
Probidsida members. Belkis is a constant presence
at the construction site, where she visits the various
work fronts, chatting with members, checking their
working conditions and establishing a relationship
of trust.
“There are more than 4,000 people working on
this project, which has tremendous national visibil-
ity,” observes Belkis. “Our partner companies view
the work we are doing with our partner Probidsida
as a model and a benchmark,” she adds. This is
Probdsida team member Marlene Ribas’s first ex-
perience of working on a construction site. Previ-
ously, she had never left the lab. “It’s very moving to
watch people struggle to get well and improve their
quality of life,” she says.
Probidsida arrived at the Metro Line 1 construc-
tion site in September 2011. According to Project
Director Marcos Tepedino: “Probidsida is doing
excellent work, providing high-quality services to
the company and therefore to society. Through this
partnership, we have been able to help the insti-
tution develop a corporate vision and strengthen
itself.” Orlando Quintero agrees with Tepedino’s
observation: “This has been a new experience for
Probidsida, with the hallmark of education. It’s a
win-win relationship.”
20 informa
Doctors Orlando Quintero and (standing, rear) Belkis Santamaría with Probidsida members: a partnership that is producing results for the nation
21informa
FOLKS
Foto
: ho
lan
da C
ava
lCa
nti
Getting to know the neighbors
uring her work for the United Nations, for several
years Minerva Gómez closely followed the elections
held in Nicaragua, El Salvador, South Africa and Mozam-
bique after armed conflicts. She explains that before she
joined Odebrecht, she had no idea that there were peo-
ple right there near her home on the Panama Canal who
were living in poverty and violence similar to what she
had seen in those countries. Minerva holds a law degree
and has led Odebrecht’s social programs at the Curundu
Urban Renewal Project in Panama City for two and a half
years. Odebrecht is supporting government initiatives to
educate and place people in the job market. “I would like
the urban and human transformation that we are seeing
in Curundú to happen in other communities. I feel that I
am being useful to my country,” she says.
Minerva and the feeling of being of use to her country
A professional in his environment
hamara Wanderley, 24, was born in Alagoinhas, Bahia. Currently a chemical
industrial processes technician, she is about to get a degree in Engineering.
She now works as an operator at the Thermal Unit of the Energy and Essential
Services Industry (IESE), which is responsible for generating steam for Braskem
units and several clients at the Camaçari Complex in Bahia. Thamara has taken
part in one of the most rigorous selection processes to get where she is today. The
Camaçari Industrial Advancement Committee (Cofic) offers a course for industrial
operators. There were 3,000 candidates in February 2010, and just 60 were selec-
ted to take the course. Thamara was one of the 18 participants invited to become
a trainee at Braskem’s Basic Feedstocks Unit. “The entire process was terrific. I
want to become a Braskem leader one day,” she says.
A rewarding journey
Rafael and a pioneering program to rescue plant and animal life
Young Thamara, and her dream of becoming a leader at Braskem
Ge
ra
ldo P
est
alo
zzi
iologist Rafael
Tamashiro,
41, was born in Lima
and has worked in
Peruvian conserva-
tion parks in recent
years. He is currently
the officer Respon-
sible for Environment
at Odebrecht Peru
during construc-
tion of the Chaglla
hydroelectric power
plant, which is underway in a region located between the rain
forest and the peaks of the Andes. Created almost 50 years
ago, Tingo María National Park is nearby. Rafael and
his team have implemented a pioneering plant and ani-
mal rescue program in Peru. They study orchids, pro-
vide support for research at the Universidad Nacional
Agraria de la Selva (Unas), and have identified new rep-
tile species, thereby increasing our knowledge of Peru-
vian biodiversity. Rafael also helps rescue and relocate
fish from rivers in the project area. “We are innovating
through environmental programs that help preserve
and add value to my country’s natural heritage,” he
says, clearly pleased.
lor
en
a C
ar
ril
lo
be
G F
iGu
eir
ed
o
BD
T
22 informa
A jOBSITe ThAT
schoolsLiteracy,
professional education,
social reinsertion: the Fonte Nova Arena is already the setting
of memorable victories
22
very batch of concrete mixed to make
the Fonte Nova Arena’s massive sup-
porting piers in Salvador, Bahia, con-
tained a dose of sweat from Edmilson
da Silva Santos, 39. A carpenter, he
is one of the workers who produce the concrete
pieces that make up the new arena’s monumental
structure. However, the greatest masterpiece Ed-
milson (better known as Galego) has produced is
something else altogether: his own signature. He is
one of the 15 workers at the site who completed a
one-year literacy course at the Productivity School
in September.
That initiative is part of a range of social programs
developed by the joint venture building the arena,
formed by Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure)
and OAS, and which has benefited both company mem-
bers and the community.
As he says himself, before taking the course, Ga-
lego’s Portuguese was “rough, really rough.” He ob-
serves that he learned to read and pronounce “hard
words” during the course. “Now I’m much better at
communicating, and I can help my daughter [Mônica,
age 9] with her homework,” he says proudly.
Going from literacy to first-class citizenship is just a
small step forward. “Thanks to this course, I feel better
Ewritten by riCardo sanGiovanni
photos by MárCio liMa
23informa
qualified; I feel that I am a professional and am worthy,
that I am a Brazilian citizen,” says Salvador Lisboa Con-
ceição, 59, one of Galego’s co-workers. Salvador, who
was already literate but needed to refresh his knowl-
edge, is a steelfixer (a member of the team responsible
for assembling the steel beams that support the con-
crete). “My work doesn’t get that much attention, since
it’s going to be out of sight,” he jokes.
However, Salvador will have something much more
valuable to show: a “passport” from the Odebrecht/
OAS joint venture awarded to the course’s graduates as
certification for the training program. “This will help us
to open doors in the future. It’s quite a ‘résumé’.”
OpportunityAttention soccer fans: please don’t forget that it was
Márcia da Conceição Santos, 31, who painted the facilities
at the Fonte Nova Arena from top to bottom: “You should
know that it was me who painted everything you see when
you come to watch a game,” she stresses. She was hired
nine months ago, thanks to the Next Step program, which
selects Family Grant beneficiaries to work at the jobsite.
The joint venture selected and trained 18 people
to participate in that program in partnership with the
Department of Labor, Employment, Income and Sport
in Bahia (SETRE) and the National Industrial Training
Service (SENAI) and hired 10 of them. The 200-hour
Edmilson da Silva Santos: “Now I’m much better at communicating”
24 informa
of the Fonte Nova Arena’s social programs: “We want to
show that this is not just a construction project; not just
a stadium. We are a group of people who want to leave
a legacy.”
In addition to the programs that focus on members,
there are others which benefit the general public. One
example is Hit the Net, a partnership with 15 suppliers
that has financed the purchase of computers which will
eventually be donated to the community. Hit the Net of-
fers digital inclusion courses for residents in the neigh-
borhoods in the vicinity of the Arena.
This program has already benefited 131 people. One
of them is secretary Leila Góes Pereira, 46, who had
been unemployed because she lacked computer skills.
The intensive 15-hour course was an important boost
for her career. “I didn’t want to be left behind anymore,”
she says, clearly thrilled with her achievement.
The Arena’s social outreach programs also include
a partnership with Junior Achievement, a company
that concentrates on identifying potential entrepre-
neurs among children and adolescents. Professionals
from various areas of the Arena project have provided
training and taught introductory courses on entrepre-
neurship attended by about 1,000 young people from
public schools in Salvador through this partnership.
One of the “teachers” was engineer Igor Coelho Dan-
tas, 26, who has taught the basics of finance, adminis-
tration, feasibility studies and marketing to young people
between the ages of 15 and 17. “People from the low-
income segment of society face so many hardships that
it sometimes puts a damper on young people’s desire to
become entrepreneurs. Junior Achievement shows that
becoming an entrepreneur is not as hard as it seems,”
he observes.
ChallengeOf all the programs that Thiago and his team coordi-
nate, one is more sensitive and, at the same time, more
audacious. It is the New Start program, an initiative that
focuses on the social reinsertion of people convicted by
the courts.
Developed in partnership with the National Justice
Council (CNJ) and SETRE, the program selects prison-
ers who qualify for a work-release program and en-
ables them to learn construction skills before recom-
mending them for employment. Fourteen people have
taken part in the program at the Arena so far.
course included 40 hours of general knowledge (read-
ing, logical reasoning and occupational safety, among
other topics), and 160 hours of technical training, such
as steelfixing for beam rebars, carpentry, scaffolding
assembly and masonry.
Márcia explains that she has already done “something
of everything” at the site. “My strong point is painting, but if
a co-worker needs help with something else, I’m ready to
lend a hand. I come to work on public holidays; I’m a ‘Jill of
all trades’.”
Tatiana Próculo dos Santos, 34, who has been working
at the Arena for just over a year, was also hired through the
Next Step program. She started out as an assistant brick-
layer, and was promoted in just six months. “I took the
blueprint interpretation course [at SENAI, with the Arena’s
encouragement], and now I’m an appropriator [the profes-
sional who checks the progress of each procedure for a
sector of the job].”
Motivated by her new responsibilities, Tatiana has al-
ready decided on her next step: she will take a technical
construction course next year, as soon as the Arena proj-
ect is completed.
LegacyThe officer Responsible for Communication, People
and Organization and Social Outreach at the joint ven-
ture, Thiago Cunha sums up the aim of the full spectrum
Tatiana dos Santos: decision to take a construction course in the near future
25informa
Their inclusion in the consortium’s teams follows strict
confidentiality procedures regarding their status among
their co-workers. Only their direct leaders have access to
this information and undertake a commitment to fully in-
tegrate them and give them equal treatment.
One of the members who started working at the
construction site through this program has been a scaf-
folding assembler since December 2011. He asked the
Odebrecht Informa team not to publish his name, and
says he is reaching the end of his 16-year sentence. One
day is deducted from his jail time for every three days
worked, so he hopes to be released in 2013.
For now, his daily routine includes getting up early,
going to work at the Arena and returning to the facility
where he is confined at the end of the day. According
to the program’s regulations, he has a right to 70% of
the pay of a conventionally employed company member.
However, due to his good behavior and performance, he
has received the same pay as regular co-workers since
his second month there, as well as overtime, basic food
supplies and a 13th-monthly salary.
“You have to want things. It’s a feeling that has to grow
inside you. And I wanted this: I saw the opportunity and it
came,” he says. “This opportunity makes me very happy.
It’s a joy and a pleasure. I feel like I’m just the same as
anybody else,” he observes, adding, with a repressed
smile: “The truth is, I am.”
Márcia da Conceição Santos: “You should know that it was me who painted everything that you see when you come to watch a game”
Salvador Conceição: feeling more qualified and valued
26 informa
SPIRIT OF
champions
26
written by boéCio vidal lannes photos by aMériCo verMelho
27informa
SPIRIT OF The Maracanã
stadium jobsite houses several
educational and social outreach
programs
hen Maracanã is delivered to the public in
February 2013, Brazil will be getting much
more than a soccer stadium, revamped
after 30 months of work. Its 60 concrete
piers, bleachers seating up to 79,000 peo-
ple and reinstalled grass are evidence and testimony to numer-
ous stories of overcoming challenges. This is the experience of
the 5,700 members – 5,400 men and 300 women – who make up
Maracanã Rio 2014, the joint venture of Odebrecht and Andrade
Infrastructure Gutierrez that is revamping the stadium.
Over the course of the project, managers, field engineers and
supervisors are guiding each professional working in their ar-
eas to ensure maximum quality, efficiency and safety for Mário
Filho Stadium (as it is officially called). It is named for a sports
journalist who fought a veritable battle with the authorities of
his time to ensure that that huge circular structure, a temple of
world soccer, was erected on the Maracanã River 62 years ago.
Alongside the technical education Group members receive,
classrooms have been set up with a focus on educational and
social outreach programs the joint venture has organized to
offer digital inclusion and first-class citizenship to members
who want something more in life and their profession. After
work, they set their tools aside and use pens, notebooks and
computers. With watchful eyes, they follow every explanation
their teachers give them in five different programs. All of these
members share traits in common: grit, motivation, optimism
and commitment.
Professional education and citizenshipField Education project student, José Ronaldo Dias, 32, is a ce-
ment mixer operator. Born in the northeastern state of Alagoas,
he is now working on his third Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infra-
structure) project in Rio. Previously, he worked on João Havelange
Olympic Stadium (Engenhão) and provided services through the
Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) in the Complexo do Alemão
shantytown, where he lives with his wife and 6-year-old son.
Carried out in partnership with the Social Service of Industry
(SESI), the Field Education project provides an opportunity to
study for people who cannot read or write, or never went past
the 5th grade. José Ronaldo says that his life is much better
since he enrolled in the project in January 2012. “Now I can
talk about hydroelectric, wind and solar power. I learned it all
from my teacher,” he says, referring to Lídia Mota, who teaches
at Maracanã stadium Mondays through Thursdays. For her,
teaching her 25 worker-students is “a pleasure,” especially
when she sees how hard her class works to catch up.
W
Schoolteacher Lídia Mota and her class of worker-students: “It’s a pleasure to see how hard they try”
28 informa
“Companies should not only train skilled profes-
sionals but also introduce programs that foster citi-
zenship,” argues Wilson Busanello, the Administrative
and Financial Manager for the project. Known as the
“Mayor of Maracanã,” he joined Odebrecht in 1978 and
now leads a team of 300 professionals. “Every day, our
kitchen produces 12,000 bread rolls, and cooks 450
kilos rice, 250 kilos of beans and 1,200 kilos of meat,”
he says.
Breakfast with the LeaderAnother outstanding initiative being carried out
during the Maracanã project is the Breakfast with
the Leader program. For the first 15 minutes, the at-
mosphere is tense. After all, having breakfast with
the “boss” is not the easiest situation for a group of
13 professionals, including 11 men and two women.
They are in that room with a single goal: to speak
openly with their leaders about various work-related
issues and find solutions on the spot. To break the
ice, the first topic of the day is soccer. But gradually,
between one cup of coffee and another, the group
comes up with several suggestions and joint reflec-
tions and guidelines that help the joint venture’s
management make decisions about the project’s
day-to-day operations.
The only two women in the breakfast room, Kássia
Angelo de Oliveira and Débora da Silva Oliveira, both
23 years old and working as electricians on the Ma-
racanã project, say that their lives have changed for
the better after learning a trade. Débora, whose nails
are impeccable, shares her secret: “I paint them ev-
ery week there in Morro da Mangueira, where I live.”
Kássia observes that, strange as it may seem, she
loves “the work environment.”
Every edition of Breakfast with the Leader brings a
surprise: a former professional soccer player is invit-
ed to join in and motivate the team. The guest for the
seventh edition, which the Odebrecht Informa team
attended, was Ricardo Rocha, who played on the
Brazil squad in two FIFA World Cups, in 1990 in Italy,
and in 1994 in the United States. He suffered a seri-
ous injury in the opening game in the US, but stayed
on the bench at his teammates’ request to keep their
spirits up with his good cheer. In fact, being cheerful
and upbeat is his registered trademark. After telling
a few jokes, he faces the rest of the group and con-
cludes, seriously: “Today, you are [Brazilian soccer
star] Neymar. You’ve got the ball. When Maracanã
is ready, bring your children here and tell them you
built it.”
Project Director, Paulo Falcão, introduced Ricardo
Rocha to the participants and took the opportunity to
reveal a secret. He told them that he had arranged
with the authorities in Rio de Janeiro to have the
names of all the joint venture’s members engraved
on a large plaque at Maracanã. They all loved the
news.
The 10 Commandments and Hit the NetOther programs that are a source of pride for
everyone working on the jobsite are the Maracanã
Leaders’ 10 Commandments and Hit the Net. The 10
Commandments, introduced on April 28, 2012, is a
document put together by 284 leaders and supervi-
Hit the Net student Elder de Souza Santos: personifying a legacy that goes far beyond a soccer stadium
29informa
sors during the joint venture’s two-month leader-
ship training course. They all agreed to follow the 10
commandments they had drawn up themselves, and
to meet the deadline for delivering the project. The
commandments are written on colored badges the
leaders wear on their chests. In view of all this en-
thusiasm, Paulo Falcão observes: “Motivation makes
things get around, and now I feel that everyone is
motivated.”
“My life began again with the resumption of Ma-
racanã,” confessed Elder de Souza Santos, 30, when
he was about to receive his certificate of completion
for the Hit the Net project, where students learn the
basics of the Internet. He is keen to stress the prog-
ress he has made with his computer skills. “I’m go-
ing to use Excel to plan my finances.” The father of
two girls, Thainá and Eliza, this bricklayer from Rio
de Janeiro seizes every opportunity the joint venture
offers. Besides Hit the Net, he has also taken two oc-
cupational safety courses – First Aid and Confined
Space. Elder says he will spend Carnival 2013 in Ar-
raial do Cabo, a town with beautiful beaches on the
north coast of Rio de Janeiro State. “But this year I’ll
search the web for a house to rent,” he adds.
Young ApprenticeA successful partnership with SENAI, the Young
Apprentice program has already provided job skills to
more than 100 young people, helping them become
electricians, carpenters, administrative assistants
and bricklayers. Students must pass an eight- to
12-month course to receive their certificates.
Andressa Miguel da Costa graduated in July 2012,
and is already part of the team revamping Maracanã.
At 23, she dreams of becoming an architect or civil
engineer. “I took the course because it represents
another step in my career. I want to go to college, but
right now I need to work to pay my tuition. The brick-
layer’s certificate is just the first step.”
José Ronaldo Dias: opportunity to read, write and express himself better
Former Brazil squad member Ricardo Rocha: “When Maracanã is ready, tell your kids that you built it”
30 informa
CAReFuLLY
cultivatingThe Arena Education
and Acreditar programs create growth prospects
in Pernambuco, Brazil
30
The FuTuRewritten by renata Meyer photos by lia lubaMbo
Elivaldo dos Santos: “Acreditar is making dreams come true”
31informa
When she hung up
the phone that day
in October, Gra-
ziele da Silva Bri-
to, 20, could barely
hide her joy. She had just been called by
a recruitment company, which invited
her to take part in the hiring process for
the operations area of a major super-
market chain. That opportunity came
days after Graziele received her certifi-
cate of completion of a computer course
through the Arena Education project,
which Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infra-
structure) offers in the Santa Mônica
community near the Pernambuco Are-
na construction works, underway in São
Lourenço da Mata, in the Recife metropolitan area.
“The course has made a big difference to my
résumé and opened the doors of the job market.
Today, almost all areas of a supermarket require
computer skills,” says Graziele, who took the first
class available, from June to September 2012. “I
learned to use a computer, access the Internet and
run some programs. Today, I feel better prepared to
use this tool,” she adds.
Ivonete da Silva Brito, Graziele’s mother, decided
to follow in her daughter’s footsteps and enroll in
the program. At 38, she is making her first forays
into the digital universe. “Computer skills have be-
come a basic requirement for any job. I saw lots of
people being laid off at the company where I worked
because they didn’t know how to use a computer. I
don’t want to be left behind,” says the housewife,
who plans to return to the job market in the near
future.
Organized in partnership with the Social Service
of Industry (SESI), Arena Education contributes to
the digital inclusion of adults by teaching them ba-
sic computer skills free of charge. The hour-long
classes are held twice a week, and include theory
and practice. The educational program expects to
have trained 100 people by the time the construc-
tion project is completed.
According to course instructor Rafael Batista
(whose total workload is 60 hours), knowing your
way around a computer is a prerequisite for deal-
ing with the challenges of the future. “This kind of
program is essential for every company that has a
broad view of what society will require going for-
ward. More and more, we are going to need profes-
sionals who can work with new technologies, and
the attention that Odebrecht is devoting to the Santa
Mônica community will surely be repaid in the form
of a better-qualified workforce.”
The power of AcreditarArena Education is not the only program that is
creating fresh prospects for workers who live in the
vicinity of the Pernambuco Arena jobsite. Elivaldo
Paulino dos Santos, 28, is proof of that. A former
shopkeeper, Elivaldo was working as a clerk in a
candy store in São Lourenço da Mata’s Public Mar-
ket when he heard a car equipped with loudspeak-
ers announce enrollment for Acreditar (Believe), an
Odebrecht program created to provide workers with
job skills in the construction trade.
Elivaldo says that many of his friends thought
the program was too good to be true, because it is
free, but his desire to work in a different field for a
large company motivated him to apply. After joining
Young Graziele Brito and her mother, Ivonete: ready for the requirements of today’s world
the eighth class and passing a test, he was hired to
work on the Pernambuco Arena project. His voice
is choked with emotion when he describes how he
felt that day: “I really wanted that opportunity. I be-
lieved that my day would come, and thankfully it did.
Acreditar is making dreams come true, and thanks
to this opportunity, I was able to put my daughter in
private school, pay for a health plan and open a sav-
ings account so she can go to college one day. Now
I can also take my daughter to the playground at the
mall, and for me, her smile is priceless,” he says,
clearly moved.
Elivaldo took the Acreditar course in July 2011.
Then, in September of that year, he began working at
the Pernambuco Arena jobsite as an assistant and was
soon promoted to operations manager. That’s when
a new opportunity arose: working in the environment
area, a long-held aspiration for Elivaldo. Born and
raised in São Lourenço da Mata, he is now responsible
for operating the jobsite’s wastewater treatment plant.
He has also helped set up the plant nursery used to
restore the Permanent Protection Areas on the banks
of the Capibaribe River near the future stadium.
Now growing 622 seedlings, the nursery is also
the target of some of the waste the jobsite gener-
ates. “Here, plastic cups, ice bags and sawdust get
put to different uses,” says Elivaldo, who is also one
of the instigators of the Environmental Education
Program, which Odebrecht Infraestrutura spon-
sors in São Lourenço da Mata. Through this initia-
tive, company members visit local schools to teach
children and adolescents the basics of environmen-
tal preservation. The visitors choose multipliers
to pass on the lessons they have learned to their
classmates and families. Finally, the children and
company members plant seedlings in the school-
yards.
“We hope to ensure the continuity of all the so-
cial programs we have implemented in this region.
Through Acreditar alone, we have empowered
more than 500 people and invested BRL 600,000.
This is essential to keep pace with the state’s high
growth prospects, which will generate a strong
demand for skilled workers in the coming years,”
says Pernambuco Arena Project Director Bruno
Dourado.
32 informa
Rafael Batista: commitment to future citizens
33informa
eAGeRLY AwAITeD
visitsFoz do Brasil’s
program to train health visitors has
already groomed over 1,200 people
33A
na Paula Cabral de Castro’s childhood was
no bed of roses. Her father and mother had
problems with alcoholism in the small Bra-
zilian town of Cristalândia, Tocantins. Thin,
her skin dark from the sun, the young girl
heard whispers that she “would never get anywhere in life.”
She was eventually raised by her grandmother, Rosa, a tough
woman who smiled little and believed in strict discipline.
Accustomed to swimming against the tide, at the age
of 9, Ana made posters with cardboard and magic marker
for meetings of the local Residents’ Association, chaired
by an uncle. During those meetings, she would sit on a
stool, concentrating, her eyes narrowed, listening to the
residents’ complaints. Everything she heard fermented in
her mind.
written by João MarCondes photos by Celso doni
Egon Hoennicke with his wife, Alzira: “An angel saved my life”
34 informa
Fast forward to 2012. Now working for the City of Pal-
mas, Ana Paula goes from house to house in the state
capital of Tocantins as a health visitor for the Family
Health Program. The home of Luiza Lima França, 76, is
one of her favorite stops. Luiza suffers from diabetes and
lost her husband, Vicente, just two months ago. She is
in a state that is only relieved by a warm hug from the
health visitor.
Ana Paula visits over 200 homes on her route. Chil-
dren, workers, pregnant women, teenagers, they are all
under her care. “But what I like most is working with the
elderly because they remind me of my grandmother,
who taught me everything in life.” Luiza serves coffee
and cheese buns, and says: “Ana Paula is the one every-
one wants. She is one of us. An extension of the family.”
“Public service from the viewpoint of health”Ana Paula is now 34 years old. Like other health
visitors in Tocantins, she has taken a training program
organized by Saneatins, a subsidiary of Foz do Brasil,
which aims to include sanitation in the approach to fam-
ily health visits. At Luiza’s home, for example, Ana Paula
discusses the need to clean the water tank and reuse
water from the washing machine to clean the floor, as
well as talking about waterborne diseases and sewage
treatment.
Focused on health visitors, the program is currently
being deployed in Foz’s operations in Cachoeiro do Itape-
merim, Espírito Santo; Blumenau, Santa Catarina; Sal-
vador, Bahia, and most of the state of Tocantins. It has
groomed over 1,200 health visitors through lectures by
specialists who reveal the connection between health
and sanitation to multipliers from the federal Family
Health program.
According to Mônica Queiroz, the officer Responsible
for Sustainability at Foz do Brasil, the company aims to
develop programs that familiarize the public with sanita-
tion issues so they will understand how it impacts their
health and quality of life. In addition to training health
visitors, Foz has partnered up with the Ministry of Health
to sponsor a dengue prevention program. “These activi-
ties allow us to view public service from the perspective
of health,” says Mônica.
In Brazil, 15 children aged 0 to 4 years die every day
due to a lack of sanitation (according to data from the
Getúlio Vargas Foundation/Trata Brasil). The relation-
ship between water and health should be obvious to ev-
Health visitor Ana Paula Cabral de Castro with Luiza França: a very special visit
35informa
eryone, but it is not. Even during their training, the health
visitors first have to make a change in themselves, their
homes and their families. “The best way to get people to
follow your lead is to set an example,” says Lenice Fer-
nandes, who is responsible for the program at Saneatins
and trains and empowers health visitors.
Adriana Abel Penedo, a consultant who has trained
over 400 health visitors, follows a line of reasoning: “Wa-
ter as ethics for life.” She explains: “People assume they
can just let water go to waste, like leaving a faucet run-
ning while brushing their teeth, because they pay the bill
and it won’t make much difference. That attitude has to
change because it affects the welfare of countless other
living beings.” Worldwide, about 1.2 billion people con-
sume unsafe water (according to the World Health Orga-
nization) that has not undergone any kind of treatment,
while others who have piped-in water in their homes let
the precious liquid go down the drain.
Green valleysFounded by 18 German immigrants in a verdant val-
ley in a bend of the Itajaí-Açu River, the city of Blumenau
now entrusts part of its precious environmental assets
to Foz do Brasil, which treats locally produced sewage.
The company gets a warm welcome when it visits
people’s houses, many of them half-timbered, built in a
typically German style. The home of retiree Egon Hoen-
niche, 72, is no exception. “That blonde angel saved my
life,” he says enthusiastically, pointing to head nurse Vera
Janete Piesanti, from the Family Health Strategy Unit, lo-
cated near the Glória district. Her team came to Egon’s
aid when he was suffering from acute gastroenteritis.
Vera got her training “indirectly” by sending her health
workers to a Foz-sponsored event. When they returned,
she noticed that they were all commenting excitedly about
what they had learned, and she wanted to learn all about
it. “I didn’t know what sewage treatment was all about. I
didn’t even know there was a plant near here.”
She found that out from Liliana Dias Correa, 45, a
health visitor who took the course. Charismatic, Liliana
has the gift of sharing knowledge, Whether with Egon
and his wife, Alzira, or with Vera, her boss. “Around here,
the hardest thing is to get people to clean the water tank
and convince them that water from septic tanks is often
a danger to their health,” she says. “This kind of work
has to be done bit by bit, one person at a time. The most
important thing is for us to change ourselves so we can
influence everything around us,” she argues.
Health visitor Mirian Ferreira da Silva with the Nunes Lopes Family: building new habits bit by bit
36 informa
INTERVIEW
36
people
Francisco Martins: relationships that last forever
37informa36
written by CLáudio Lovato FiLho photo by gEraLdo PEStaLozzi
keePInG hIS MInD On
peopleo this day, he still remembers Sev-
erino, a small farmer of smaller
means who coupled a pulley to the
wheel of his Chevette to run the
pump that irrigated his vegetable
garden in jataúba, in the arid region of the Bra-
zilian state of Pernambuco in the late 1980s. he
also recalls Salvador, an organic coffee producer
in the Cordillera escalera region of Peru who fi-
nally managed to get decent sales for his prod-
uct, changing his life and those of many other
people in his community over the past decade.
And then there’s hector, a teacher who does so-
cial work in Chorrillo, one of the poorest com-
munities in Panama City. But there are more
than just names etched in his memory. Fran-
cisco Martins does not forget any of them and
many others because he doesn’t want to and
never could. “People are made up of their rela-
tionships with other people,” he says. “They are
my baggage.” The officer Responsible for Sus-
tainability at Odebrecht Panama, and an agron-
omist by training, Francisco Leite Martins neto
was born in Caruaru, Pernambuco. As a child,
he went to live in Olinda, a city that he still loves
with all his heart, along with the Recife Sport
Club. Along with his wife, Barbara (who also
sets an example of belief in sustainability prac-
tices by leading a movement to improve condi-
tions for cyclists in Panama City), he misses his
son, Leo, 18, who lives in Recife. Displaying mo-
tivation typical of someone who is doing what he
Tlikes best with every word he says, in this inter-
view Francisco speaks, above all, about personal
bonds. “we need to put ourselves in the place of
the people we interact with and work for.”
Odebrecht Informa – Since the beginning of your
career in 1986, when you graduated in Agronomy
from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco
(UFRPE), you have devoted yourself to social work
in one way or another. What attracts you most to
this type of activity?
Francisco Martins – People. The opportunity to
get to know them, to work with them and learn
from them. Once I graduated, I went to work at the
Pernambuco Department of Agriculture, where I
worked on irrigation projects for small farmers.
My first professional experience had a very strong
social component. I realized that the biggest chal-
lenge was adapting solutions to the situation on
the ground, and to do that, it was essential to un-
derstand the beneficiaries’ daily lives.
OI – And how is that done in practice?
Francisco – By talking to people. when I worked at
the Agriculture Department, I was based in Recife,
but I traveled all around the state, in the arid region,
the hinterland… I would visit the homes of small
farmers and talk to them. They’d invite me to lunch
and I’d listen to their stories. I remember how they
felt honored by our visits. They were very simple folk
who put the fruits of their labor in their homes, on
their tables. They were people with skin in the game.
38 informa
OI – In 1991, you left Pernambuco and went to
Europe to do graduate work in Water Resource
Management. To what extent was that experience
important for you?
Francisco – I went to the uk on a scholarship from
the British Council and spent nearly two years at
the national College of Agriculture. It was a very
rewarding experience. I made friends from all over
the world. And I learned even more about the im-
portance of listening and paying attention to others.
OI – On your return from the UK, you had your
first experience in the private sector. What was
that like?
Francisco – In 1993 I went to work for Souza Cruz.
Once again, I was working with small farmers, but
this time they grew tobacco on properties in the
semiarid region of Pernambuco, Rio Grande do
norte, Paraíba and Ceará. At the time, I was living
in Patos, Paraíba. It was a very important learning
experience. After working in the public sector, I ex-
perienced the reality of working for a large private
company. That’s where I had my first contact with
performance indicators. It was an extraordinary ed-
ucation. Then, in 1995, I went back to work for the
State Government at the invitation of the late Miguel
Arraes, and headed the Small Producer Support
Program (PAPP). Four years later, I returned to the
private sector. I joined Projetec’s team of consul-
tants and spent 11 years there. It was a wonderful
working environment. The focus was always on the
social area. It was through Projetec that I started
interacting professionally with Odebrecht.
OI – What was your first contact with Odebrecht
like?
Francisco – when I was in ecuador, I had another
opportunity to provide support for small producers
in an important agricultural development project
called Carrizal-Chone, led by Project Director eleu-
berto Martorelli. After that, I worked for the IIRSA
north [highway] in Peru, again with Martorelli, a
leader who is very attentive to community relations
and taught me a lot. Those early experiences with
Odebrecht deepened my conviction that you don’t
gain people’s trust with words, but with deeds. In
Peru, it was challenging to work in a socially and
environmentally sensitive area. Among a range of
initiatives, we provided support for coffee producers
and the cooperative system in the Cordillera escal-
era. That was one of the most remarkable episodes
of my life, because of the results achieved when
it came to improved socioeconomic conditions for
those communities.
OI – Then, in September 2010, you finally joined
Odebrecht...
Francisco – Yes, that’s right. Sérgio Leão [Re-
sponsible for Sustainability at Odebrecht] and Fe-
lipe Cruz [now Investment Director at the Capanda
Complex in Angola] knew about my work in ecuador
and Peru, and invited me to take on the challenge
of being responsible for community outreach and
climate change programs at Odebrecht Panama.
At the time, the CeO, André Rabello, and his direct
team were structuring the company’s Sustainability
Program in that country. In 2013, I am also provid-
ing support for environmental programs.
OI – Panama is a small country, but at the same
time it is socioeconomically and culturally diverse.
To what extent does this present a challenge in
your work?
Francisco – It’s both challenging and rewarding. On
the Coastal Beltway project [an extensive initiative
that involves road works and urban renewal, now
underway in central Panama City], for example,
the beneficiary communities belong to all levels of
society – from residents of impoverished areas like
Chorrillo to the upper-middle-class folks on Ave-
“You don’t gain people’s trust with words, but with deeds”
Francisco Martins
nida Balboa. And they all have to be treated with the
same respect and the same dedication.
OI – The Curundu Project, which is renewing one
of the poorest, most violent communities in Pan-
ama City, was the first project you worked on in
Panama. What kind of lessons did you learn from
that experience?
Francisco – The lessons I learned while accompany-
ing the work of [Project Director] júlio Lopes Ramos
and his social outreach team were priceless. They
managed to win the community’s trust, established
effective communication channels, and through
them, met all the requirements of sustainability. As
a result, they made a decisive contribution to carrying
out the project in a way that was fully adapted to the
local environment.
OI – And to what do you attribute the Curundu
team’s success?
Francisco – It is a team of well-qualified and mature
professionals who knew how to develop a profile of
the community and identify its characteristics. To
do that, they worked closely with people, listened to
them, visited their homes, and helped them under-
stand that changes being made were going to im-
prove their lives.
OI – Can you describe your day-to-day work rou-
tine?
Francisco – My mission is to provide support for
projects within the scope of a decentralized organi-
zation. Support is not imposed. It is either offered or
requested. we are always trying to identify opportuni-
ties that might be of interest to the projects.
OI – One of the highlights of Odebrecht’s social pro-
grams in Panama today is the Program to Combat
HIV/AIDS (see article in this issue). What’s your
analysis of the importance of this initiative?
Francisco – hIV/AIDS is a critical issue in Panama.
The country has one of the highest rates in the Ameri-
cas. Odebrecht, in turn, has followed a specific policy
on hIV/AIDS since 2008. we have partnered with Pro-
bidsida [the Foundation for the welfare and Dignity of
Persons Affected by hIV/AIDS], a highly credible and
competent Panamanian institution, and designed a
program that covers our six ongoing projects in that
country. All construction sites receive lecturers from
the Probidsida team, organize awareness-raising
campaigns and offer the possibility of voluntary and
confidential testing. we have seen excellent results,
especially with regard to disseminating solid informa-
tion and debunking myths about the disease, while
encouraging early diagnosis.
OI – An innovative environmental education and
community relations project is now underway as
part of the construction of the Panama City Waste-
water Treatment Plant. How would you describe it?
Francisco – In its initial phase, juan Diaz Mangrove
Park will cover 10 acres and will be dedicated pri-
marily to environmental education and scientific
research. The protected mangrove area is adjacent
to the construction site for the project, which was
designed to make an historic achievement: stop-
ping domestic sewage from polluting the rivers of
Panama City and Panama Bay. Because it is a place
where people can clearly understand the effects of
pollution on nature and reflect on their bad habits,
like littering the streets and waterways, the Man-
grove Park initiative could even serve as a model for
other countries.
OI – With regard to sustainability, what is the cur-
rent situation in Panama and for Odebrecht in that
country?
Francisco – The company has been building essen-
tial projects and offering additional contributions
whose impact and scope have attracted widespread
public attention. Our projects as a whole implement
consistent community outreach programs conducted
by well-organized teams. we seek to establish a net-
work of strategic alliances with the business world,
in a mobilization that is reflected by gains in image
and productivity for our clients. Internally, the con-
solidation of Sustainability, health and Safety, Com-
munication and Institutional Relations, spearheaded
by Paul Levita [the leader of the CeO for Odebrecht
Panama’s direct team] has helped tremendously.
And we’ve managed to encourage our members to
lead by example in their daily lives. The sustainability
of the planet begins at home, and it’s the responsibil-
ity of everyone who breathes!
39informa
40 informa
AnD TheIR POweR FOR ChAnGethe arts
written by dieGo daMasCeno photos by MárCio liMa
40
41informa
The Braskem Theater Award, Frontiers of Thinking, Neojiba, Porto Alegre on Stage. Facets of the contribution from a company that values and lives the arts and culture
Director Luiz Marfuz, a Professor at the UFBA Theater School: emphasis on preservation
42 informa
n 2007, a few months after winning the state of
Bahia’s most important theater award for her
performance in the “The House of Specters,” ac-
tress Jussara Mathias received a phone call she
will never forget. Director Fabiana Monsalú was
on the other end of the line with an invitation for her.
“She asked me to play a role in Lorca’s ‘House of Ber-
narda Alba’,” recalls Jussara. The actress repeats the
director’s words verbatim: “She put it this way: ‘I know
that you’ve just won the Braskem [award], and it’s just
a small part.’ I agreed on the spot.”
The only prize of its kind in Bahia, the Braskem The-
ater Award since 2003 has selected the best shows, di-
rectors, playwrights, actors, actresses and profession-
als who have excelled in Bahia’s theater world. “The
award was a major leap for me. People start looking at
you after that,” says Jussara.
The recipient of a special honor at the 2011 award
ceremony, stage and screen actor Wagner Moura re-
ceived the trophy from his father, José Moura, who
died later that year. On stage at the ceremony, Wagner
recalled winning the Braskem Theater Award in 1997,
and said it was the most important honor he ever re-
ceived in his career.
The trophy in the Breakthrough category in 2010 also
put the spotlight on the work of theater director José
Jackson. His award-winning production, “Two Men Lost
in a Dirty Night,” was originally staged as Jackson’s de-
gree project. He graduated with a BA in Performing Arts
from the Federal University at Bahia (UFBA) Theater
School. “The award has changed the way the actors see
me. After that, I stopped being just a drama school stu-
dent whose work had little impact,” he comments.
Born in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Jackson was first
invited to join a theater group when he was in his teens.
The stage has been his world ever since. “Art plays a
transformative role in an individual’s life. When I joined
the group at the age of 15, I could barely read or write.
It was a major growth experience.”
With 25 years’ experience in theater, dance and
music under her belt, lighting designer Irma Vidal
has won two trophies. However, she believes that just
being nominated for the Braskem Award is already a
prize. “It recognizes the work of the entire group,” she
says. Irma thinks the private sector has a role to play in
promoting the arts. “Today there aren’t many compa-
nies that invest in culture in Bahia.”
Director Luiz Marfuz, a professor at the UFBA The-
ater School, was able to revive his production of “My
Name is a Lie,” on account of five nominations for the
2011 edition of the award. He believes that the prize
plays a role in preservation. “Theater takes place in
the moment, and after that, all that’s left is a photo-
graphic or audiovisual record of the work. This award
covers the entire year [the nominees are announced
the year before the awards ceremony] and organizes a
memory of that period. It rescues the theater from its
own ephemerality.”
In 2012, the Braskem Theater Award held cultural
and artistic training workshops for young people.
Thirty public school students participated in free au-
diovisual workshops, an 80-hour course including
practical and theoretical activities taught by experi-
enced professionals, covering script writing, direct-
ing, art direction, production and sound and lighting
techniques. The results of this work were showcased
at the 19th awards ceremony, held on April 4 at the
Castro Alves Theater.
I Jussara Mathias: “The award was a major leap for me”
43informa
Now in its 20th edition, the Braskem Theater Award
is making a major contribution to the appreciation of
art and culture, but it is by no means the company’s
only contribution in this area, as you will see.
Frontiers of ThinkingBringing the stage and audience closer together
through reflection is also the aim of Frontiers of Think-
ing, a Braskem project that has become one of the
most important events in Brazil’s cultural calendar.
An advanced course held in a lecture format, Fron-
tiers brings together thinkers, scientists and leaders
from around the world who are at the cutting edge of
their fields of expertise. The main theme is the identity
of the 21st century. Every year since the project began
in 2006, this debate has guided lectures by personalities
such as literary critic Beatriz Sarlo, writer Ayaan Hirsi
Ali, philosopher Alain de Botton, journalist Christopher
Hitchens, writer Camille Paglia, scientist Miguel Nicole-
lis, anthropologist Edgar Morin, physician Denis Muk-
wege, writer Mario Vargas Llosa and economist Eric
Maskin (the last two are also Nobel Prize winners).
The Frontiers program does more than just orga-
nize debates. It also encourages other cultural and
educational activities, particularly the Frontiers Edu-
cation: Dialogues with Generation Z project.
“Frontiers is a major platform for content produc-
ers, but it wasn’t reaching students. So we just had
to think of a format that was more suitable for young
people,” explains Braskem Institutional Relations
Manager João Freire.
Since 2009, the program has organized meetings
between Frontiers speakers, Federal University at Rio
Grande do Sul (UFRGS) professors, and public school
students from the city of Porto Alegre. Writer Fabrício
Carpinejar is the mediator in this dialogue between
students and specialists. The project also distributes
educational publications based on several editions of
Frontiers of Thinking lectures.
Language, sustainability, science and African cul-
ture were the themes chosen for the 2012 edition of the
project. During the most recent meeting, held on No-
vember 13, about 3,000 students conversed with writer
Mia Couto, from Mozambique, and UFRGS professors.
Mia Couto’s lecture topic was inspired by the name of
the event. “Talking to students has everything to do with
expanding frontiers. We have to cross these boundaries
between younger and older people, between the more
erudite and the less erudite.” In the Mozambican author’s
assessment, getting to know Africa is a way for Brazil to
become a better – and more Brazilian – country.
Alexia Martis, 13, was in the audience. By the end
of the lecture, she had developed an interest in Mia
Couto’s stories. “I think it is important for us to leave
the classroom and learn in other places,” she says.
For Alessandro da Silva, 17, the talk was important
because it presented content in a different language
from the kind used in the classroom. “I can talk to my
family about what I learned here.” Fabíola Silveira, 11,
points out that it was interesting to discover that Brazil
and Africa are similar in many ways. “There is conflict
in Africa because of the color of people’s skin.” Joana
Soares, 15, says: “I enjoyed meeting Mia, who is a for-
eigner and came to talk to us about his country. I didn’t
know that there were so many different countries in
Africa.” Éderson Luiz de Lima, 15, remarks that he only
knew the names of a few African countries, and very
little about their cultures. “It was a surprise to learn
that African literature is well-known here in Brazil.”
Young director José Jackson: winning recognition
44 informa
In the assessment of Jaqueline de Oliveira Natel,
who teaches Portuguese at the Chapéu do Sol school,
the project is a new type of didactic and pedagogical
activity. “Today, the classroom is too small to contain
the students’ aspirations. This opportunity helps us
prepare more interesting lessons.” History teacher
César Augusto Queirós believes that it is essential to
put students in contact with other learning environ-
ments. “This encounter between the university and the
schools should take place more often. The university
must go to school, too.”
Schoolteacher Ricardo Menegotto has participated
in the last three editions of Frontiers Education. He
notes that the format of the event, which includes vid-
eos and intense interaction with the audience, is at-
tractive for students. “Sometimes the theme is new
and enriches our work at school. In the case of the
discussion about Africa, we had already been dealing
with that, so it’s a plus.”
NeojibaYuri Azevedo, 21, had his first opportunity to learn
about Neojiba (the State Youth and Children’s Orches-
tra Centers of Bahia) after a piano recital by conductor
Ricardo Castro in 2007. Yuri was 14 years old and tak-
ing a percussion lessons at the Federal University at
Bahia (UFBA). Until then, he had thought that Neojiba
was just an orchestra for young musicians. “I had no
idea of the scope of the project, but I signed up to try to
join the group. I auditioned and passed.”
At Neojiba, Yuri decided to study to become a con-
ductor instead of a musician. This year, he won the El-
eazar de Carvalho Award, the top prize at the Campos
do Jordão Winter Festival. The most important honor
of its kind in Brazil, it gives the winner a one-year
scholarship. Yuri will be going to the Peabody Institute
in Baltimore, one of the best music conservatories in
the United States, to study conducting. “Ricardo told
me I had a talent for conducting, and I didn’t even know
there was a talent for it.”
The first initiative of its kind in Brazil, Neojiba is run
by the State of Bahia with Braskem’s support. Ricar-
do Castro founded the project in 2007, inspired by El
Sistema, the Venezuelan program of youth orchestras
composed of 350,000 young people from that country.
Clé
ber
Pa
ssu
s
Frontiers: thinkers, scientists, world leaders, youths and adults
reflecting about the world
Ricardo Castro: “In the orchestra, we’re all equal”
Neojiba runs a Management and Professional Edu-
cation Center (NGF) based in the Castro Alves Theater
in Salvador, a rehearsal space for the 2 de Julho Youth
Symphony Orchestra, with 90 musicians, the Castro
Alves Orchestra, with 80 members, the Experimental
Teaching Orchestra, which trains musicians between
the ages of 7 and 15, and a choir with 40 young mem-
bers. There are also three Orchestra and Choir Prac-
tice Centers (NPOs) in Salvador and its metropolitan
region, and the resort town of Trancoso.
The NGF grooms monitor musicians – young people
who can pass on what they learn. “Multiplication is the
basis and the differentiator of our program. You don’t
need a diploma to multiply knowledge. A child can do
it,” says Ricardo Castro.
The monitors are key agents of the orchestral
mapping project underway in the interior of the
state. Today, Neojiba supports 23 of them. “What
these groups need is training, not financing,” ex-
plains Neojiba’s Managing Director, Elizabeth Ponte.
Neojiba trumpet player and flautist Esdras San-
tana, 25, will soon be in charge of a center in Bairro
da Paz, a low-income district on the outskirts of Sal-
vador. “We will bring people together to form a sym-
phony band. It’s a major challenge, because that’s a
very poor neighborhood,” he observes.
Neojiba debunks the idea that classical music is
just for the elite. About 75% of the musicians come
from the middle and working classes. “The orches-
tra is a model for the ideal functioning of a society,
where everyone comes together to create beauty. In
the orchestra, we’re all equal,” says Ricardo Castro.
Elizabeth Ponte adds: “One person alone does not
make an orchestra. If someone plays well and others
don’t, the orchestra won’t sound good. So you learn to
cooperate, listen and be heard. More than musicians,
what we do is shape better people through Neojiba.”
Porto Alegre on StageSince 2006, Braskem has organized the Braskem
on Stage Award, which selects the best performances
among participants in Rio Grande do Sul’s Porto Alegre
on Stage festival, one of the most important theater
events in Latin America.
For actress Isandra Ferminano, the producer of the
Cerco Group, which won the award in three categories
of the 2012 Edition for “Incident in Antares,” investing
in the theater is justified by the socializing role it plays.
“The theater teaches you how engage in joint reflection
on society. It is a means of intervention, because the
audience shares something with the actor.”
Daniel Colin, an actor in the Sarcáusticos Group, the
winner in the Best Play category for “Brief Interviews with
Vicious Men,” says that funding channels have increased
in recent years, but many businesses are still reluctant to
invest in theater productions. “We need to wake up to the
importance of the performing arts,” he says.
45informa
Mat
hia
s C
ra
MM
er
Esdras Santana: the challenge of setting up a symphonic band in a low-income district of Salvador, Bahia
Actress Isandra Ferminano: the socializing function of theater
46 informa
46
SMALL AnD
Focused on supporting small businesses, the Petit et Puissant program is one of the initiatives
that are boosting community development in Guinea
written by elea alMeida photos by GuilherMe aFonso
strong
47informa
Madeleine Kondiano and her co-workers: making progress in a small business with support from the Petit et Puissant program
48 informa
or five years, Madeleine Kondiano has worked
with 11 other women, making soap from re-
cycled oil to pay for her children’s schooling
in the southern Guinean town of Kissidou-
gou (600 km from the capital, Conakry). Her
dream is to see her six boys go to college. A few months ago,
the institution that Madeleine helped found began operating
with cash reserves. This was possible because Odebrecht
had partnered up with an NGO active in that country to pro-
vide cooking oil and give financial and management advice
to help the business thrive. The NGO is Les Humanistes de
Guinée (The Humanists of Guinea). Madeleine is a member.
This partnership is part of an initiative that provides sup-
port for small businesses and income generation. Called
Petit et Puissant (Small and Strong), this social program is
deployed in the vicinity of the works of the Simandou Proj-
ect - General Road Works Area 3, under the responsibility
of Odebrecht Africa, UAE and Portugal. Petit et Puissant is
just one example of how the Group’s presence in Guinea,
and its various social programs are contributing to the lo-
cal community’s development. The deployment of a digital
inclusion program called Réseau-lution (adapted from Hit
the Net), awareness-raising activities in the field of health
and a volunteer campaign, part of the Partagez program,
are also making the difference by helping improve the
quality of life of rural Guinean communities.
Petit et Puissant aims not only to transfer knowledge
but to help increase business efficiency and, consequent-
ly, the earnings of the community near the General Road
Works Area 3 Project, which includes the construction and
renovation of more than 300 km of highways and prepar-
ing the terrain for the future installation of remote camps.
All these measures are aimed at making the client Rio
Tinto’s project feasible. The Australian mining company
has arrived in Guinea to develop the Simandou Mountain
Range, which contains one of the largest known reserves
of iron ore. The project involves building the infrastructure
for the mine, a railroad running across the country, and a
port for exporting the product.
Gaining the community’s trust“We started deploying social programs as soon as we
arrived, by making contact with local authorities, always in
sync with the client. We have gradually gained the confi-
dence of the local community, and the response has been
very positive,” says Daniel Fernandes, the project’s officer
Responsible for Construction.
F
The starting point for the Petit and Puissant program
was the need to find a safe way to dispose of used cooking
oil, which can be very harmful to the environment if it is
not done properly. Now, the idea is to expand the program
to include partnerships in the area of farm production,
since there is demand for food in the region, but most of
what is currently consumed there is not produced locally.
“We always try to get the community involved in social
programs so it can grow through them and understand
why these programs are in place. Any company can make
donations, but we want to educate instead, because that
has a sustainable, long-term impact,” explains Institution-
al and Community Relations coordinator Lauren Pereira.
Digital inclusionThis principle also led Odebrecht to devise strategies to
make the Réseau-lution program more effective, consid-
ering that Guineans have limited access to electricity and
computers. According to Lauren Pereira, the program’s
goal is to ensure the digital inclusion of the poorest resi-
dents of the Kissidougou region, a very remote rural area,
far from the capital, before most of the country has access
to that kind of technology.
Recruited by the company, local teacher Michel
Bamy joined the Group a few months ago with the
mission of teaching two classes for the Hit the Net in
Guinea program: the basic and advanced modules,
with a total of about 40 students. Because the classes
are just getting started, that number is expected to
grow, although the program is only open to company
members.
49informa
Michel says that the most important aspect of Hit the
Net in Guinea is to familiarize participants with computers
and encourage them to share what they learn with their
families. “Computers and technology are the basis for de-
velopment. When a person learns about them, a barrier to
development falls,” he argues.
Encouraging local people to share the knowledge they
acquire is one of the key points for Odebrecht, to ensure
that the social programs it deploys will have an even
greater impact. Because, like the rest of the country, Kis-
sidougou lacks all kinds of infrastructure and services, it
is important for the programs’ direct participants to mul-
tiply their knowledge within the community.
Health and volunteer workThe company’s work in the field of health is also fo-
cused on sharing knowledge and raising awareness.
According to nurse Geraldo Bruno, who is responsible
for these activities at the General Road Works Area 3
Project, these initiatives are primarily conducted among
local company members who know little about the se-
rious diseases that affect the Kissidougou area, such
as malaria, cholera and typhoid. To raise awareness,
Odebrecht has organized lectures for local community
members and prevented the spread of malaria by dis-
tributing mosquito nets.
The challenge is discovering how far these programs
can go without disrespecting cultural differences. “We’ve
tried to question some internalized habits that can be
harmful to people’s health. We are here to educate and
train people, as well as to learn without trying to change
the unique characteristics that make each people spe-
cial,” observes Geraldo.
This application of the concept of influencing others
and being influenced by them is most clearly evident in
the Partagez program, which encourages members to
do volunteer work. Every two weeks, Odebrecht expats
and local company members mobilized in Kissidougou
are invited to spend a day at the local orphanage, La
Joie des Orphelins. Its director, Marie Simone Cama-
ra, has run that institution since 1983, and it currently
shelters 45 children. When they visit the orphanage,
company members usually take mosquito nets, mat-
tresses and food, and provide information through
talks on personal hygiene, food safety and health.
According to Lauren Pereira, discussing these topics
before playing games with the children helps develop
relationships between the orphans and volunteers and
strengthens relations with the local community.
The village of Tamiandou is the closest neighbor of
the General Road Works Area 3 Project’s base. Patri-
arch Ibrahima Dialloo, that community’s highest au-
thority, agrees that the company’s relationship with
the community, which is also based on social outreach
programs, has produced good results for both neigh-
bors. “The most important things in life are living be-
ings. If you can take care of your family, your life will
go forward. And since Odebrecht arrived, it has taken
good care of our families and helped overcome our
challenges.” Sitting beside him, the political chief of
the village, Fodé Traoré, nods his head in agreement
and waits until the older man has finished speaking.
Then, he concludes: “When the community learns to
stand on its own two feet, it can seek its own develop-
ment.”
Lauren Pereira with Hit the Net participants: digital inclusion as a tool for overcoming barriers
Patriarch Ibrahima Dialloo with Odebrecht People team member and translator David Bimou: putting the family first
50 informa
50
gritA TeAM wITh TRue
In Valongo, Santos, soccer is a tool for social inclusion
written by aliCe GaleFFi
photos by yann vadaru
hildren and young people at risk find the
opportunity that they had longed for in
Santos, on the São Paulo coast. They are
taking part in an Odebrecht Realizações
Imobiliárias (Real estate Developments;
OR) project in Valongo, a region formed by the city’s hills.
This initiative is restoring residents’ self-esteem and cre-
ating conditions for their social inclusion.
In the land of the king, Pelé, and the young phenom-
enon, neymar, the project focuses on soccer. OR has de-
veloped a program with the community’s assistance in
which children and young people aged between 12 and 17
take part in soccer classes. They receive snacks and kits
are also donated. The project, which is yet to be named,
Cofficially started on november 5, 2012, and 60 youths
have enrolled so far. Its effects are already producing
strong repercussions, even in such a short space of time.
An ideal partnerDespite the city’s economic growth, which is due to
the discovery of oil in the pre-salt layer along its coast,
among other factors, the hills of Santos are the scene of
drug gang wars, summary executions, police raids and
young people being murdered. All of this has been a part
of life in this poor region of the city, where 19 shantytowns
are located.
Saionara Lawandovski Porto, OR’s Social Program
coordinator in Santos, became aware of the critical
Kamilla Alves (right) and her teammates on the girls’ soccer team: young people in safer circumstances
51informa
3:30 and then the girls take the pitch from 3:30 to
4:30. The girls have the later class because most of
them have to go home after school and help their
mothers with household chores. They are only free
to train after that.
Aryane de Sousa, 14, a resident of Vila Vitória,
stands out from the other female players. She dreams
of becoming a top women’s soccer star like Marta.
“I’ve always played soccer but only with boys, and it
was always in the streets. I have a coach now, and I’ve
met other girls who also enjoy playing. My dream is to
play on the Brazil team.” kamilla Alves, 13, also played
soccer in the streets without her father’s knowledge,
as he saw sports as “something for boys.” kamilla
found out about this opportunity through Cosme, and
her parents finally accepted the idea of her taking part
in the project. her mother, Rosângela, provides the
most encouragement: “It makes me really happy to
see her learning and playing better than the boys. I
can see a future for her in soccer, but it’s not just that:
it makes me happy seeing the effort kamilla is mak-
ing, chasing her dream. And she’s not in the streets
with the other young people, taking drugs and enter-
ing the world of crime.”
Itamar Leal, the social worker who follows the young
people during the training sessions, say that the main
objective is not to transform them into soccer players
but to protect them. “we want to foster their all-round
development and cover topics like the body, health, sex-
uality, citizenship and youth rights.” Saionara reveals
her plans going forward: “I want to add more sports and
include the arts in the curriculum.” She is looking for
new partners. “My dream is to see the project carry on
and become self-sustainable after OR has completed its
projects in Santos.”
situations in these communities, which lack basic re-
sources and have few leisure activities. There is also a
high rate of crime and prostitution among the young.
Saionara knew that she had to do something, but, first
of all, she needed to find project partners.
This is how she met Cosme Costa, a social worker
and resident of Vila Vitória hill, and was immediately con-
vinced that he would be an ideal partner. Cosme knows
everyone in the Valongo community. Saionara would not
have been able to go into these areas without him, as only
the local people can circulate freely there. She insisted
that they meet, and Cosme could relate to her persever-
ance. he thought it was strange at first, but “since preju-
dice is a word that doesn’t exist in my vocabulary, I de-
cided to see what she had to say.”
They talked a lot, did some research and came to the
conclusion that the best way to attract young people and
take them off the streets would be soccer. This is how
the project was created. Cosme agreed to be the meet-
ing point between OR and the communities, while Saion-
ara took care of planning and all of the support needed
for this initiative. “I never imagined that someone from
Odebrecht would get in touch with me to develop a social
project. A number of large companies are based here and
this has never happened before,” he comments.
Other partners got involved in the project in addition
to Cosme, such as the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB),
which has loaned its soccer pitch for the young people to
play on, and the Department for Young People, a munici-
pal agency that sponsors the employment of a Phys. ed.
teacher who is responsible for these activities.
Far from drugs and crimeThe soccer classes are held on Monday and
wednesday afternoons. The boys play from 1:30 to
Aryane de Sousa: “I have a coach now, and I’ve met other girls”
52 informa52
frolicFROM The jOBSITe TO
Recycled uniforms become Carnival costumes in Olinda, Brazil
written by luiz Carlos raMos photos by lia lubaMbo
he city of Olinda’s traditional Carnival is
marked by its signature musical style, a
feverish rhythm called frevo, and the giant
dolls that flood the streets alongside rev-
elers. In 2013 it will offer another attrac-
tion: recycling. The clothing worn by thousands of people
working for Conest, the joint venture of Odebrecht En-
genharia Industrial (Industrial Engineering) and OAS
building projects in Suape, have been recycled and
transformed into costumes for a merry band of children
and teens from the state of Pernambuco. Odebrecht In-
forma has attended the rehearsals in that historic city in
the Recife metropolitan region, and got a first-hand look
at the enthusiasm of the Acauã Dance Company, which
has received support from Conest through the Recycling
Program.
TThe joint venture has 10,000 members who are help-
ing build the Abreu e Lima Refinery in the Suape Indus-
trial Port Complex. A total of 50,000 people are working
on the refinery project, as well as petrochemical units
and the modern port.
During the rehearsal in Olinda, Karine Tamires, 9,
showed off the model for the Carnival costume that is
still a closely guarded secret: orange and navy blue (the
colors of Conest), it also has touches of gold and silver.
Hers is rounded out with a colorful frevo parasol. “My
costume turned out great. I love to dance,” says Kar-
ine, accompanied by her friends Mariana, Kécia, Bruna,
Heloísa, Carla and Poli, who would get their costumes
later. Poli is the nickname of Thaysa Ramos da Silva,
9, the adopted daughter of Maria José Xavier, who ac-
companies her during rehearsals. “I adopted the girl
Members of the Acauã Dance Company in Olinda, with young Karine Tamires in her ballerina outfit: “My costume turned out great”
53informa
benefiting the environment, reducing costs and adding
cultural value through frevo,” he observes.
The power of cooperativesThis project was made possible through the involve-
ment of two female garment workers’ cooperatives:
Coopcoste, from Cabo de Santo Agostinho, which made
the clothes for the Recycling Fashion show, and Emenda,
from Ipojuca, which takes care of the Carnival costumes.
Coopcoste President Djair Miralhe says Conest’s sup-
port has energized the 130 seamstresses who work at
the sewing machines in shifts at the cooperative’s head-
quarters: “This work has social benefits for these women
because they make more money, but it also benefits the
people who wear the clothes.”
Risolene Gonçalves da Silva, President of Emenda, ob-
serves that, thanks to the orders for Carnival costumes,
her cooperative has been able to buy new machines:
“Now, the costumes get top priority.” Dulcelina Domingas
da Silva, 78, controls the quality of the items produced. “I
love to work like this, and I don’t feel my age,” she says.
Fashion designer Diego Rodrigo “DihRôh” Monteiro,
22, is a member of Coopcoste. A breakthrough talent in
Pernambuco’s fashion world, he designed the clothes for
the September show. “I’m self-taught. I’ve been creating
fashion since I was 10. I’m inspired by greats like Marc
Jacobs, Reinaldo Lourenço and Zuzu Angel, but my work
has a local touch,” explains DihRôh. Like the seamstress-
es and the Acauã group, he sees boundless possibilities
ahead: “I’ve started taking a design course. I have to keep
evolving.”
when she was little and living in a garbage dump,” says
Maria José.
Better known as “Vera do Frevo,” Verônica Gomes
dos Santos runs Acauã, a group created 10 years ago to
bring together and motivate needy children and youths
through dance. “Music and dance help us overcome prob-
lems,” says Vera. “Poli is a good example. She’s an active,
healthy girl.” Named after a relative of the sparrow hawk,
the group has become synonymous with social inclusion
in Olinda.
Waldir Martins Filho, the Conest officer Responsible
for Sustainability and Recycling, keeps a close eye on ev-
ery detail of the plans for Carnival. He says the program
involves the production of several items made from dis-
carded work uniforms. “The workers get new uniforms
every four months. Instead of throwing the old ones away,
we get them cleaned and sanitized, and the fabric is re-
cycled,” says Waldir. The joint venture’s Residential Village
held a fashion show in September called Recycling Fash-
ion, where the workers who live there sat in the audience
while members of the Acauã group flaunted their new
clothes. Globo TV produced a long feature on the event.
Conest Project Director Antenor de Castro is proud
of the program’s results. “Everything has been happen-
ing gradually. The program is mobilizing the community,
Designer Diego Rodrigo: inspired by the great names in fashion without losing sight of regional influences
54 informa54
neighborsTALkS wITh GOOD
Here Comes the Train and Community Railway: Transnordestina is building closer relations with the community
written by luiz Carlos raMos photos by riCardo saGebin
ere comes the train. The news spreads
across three states, and people are
looking forward to seeing the trains
arrive. The Transnordestina Railroad
project is making steady progress in
Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará. How will a railway
benefit the arid backlands of the Northeast? Above
all, it brings hope. The public’s certainty is enhanced
by the contributions of social programs undertaken by
the Alliance between Transnordestina Logística S.A.
(TLSA) and Odebrecht Infraestruture (Infrastructure)
in several regions, including Salgueiro, Pernambuco.
That is where the Alliance’s jobsites are located, along
with the world’s largest sleeper factory.
The railway tracks are moving forward quickly.
Thanks to this investment, trains will travel between the
Port of Suape, in the Recife metropolitan area, and the
HPort of Pecém, in Ceará, running through Eliseu Mar-
tins, in southern Piauí. The railroad is one of the priori-
ties of the Brazilian Government’s Growth Acceleration
Program (PAC). The train will soon be transporting ore,
gypsum and grain, giving a boost to the economy in that
region, where the transposition of the São Francisco
River and other works are also underway. Odebrecht In-
forma visited the Transnordestina project in Salgueiro,
and took a close look at two programs focused on citi-
zenship that are being implemented in the communities
along the railroad’s route: Here Comes the Train, and
Community Railroad. Begun in 2012, these initiatives
have directly benefited more than 10,000 people in 10
counties. “In addition to showcasing the works through
guided tours, we have organized lectures on health,
children’s rights, drug prevention, and various other
topics, and we also encourage participation in sports,”
From the schools to the jobsite: through guided visits, young people learn more about the Transnordestina railway and its importance for the region and the country
55informa
fresh knowledge back to school with them: “There’s
nothing like going to the place where the work is done,
getting explanations and deepening your knowledge.”
Community RailroadThe ongoing struggle against drought is part of the
history of adults and seniors who live in the arid hinter-
land. These heroes of that struggle are benefiting from
the Community Railroad project, which offers multi-
disciplinary workshops conducted in partnership with
local governments, NGOs and residents’ associations
in urban and rural areas. This project, which began 10
months ago, focuses on the construction of Transnor-
destina, as well as citizenship and health care.
explains Administrative and Financial Manager Alexan-
dre Lima. Social worker Kelly Barros, one of the people
responsible for the projects, observes: “Unity and syn-
ergy among the members of the Alliance, city govern-
ments and local authorities, who provide the facilities
for these programs and help us invite people to partici-
pate, have been key to these efforts.”
Here Comes the TrainHere Comes the Train is a jobsite visitation program
that brings together Alliance members who work on
other sections of the railway, authorities, public in-
stitutions and NGOs, as well as children and youths
from schools in the Salgueiro area. “Through lectures
and campaigns, visitors learn about the benefits of
Transnordestina and the precautions being taken
to protect the environment and their quality of life,”
says Project Director Pedro Leão. During their tours
of the jobsite, visitors can see the work of members of
Aliança Transnordestina Logística S.A. and Odebrecht
Infraestrutura, from the preparation of the railroad
bed to the industrial jobsite area, where the sleeper
factory produces up to 4,800 concrete ties per day.
One November morning, 28 students between the
ages of 13 and 17 from Dr. Walmy Campos Bezerra
School, in São José do Belmonte, paid a visit to the
Salgueiro jobsite. Anderlândia Soares de Lima, 16,
was fascinated by every detail. “I’ve never been on a
train, but now I know how that kind of transportation is
important,” she says. Schoolteacher Maria do Socorro
Pereira de Queiroz believes that her students will take
“The meetings are conducted by company mem-
bers whose expertise is directly related to the topic of
the month. We have mobilized professionals from the
fields of engineering, health, safety, environment and
finance, among others,” says Pedro Leão.
During one edition of the program, held in Sal-
gueiro in November, the Alliance’s physician, Edif-
lávio Gomes, spoke to an audience of more than 60
seniors from three towns, explaining how to avoid
hypertension, strokes, heart attacks and falls. “The
important thing is to pay attention and control the
amount of salt, sugar and fat in your diet,” he said.
Paying close attention to these guidelines, Iraci
Alves, 81, smiled. “I’ve had bouts of high blood pres-
sure, but now I’m fine. I took a pedagogy course
when I was 79,” she said. “I want to see the train
come through here.”
There’s nothing like going to the place where the work is done, getting explanations and deepening your knowledge.
Maria do Socorro Pereira de Queiroz
Guidelines for a healthy life: Dr. Ediflávio Gomes, from Odebrecht, gives checkups to local seniors
56 informa
56
he simple act of taking a bus was once
a huge challenge for Francisco de
Souza Alves. Since he couldn’t read
or write, he had to ask people to help
him identify the one he should take.
An illiterate farmer’s son, in his work on the São
Miguel do Tapuio farm in the backlands of the Brazil-
ian state of Piauí, Francisco had never needed more
Tthan the strength his arms could offer. Therefore, he
left school before he was eight. He only saw a major
opportunity arise in in 2010, at the age of 23, when
he started working on the extension of Line 1 North
of Trensurb, a passenger rail service linking Porto
Alegre with the cities in the metropolitan area. The
joint venture responsible for the extension project is
Consórcio Via Nova.
brighterROADS AheAD
A literacy program is creating fresh growth prospects for company members on the Trensurb project
written by alexandre Melo photos by riCardo Chaves
57informa
Since the joint venture was formed in 2009, with
Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure) as the lead-
ing partner, it has made several contributions to the
sustainable development of communities in the vicin-
ity of the works. “Living near a project of this magni-
tude is not always easy. For us, in addition to building
a high-quality project, it was key to make an additional
contribution aimed at improving the public’s quality of
life, since we are directly impacting the communities,”
explains Pedro Reis, the Odebrecht Infraestrutura Ad-
ministration and Finance Manager for the project.
This is where Francisco’s story comes in. The joint
venture has partnered up with the Social Service of In-
dustry (SESI) to deploy the Youth and Adult Education
(EJA) Program, a fresh opportunity for people who have
never had access to an education, or have not com-
pleted primary school. “We conducted a survey of the
workers, and found that many of them were interested
in learning to read and write,” says Tássia Hoffmann,
the officer Responsible for Communication at the joint
venture. From 2010 to 2012, 34 workers divided into two
groups took part in the EJA, and 10 are now literate,
including Francisco, the youngest student in the group.
Classes were held three times a week, after hours, in a
room at the central jobsite. “Not being able to read and
write is like walking in the dark,” says Francisco.
SESI technical analyst for Education Silvia Helena
da Silva Gallino observes: “Consórcio Via Nova had the
sensitivity to realize that having qualified, educated
members is good for the company, and much better
for people’s lives.” The level of education is low in the
Sinos River Valley, the region where Novo Hamburg
and São Leopoldo, two cities benefiting from the ex-
tension of Trensurb, are located. This is because, ac-
cording to Silvia, the leather-footwear industry, the
main economic activity in that region, does not gener-
ally require formal education. But that historically ex-
perienced situation in those cities has been changing
with the help of partnerships like the one formed with
Consórcio Nova Via.
Francisco de Souza Alves (left) and Claudino Guareski: back to the classroom to write new life stories
58 informa
At the age of 63, Claudino João Guareski, a car-
penter working at the joint venture’s central jobsite,
is back in the classroom. After graduating from the
EJA program (1st to 5th grades), he enrolled in a pri-
vate school, where he is taking grades 6 through 9.
Claudino was born on a farm in Cruz Alta, Rio Grande
do Sul, and his father made him leave school when he
was only in the 4th grade. “When you study, you start to
see the world in a different way and feel more proud of
yourself,” he says simply. Just a year before he is due
to retire, Claudino has made his mind up. “I’m only go-
ing to stop working when I have a solid career, because
I want to show that it’s never too late to learn.”
Valuing lifeLiteracy is just one of the many facets of Nova
Via’s social contribution. One of the CVV’s (Center
for Valuing Life and Suicide Prevention) seven units
in the state of Rio Grande do Sul is located in Novo
Hamburgo. The NGO’s 43 volunteers work in shifts,
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It was during World
Week for Combating Drugs in June this year that
Consórcio Via Nova workers learned about the CVV.
Around one thousand workers attended four lectures
at the central jobsite and work fronts. “I’ve noticed a
great deal of interest,” says Nocolau Isaque de Araú-
jo, who has been a CVV volunteer since 2009. “After
the lectures, a lot of people came over and talked to
us about their problems.” Workers from other states
who have left their families behind suffer from loneli-
ness. “Sometimes they lack the emotional develop-
ment to deal with that long-distance relationship,”
says Anildo Fernandes, a member of the National
Executive Group and Deputy Regional Coordinator of
the CVV.
Part of the extension of Line 1 of Trensurb (be-
tween São Leopoldo and Rio dos Sinos stations) in
São Leopoldo, passes through a socially vulnerable
area called Vila dos Tocos. Because of that, alco-
hol and drugs have always been frequent topics of
Internal Work Accident Prevention Week and World
Anti-Drug Week. The joint-venture’s partner in this
initiative was the Youth Rescue Challenge Therapeu-
tic Community, founded in Novo Hamburgo in 2007
along the lines of the US Teen Challenge program.
The goal is to help young drug addicts by guiding
them through their recovery and social reinser-
tion. “A SENAD [National Anti-Drug Service] survey
shows that one addict worker affects 5% of produc-
tion,” says psychologist and Therapeutic Commu-
nity coordinator Odir Olivaes Filho. To address this
sensitive subject, the program raised awareness by
staging a play starring former addicts that was pre-
sented at the main jobsite and other work fronts.
“This initiative has disseminated information and
basic guidelines, turning many company members
into multipliers of that information,” says Tássia
Hoffmann, clearly pleased.
Trensurb Station near Vila dos Tocos: overcoming drug addiction and social vulnerability
59informa
On TRACk TO
Braskem’s support for recycling initiatives helps create work and income opportunities in four Brazilian states
written by edilson liMa photos by riCardo Chaves
ormer farm worker Geraldo Simme,
47, lives in Campo Bom, Rio Grande do
Sul. Every day, he wakes up early, eats
his breakfast, gets into his SpaceFox
VW and drives to work at the Coolabore
cooperative, where he spends the day with friends
and, as he says with a smile, “I earn my daily bread.”
He has good reason to be smiling. Founded 18 years
ago, the cooperative has just undergone a restruc-
turing that enables it to provide a decent living for
its 37 members.
At first, its earnings were low and the turnover was
high. “We didn’t have enough equipment to sort large
quantities of materials, and we didn’t know much
about cooperatives or recycling. For example, we
were selling plastic all mixed together, which brought
down the price. A lot of people quit,” recalls Geraldo.
That situation began to improve when the coop-
erative’s partners helped organize the business and
make it more profitable. That was when Braskem
came on the scene. “Based on research and the com-
pany’s experience in the plastics supply chain, we
decided to provide technological support and train-
ing to trash pickers. Today Braskem is sponsoring
nine units in the Sinos Valley [where Campo Bom is
located],” observes João Freire, the Braskem officer
Responsible for Institutional Relations in the south-
ern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
F
59
Coolabore cooperative trash pickers: a significant boost in productivity and quality of life
60 informa
Thanks to the training they have received, Geraldo
and his co-workers are taking a different view of recy-
cling. They sort all kinds of plastic, ranging from the
stiffest to the most flexible varieties. Once sorted, the
plastic is sent to the newly acquired production line
(composed of mill, washing tank, dryer, pelletizer and
cage) where the plastic is crushed, washed, dried and
packaged for sale to manufacturers.
Thanks to a partnership with the government, co-
operative members not only do the initial sorting but
use trucks to collect used plastic in the city streets.
Each member’s combined monthly earnings from
services and sales of recycled materials average BRL
1,600.00 (about USD 800). Geraldo is clearly moved
when he recalls: “At first it was hard to make as much
as BRL 100.00 per person. A lot of people came here
with nothing. Now, bit by bit, they’re buying homes
and cars, and achieving other goals.”
Pride, self-esteem and recognitionIn another Sinos Valley county, Roberto Silveira
and 32 other people form part of the City of Dois Ir-
mãos Recyclers Cooperative. Roberto, 36, says that
this cooperative was created 18 years ago. It was the
first in that state to process plastic, using a simpler
and now limited technology. During his interview
with the Odebrecht Informa team, he pointed to the
recently arrived equipment that will make up a new
production line. “As a result, we’ll gain more time and
increase production capacity, besides adding value to
the materials,” he predicts.
Roberto observes that training focused on coop-
eratives, safety, equipment maintenance and logis-
tics, among other topics, has made a big difference
in working conditions and resulted in higher incomes.
“There’s no boss here. We all own the business, and
work together. That makes us proud and generates
self-esteem and recognition.”
It is with the same sense of pride and self-esteem
that Gabriel da Cunha Garcia, 62, a former painter
who once collected trash on the streets of Nova San-
ta Rita, tells the story of the Association of Workers
and Service Providers, Trash Pickers and Recycling,
which he and some other co-workers founded in
2005: “I used to walk the streets with a cart, picking
up trash. A lot of people started doing the same thing.
Then I realized it was time to get organized,” he ex-
plains. Located in the Caju neighborhood, the asso-
ciation now has 11 members working there.
At one point, Gabriel and his co-workers were liv-
ing and working in the same makeshift shack. Then,
in January 2012, with Braskem’s support, they built
two sheds equipped with bathrooms and a cafete-
ria. They have also acquired equipment, including a
weighing scale and press, among other items. “Our
next goal is to install a plastic processing mill, which
will boost our earnings even more,” he says.
The group also wants to form partnerships with
the city government, to provide collection services,
and other institutions: “Our dream is to see everyone
get their own health plan, house, car, etc.,” he ex-
plains. “I went into recycling because I needed to earn
a living, but I got more and more passionate about
it every day. We’ve acquired technical knowledge and
give lectures in the vicinity. I know that we are helping
make a better world for everyone,” he says.
Working in partnershipIn addition to Rio Grande do Sul, Braskem also sup-
ports recycling projects in the states of São Paulo, Ala-
Geraldo Simme: “Lots of people come here with nothing. Bit by bit, I’m buying a house and a car and achieving other goals”
61informa
goas and Bahia. Although some are not as advanced
as the one in Rio Grande do Sul (in some cases, they
are embryonic), these initiatives are beginning to get
ever more significant results. Braskem sponsors a to-
tal of six cooperatives in those three states.
Coopmarc, a cooperative located in Camaçari, Ba-
hia, is a good example. Founded 12 years ago, Coop-
marc has always focused on the sorting and sale of
plastic, cardboard and paper. In 2008, it set up a fac-
tory that makes brooms from PET bottles. Between
January and November 2012, it sold about 1,300
brooms. Every month, its 15 members sell 45 metric
tons of recycled materials.
“We haven’t reached our goal of two minimum
salaries [roughly USD 600 per month] per person yet,
but we want to get to that milestone very soon,” says
Coopemarc co-founder Glória Martha da Silva, 43. Be-
fore she went into recycling, Glória was a sanitation
worker in Camaçari. “The support of our partners has
been fundamental for building a better life for our-
selves, especially through training and equipment.”
Emmanuel Lacerda, the Braskem officer Respon-
sible for Institutional Relations in Bahia, stresses that
partnerships between the public and private sectors
are key to the success of projects like these: “The
work of this cooperative’s members is extremely im-
portant to disseminating the culture of recycling. To
ensure their success, businesses and local govern-
ments should support them.”
André Leal, the Braskem officer Responsible for
Environment, says that although the trash pickers’
backgrounds vary, many of them are natural entrepre-
neurs. “The contribution we’re making is to improve
their work environments and bolster their autonomy
and entrepreneurship, including them socially in the
supply chain,” he affirms. In 2012, Braskem’s initia-
tives directly benefited 429 trash pickers.
Gabriel da Cunha Garcia: acquiring technical knowledge
Dois Irmãos cooperative trash pickers: pride and recognition
62 informa
Family affairIn Rondônia, Brazil, Acreditar is an effective
channel for communication and closer relations between the company and the community
divone Araújo da Gama, 33, is one
of the 1,209 women working on the
construction of the Santo Antônio
hydroelectric plant on the Madeira River
in Porto Velho. Born in Manicoré, Amazo-
nas, six years ago she migrated to the state
capital of Rondônia in search of better job
opportunities. She was determined to pro-
vide a better life for her three children, as
well as her mother and a brother. A former
cosmetics saleswoman, Edivone enrolled
in the Acreditar (Believe) Ongoing Profes-
sional Education Program, and four and a
half years ago she swapped brow pencils,
eye shadow and lip gloss for saws, brushes
and personal protective equipment (PPE).
“I didn’t think I’d get hired to work on
this project, but I signed up for Acreditar,
took the course, and here I am, along with
other women who do heavy work, driving
trucks, tractors and backhoes,” she says
with a smile.
Edivone believed in the program so
much that she decided to enroll her chil-
dren in Acreditar Jr., an offshoot of Acredi-
tar, both of which are developed and imple-
mented on Odebrecht Energia projects.
Eduardo, 17, has already graduated, and
Lucas, 14, is studying at the National In-
dustrial Apprenticeship Service (SENAI),
an Odebrecht partner institution in Porto
Velho, which provides facilities for Acredi-
tar Jr.’s practical and theoretical classes.
Edivone’s youngest daughter, Letícia, 11,
can’t wait to start the program and choose
written by João Paulo Carvalho photo by MárCio liMa
COMMUNITY
E
63informa
from one of the seven specializa-
tions it offers.
“I want to graduate, get my di-
ploma and become a good profes-
sional in the job market,” says Lu-
cas, who is taking the Production
Assistant course. “I told my moth-
er that once the plant is built, I’m
going to study English and Japa-
nese so I can work at Odebrecht”
he says, his voice husky with emo-
tion. “I used to live in a shack. But
when my mother joined Acreditar,
everything started to change. Now
my room is getting just the way
I want it,” says the young man,
whose scholarship is helping pay
the bills in their recently acquired
brick-and-mortar house.
The story of Edivone and her
family is one of many examples of
people who have taken the oppor-
tunity Acreditar offers at Odebrecht
jobsites in Brazil and worldwide.
The program was introduced in
2008 to make up for the lack of
skilled workers identified by feasi-
bility studies for the Santo Antônio
project. Initial reports showed that
it would be necessary to bring in
out about 70% of the workers re-
quired to build the project, which
would have caused difficulties aris-
ing from disorganized migration.
Thanks to the Acreditar program,
80% of the workers building the
plant are local residents. The re-
sults have been so beneficial and
significant that today, four years
later, what was initially supposed to
be a one-off, localized initiative has
spread to 10 countries, benefiting
more than 68,000 people.
One of the people responsible
for Acreditar’s success is Fabiane
Costenaro, the program’s coordi-
nator in Porto Velho. Born in Cap-
inzal, Santa Catarina, she went to
Rondônia in January 2008 thinking
that she would be just another per-
son helping the Santo Antonio Civil
(CSAC) consortium do its work. Her
leader at the time, Antonio Cardi-
lli, received the mission to deploy
Acreditar. “I had never led a team
before, but here we learn by doing,
on the job,” says Fabiane, whose
leader is now Santo Antônio’s Ad-
ministrative and Financial Manag-
er, Marcelo Reis.
“The social transformation in
Porto Velho has been clearly vis-
ible in the last six years,” says
Fabiane. Buildings with over 15
stories, previously rare in the city,
have emerged in the landscape like
developmental milestones. Traffic
is gaining big-city scale. And the
numbers speak for themselves:
Rondônia is the Brazilian state with
the highest rate of GDP growth in
the country (7.3%), according to the
latest Brazilian Institute of Geog-
raphy and Statistics (IBGE) figures,
for 2009.
Carpenter and Acreditar graduate Edivone da Gama, with her children Eduardo, Letícia and Lucas (right): “I didn’t think I’d get hired, but I took the course and here I am”
64 informa
64
aria Chocohanda, Henrique Jamba,
Joana Kawape, Conceição Jamba.
These names now appear in the re-
cords of the Ministry of Justice of the
Province of Huambo, Angola. Youths,
adults and seniors, these villagers from Atuco Alunda
proudly display their identity cards. “I can go anywhere,”
celebrates Conceição. “I’ll get a job,” says Chocohanda.
Documents showing their parents’ names and their own
Mage are also novelties there. In addition to ID cards, some
people already have birth certificates, as well.
“Obtaining these documents is the first step towards
the achievement of first-class citizenship,” says Vicente
Ferreira, the Odebrecht officer Responsible for Sustain-
ability at Huambo-Caala, where Odebrecht is building
the Caala-Cuima highway. The initiative of obtaining
documents for villagers arose from Odebrecht, accord-
ing to Huambo’s Provincial Justice Delegate, Ernesto
citizensMORe AnD MORe LIke
Access to documents, support for health and education, and opportunities for professional skills: good news from the
towns of Huambo and Cambambe in Angolawritten by luCiana lana photos by KaMene traça
Conceição Jamba (left) and Maria Chocohonda: decisive step towards the full exercise of their role in society
65informa
Estevão, during the delivery of 100 documents to Atuco Alu-
nda residents. All told, more than 4,500 people have received
their identity cards and birth certificates.
“We at Odebrecht seek to help improve the quality of life
of the people we encounter in our work environment, thereby
contributing to the socioeconomic development of the re-
gion,” says Javier Chuman, Project Director for the Huambo
and Malanje roadways project, which is part of the Caala-
Cuima Highway.
At the headquarters of the Huambo Ministry of Health, Vi-
cente Ferreira greets people as he walks through the halls.
He is well known there. “Odebrecht has been an important
partner for us,” says Frederico Juliana, Huambo’s Provincial
Health Director. He explains that the company conducted
a survey to identify the main concerns of 16 local villages –
deaths from HIV/AIDS, malaria, cancer, and childbirth due to
poorly managed deliveries, the most frequent cause. “A lack
of education is apparent in all cases. There are women who
have gone through up to six pregnancies and never made a
doctor’s appointment,” says Vicente. As a result, Odebrecht
began conducting a series of lectures to encourage a preven-
tive stance towards illness, and is helping build schools and
health clinics in the communities.
António Kalundongo: waiting for the conclusion of the construction works and the first day of class
Residents build a schoolIn Acolongonjo, called the “mother village” because it
stands in the center of all the others, residents are work-
ing daily to build the walls for a new school covering a
total area of 830 sq.m., including 12 classrooms and a
recreation area. “Odebrecht designed it and is supply-
ing the materials, but it is important for the beneficiaries
themselves to build the school, to appreciate it,” says the
village soba (traditional community leader), Marcolino
Xindandgi. More than 1,500 students will study there in
three sessions, each with 12 classes of 45 students. In
Kaala, teachers who have passed a competitive exam
are awaiting the school’s completion and the start of
classes, scheduled for March 2013. “The night classes
will depend on the arrival of electricity to get started,”
observes Antônio Kalundongo, the school principal.
A health center with a medical facility and a pharmacy
has also opened in the “mother village.” “Previously, pa-
tients had to travel up to 40 km to see a doctor. Now, the
farthest village from this clinic is just 9 km away. Once
we have over 10 of these clinics, we will have met the
demand from 128 villages in the commune of Cuima,”
calculates village administrator Faustino Kapingana.
Besides the I Am a Citizen and Health in the Village
projects, Vicente Ferreira also runs the Thursdays for
Women Association, a program that holds meetings ev-
ery two weeks to discuss and reflect on issues like teen-
age pregnancy, domestic violence, health and the envi-
ronment. The meetings take place at the Association’s
headquarters, built by Odebrecht, including a library and
rooms for music lessons and tutoring. The company has
also remodeled and expanded the Suku Ondjli day-care
center and Kaala Hospital, which now offers a Supple-
mental Nutrition Center.
Be wellOdebrecht is also carrying out a range of social
programs at the Cambambe hydroelectric plant proj-
ect that have been consolidated under a single pro-
gram called Chaleno Kiambote, meaning “be well.”
The name reflects the program’s primary aim of sus-
tainability: “We want to foster development that can
carry on after the dam is built. That is why we want
the community to be well today, as well as when we
are not around anymore,” says Project Director Gus-
tavo Belitardo.
66 informa
Margarida Gaspar: planning to continue her studies
67informa
As soon it arrived in the region, Odebrecht con-
ducted a socioeconomic/environmental diagnosis and
sought to become an integral part of the community in
order to understand its needs. “We listened to people
to discover their aspirations and potential, and de-
signed the program on that basis,” says social worker
Afonso Maquiadi.
Health, education and income generation were
defined as vectors for action. “In the field of health
care, we selected and trained community workers
to disseminate knowledge and increase the preven-
tion of endemic diseases like malaria, and STDs like
HIV/AIDS. In the field of education, we offer English
lessons, computer literacy classes and tutoring, as
well as sports and recreational activities. To generate
income, we have set up sewing, cooking and family
farming workshops,” says Environmental Sustainabil-
ity Manager Sérgio Rezende.
In the equipment sector of the project, young Mar-
garida Diogo Gaspar works as a welder and benefits
from the Getting to Work Gender Equality Program,
which aims to create jobs for women. This is her first job
opportunity. “I want to finish high school, study law and
work forever,” she says.
“A light at the end of the tunnel”According to Alberto Carneiro, the Project Director of
Cambambe Central 2 for the client, ENE (the national
power company), Odebrecht’s arrival has brought fresh
prospects for the local population. He highlights the
training programs for youth. These initiatives, says Al-
berto, are “a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Currently, 28 young people are taking the pastry-cook
course offered by Chaleno Kiambote, and 15 are learn-
ing to sew. “We’re already making our own clothes, and
soon we will start to sell what we make,” says Janete
Rossano, 20, who is enthusiastic about learning to use a
sewing machine.
At the village of Cambambe’s Recreation Club, Ode-
brecht has reopened the pool and is providing swimming
lessons. The company has also equipped a room with
computers and started offering computer and English
lessons. Three groups are currently taking each subject.
“The absentee rate is zero. We have already graduated
about 100 students and some are now working for Ode-
brecht,” says Canga Neto, the course director. “Chaleno
Kiambote is an ambitious program that is already having
a major impact,” says Cambambe community represen-
tative Fernando Neves.
As for incentives for family farming, about 40 km from
Cambambe, the village of Kalenge’s maize and cassa-
va crops are now being planted with specialized advice
from Chaleno Kiambote teams. “We provide support to
families that grow crops for their own consumption and
for sale. The next step will be to set up a mill so they
can also sell cornmeal,” says Vanessa Silva, who coor-
dinates the Odebrecht Social Responsibility Program in
Cambambe.
Chaleno Kiambote is also contributing to cultural
preservation by raising the community’s awareness of the
importance of their own heritage. “The new generations
are learning the history of the Cambambe region and ap-
preciating the important landmarks we have here,” says
Luiz Rodrigo João, the administrator of the Massangano
Commune, where are Angola’s first court was built in the
sixteenth century. It is also home to the country’s first City
Council building, among other monuments.
Janete Rossano: more motivation thanks to a sewing machine
68 informa
66hat is this dance that makes your
legs go limp? It’s an easy, peasy,
breezy dance.” At St. John the
Baptist School in the Patriota
neighborhood of Luanda, Roque
D’Oliveira, the officer Responsible for Social Outreach
and People on the Structuring Routes project, sings
Wthe song while his long thin body shakes like a mix
of puppet and break dancer. His audience, a class of
more than 30 totally fascinated children, sings along
and mimics the visiting instructor’s movements. Be-
sides the dance, they know that some diseases also
make them limp and tired. In this playful way, Roque
is teaching them about the symptoms and causes of
preventionThe RhYThM OF
A malaria prevention program is one of a range of programs that the Structuring Routes project is carrying out in Angola
written by luCiana lana photo by KaMene traça
68
have had to learn to live with the project. For example,
we need to warn people not to get too close to the ma-
chines,” says Hinhotua.
Cycle of InterestCementing and developing the company’s rela-
tionship with the community is a task that the proj-
ect’s social outreach team performs with pleasure
and excellence. This includes activities for company
members’ families. In 2012, for example, the com-
pany created the Cycle of Interest program, through
which teens between the ages of 13 and 17, the chil-
dren of company members, visited the Structuring
Routes construction site, attended lectures on pro-
fessional education, and ended the day with a rec-
reational outing.
The first of these meetings took place in May 2012,
attended by about 20 participants. Then, in Septem-
ber, two more events brought together over 70 youths.
“We realized that there are breaks in the school cal-
endar throughout the year, and students have nothing
to do during those periods. So we decided to offer ac-
tivities that encourage them, especially, to think about
the future, and choose their professions. During these
visits, young people get to know their parents’ work
environment and the various services the company
provides, while getting educational guidance and en-
gaging in recreational activities,” says Roque.
Technical assistant Honório Alves Correia says his
son Bernard, 17, felt highly motivated after the event:
“He is in 7th grade and loves computers. When he
got back from the visit he said he wants to be an en-
gineer,” says his father proudly. The father of seven,
mechanic Luis Pedro Nhanqui also enjoyed show-
ing his daughter Madalena, 16, the workshop where
he does his job. “She was impressed. She thought I
worked in a ‘backyard’ shop and saw that everything
here is very organized. The program had a tremen-
dous impact.”
Cycle of Interest has a strong affinity with Ode-
brecht’s Vision for 2020. “Our goal is to educate peo-
ple, empower them and attract them to ensure the
Group’s perpetuity. This program shows young people
the working conditions Odebrecht offers and awakens
their desire to study and work,” explains Structuring
Routes Project Director Tiago Britto.
Roque D’Oliveira with students
from the St. John the Baptist
school: an entertaining
teaching method
malaria while explaining that sometimes a longer
route is preferable because it is safer. The children of
Patriota are now more alert and careful.
“And so are we,” says schoolteacher Eugénia Ze-
ferino Carlos António, who observes that Odebrecht
– the company responsible for the section of Structur-
ing Routes that runs through that neighborhood – is
working with the community to ensure that it better
understands what the project is all about, including its
benefits and the safety measures required in the vicin-
ity of the roadworks.
In the Kawelele district, another neighbor of the
project, Roque meets with a committee of residents
and agrees the details for a series of lectures that
Odebrecht will hold in that community. The Secretary
of the Residents’ Committee, Gaudêncio Hinhotua,
says: “The highways have brought us many benefits.
Previously, all the cars used to drive straight through
here, causing lots of traffic jams and headaches. We
69informa
musicThe FASCInATInG jOuRneY OF
Made up of musicians from all over Brazil, the Academia Jovem Concertante includes the Teles Pires Dam in its tour
written by rubeny Goulart photo by Carlos Junior
he roar of jackhammers tearing into
rocks along the Teles Pires River
in Paranaíta, on the border of the
states of Mato Grosso and Pará,
where Brazil’s fourth-largest hy-
droelectric plant is currently under construction,
gave way last november 10 to the dulcet sounds of
flutes, violas, oboes, cellos and violins. The Aca-
demia jovem Concertante (Young Concert Musi-
cian Academy), sponsored by Odebrecht energia,
was performing under the baton of violinist Daniel
Pires. Accompanied by pianist Simone Leitão, the
21 young virtuosos played works by Villa-Lobos,
Bach, Mozart, Guerra-Peixe and Antonio Carlos
jobim for thousands of members of Odebrecht
energia, the investor for the Teles Pires Dam, and
Odebrecht Infraestrutura, the company respon-
sible for building the project.
The Academia jovem Concertante project was the
brainchild of pianist Simone Leitão, who has spent
Tseveral years in the united States. “I wanted to carry
out a project based in Brazil, and give young Brazil-
ian musicians orchestral training,” explains Simone,
who holds a PhD in Piano Performance and Music
history from the university of Miami, and is the proj-
ect’s Artistic Director. She entrusted the task of re-
cruiting musicians to Daniel Pires, a violin teacher
at the Federal university at Rio de janeiro (uFRj),
and the result is a 21-piece orchestra with members
from nine Brazilian states.
In addition to sponsorship of a seven-city tour
covering most of the areas where Odebrecht ener-
gia has projects (Rio de janeiro, Salvador, natal,
Porto Velho, Recife, Rio Grande and Paranaíta) and
a stipend for the musicians, the chamber orches-
tra, composed of nine violins, three violas, two cel-
los, two horns, two oboes, a bassoon and a flute,
will receive the box office revenue from concerts
for which tickets were sold. not all its members
can afford to buy their own instruments. Violinist
70
Thamyris nascimento, 23, is from Rio de janeiro.
She learned to play at the evangelical church her
family attends in north Zone of Rio, and because
she showed promise, her teacher gave her a Chi-
nese violin when she was 9. She only managed
to acquire a new, handmade instrument like the
ones more advanced violinists play when she was
18 years old.
People who dream of playing an instrument
overcome all kinds of obstacles to get them. Dora
Queiroz, from Rio Grande do Sul, enjoyed playing
guitar in a rock band in her hometown of Getúlio
Vargas until she heard the johann Sebastian Bach’s
cello suites for the first time. “I’ve got to learn to play
that,” she thought. with a great deal of sacrifice, she
bought herself a cello and studied music at the Fed-
eral university at Rio Grande do Sul (uFRGS), Porto
Alegre. In 2007, her instrument was stolen before
it was even paid for. It turned up four months later,
during a police raid.
Teles Pires: record-breaking audienceOf all the stops on the group’s tour, which began on
October 31 in the Tom Jobim Space in Rio de Janeiro,
and ended on November 13 at the Municipal Theater
in Rio Grande, the concert at the Teles Pires Dam con-
struction site broke the record for the largest audience.
“A classical music concert is good for everyone’s soul,”
says Project Director Antônio Augusto de Castro Santos.
The venue was the Rosa Branca (White Rose) Farm, the
300-hectare area where 3,700 Odebrecht Infraestrutura
members are currently living and working. That num-
ber is expected to reach 6,000 by the time the project is
completed in the next three years.
Thousands of Odebrecht members attended the
concert, and heard the “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4
Prelude” by Villa-Lobos, the “Concerto No. 1 in D Minor
for Piano and Strings” by Bach, “Symphony No. 29 in A
Major” by Mozart, the “Concertino for Violin and Cham-
ber Orchestra” by Guerra-Peixe, with a solo by Daniel
Guedes, and two horns, and the composition “I Know
that I will Love You” by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vini-
cius de Moraes, arranged by Wagner Tiso, with a piano
solo by Simone Leitão.
“It was beautiful. I had never heard a live orchestra
before,” said Ivani Santos, who works on the electrome-
chanical assembly for the plant. “It wasn’t my first con-
cert, but this one, at the construction site, was certainly
unique,” says her boyfriend Tiago Neves, who works in
the welding area.
71informa
Performing in Rio de Janeiro: one of the seven cities the chamber orchestra visited on its tour
A young violinist concentrates on the score: a unique opportunity for youths from several parts of Brazil
Teles Pires Dam project members: taking a break from work to enjoy classical music
MeMORY AnD
In Portugal, appreciation for culture is the focus of a project in the vicinity of the Baixo Sabor Dam construction works, where investments in job and income creation are another highlight
written by zaCCaria Junior photos by bruna roMaro
he highway runs on to the village of estevais, then
to Cardanha and Adeganha. The traveler cannot
stop everywhere, cannot knock on every door to
ask questions and heal the lives of those who live
there. But as he neither can, nor wants to detach
himself from his interests, and has a fascination for the work of
men’s hands, he goes to Adeganha, where they told him there is
a delightful Romanesque chapel, only yea high.... The church is
everything it should be. Their boast was no exaggeration. here,
in these windswept heights, in the biting cold and scorching
sun, the tiny church heroically resists the centuries. Its edges
are broken, the statues and gargoyles are disfigured on its sur-
rounding corbels, but it would be hard to find more purity, more
transcendent beauty. The church in Adeganha is something to
keep in your heart, like the golden stone of Miranda.”
This excerpt from journey to Portugal, by the nobel Prize-
winning Portuguese writer josé Saramago, demonstrates the
cultural and historical wealth of Adeganha, one of many small
villages in the Trás-os-Montes region in northeast Portugal.
Adeganha is connected to Torre de Moncorvo village, in the dis-
trict of Bragança, where the Baixo Sabor Complementary Group
of Companies (ACe), formed by Odebrecht-Bento Pedroso Con-
struções and Lena Construções, is building the Baixo Sabor
Dam for Gestão da Produção de energia S.A.(eDP). The Baixo
Sabor project actually includes the construction of two dams
equipped with reversible generator groups – one upstream and
one downstream on the Sabor River. Standing 123 meters high,
the upstream dam is the largest of the two that make up the hy-
droelectric plant, and will be the second highest in Portugal. Its
storage capacity will provide a more significant strategic water
reserve in the Douro River basin.
Living Villagewhen the project arrived in the region, a group of people
connected to its team of archaeologists (a total of 184 archaeol-
ogists are involved in Baixo Sabor) was sensitized by the theme
of valuing local culture. They came up with the Living Village
project, which focuses on the intangible heritage found in the
Tperspective
72“
73informa
Maria Angélica Lage: living memory of Trasmontana culture
74 informa
region’s villages and which, in many cases, is un-
known to people living in big cities.
Archaeologist Rita Gaspar, 35, coordinates pre-
historic studies, and André do Carmo Tereso, 29,
is a conservation and restoration specialist. These
members of the Baixo Sabor hydroelectric project
observe that Living Village got started through
contact with the local community, which was inter-
ested in preserving and transmitting its ancestral
knowledge to new generations. “we began to real-
ize that this region is very isolated and aging. jobs
are scarce, so the younger population ends up
leaving,” says Rita. She explains that the absence
of young people in the village prevents their el-
ders from passing on their traditional lore, includ-
ing farming methods, recipes, dances, songs and
legends that should be perpetuated. “we wanted
to show people the memories a village stores
and share them through events,” explains Rita.
She observes that they have held events involving
other villages in the region so that everyone can
experience Adeganha’s customs, and others will
also feel motivated to hold similar gatherings in
their own villages, which strengthens their region-
al culture.
“People had a very mechanical idea of every-
thing they did, but they weren’t passing on what
they knew. we didn’t want that knowledge to be
lost,” says André Tereso. During a quick tour of
Adeganha, the Odebrecht Informa team saw this
first-hand. while wandering in a maze of narrow al-
leyways crammed with stone houses, the reporter
and photographer were invited into the home of
Maria Angélica Lage, 90, who sat warming herself
before the fireplace, stirring the wood with a stick
as she asked with a smile: “want to hear a song?”
Then she began to sing about daily life in Trás-os-
Montes, as well as saying prayers and telling tales
about her father, husband, and children and the
time she lived in Angola. “See? we mustn’t lose all
that,” said André.
Generating jobs and incomeIn addition to valuing local culture, another focus
of attention when the project arrived in the region
was on the need to generate jobs and income for the
communities in the vicinity of the Baixo Sabor Dam.
Odebrecht-Bento Pedroso Construções has encour-
aged professional education and the qualification
of companies from the start. “we try to encourage
local entrepreneurs and businesses,” says Antônio
Monteiro, the Administrative and Financial Manager
for the project. “we visited the local business as-
sociation and attended several meetings, where we
explained our needs and the opportunities the proj-
ect could generate in the region. we showed that we
were open to dialogue. while we focus more on our
own business, we are providing opportunities for lo-
cal business development,” observes Monteiro, who
currently uses local companies to provide services
like cleaning, car washing, air conditioning mainte-
nance, as well as metalworking and the manage-
ment of the jobsite’s restaurants.
74 informa
75informa
Francisco Braz is a case in point. when he
heard about the arrival of the project and the
large amount of work associated with the con-
struction of the Baixo Sabor Dam, he set up the
Colheventos company, based in Torre de Mon-
corvo. Currently, his company has 13 members
who are responsible for cleaning the jobsite, in-
cluding offices and dormitories. “Before I started
this business, I asked the people responsible for
Baixo Sabor for information. They assured me
they would hold a tender and that I could bid for
the contract. They were even giving priority to lo-
cal businesses,” he says.
Metalwork shop owner Francisco Fevereiro recalls
that his involvement with the project came about “the
simplest way imaginable.” “I had just built a facility in
Torre de Moncorvo and, when the economy tanked in
2008, I thought it would be hard to make it turn a profit.
So when they started getting ready to build the Baixo
Sabor Dam, I contacted the people in charge and they
told me they would be willing to rent part of that facility.
Two days later, I got a call from the subcontractor that
was doing excavation work for the project. It wasn’t
long before I started getting requests for jobs from the
metalwork shop to get the project going,” says Fever-
eiro. he emphasizes that, for him, the most important
part of this story was that the people responsible for
the project took the initiative to find a local company
that could do the work, and believed in a small com-
pany. “They put their trust in us, and we won’t let the
project stop for a second for lack of supplies,” he says,
clearly in a mood to celebrate.
Maria Angélica Lage
Francisco Fevereiro: “They put their trust in us”
76 informa
Help from someone who understands
Now the coordinador of sustainable development projects in the Dominican Republic, he learned all about
small farms early on, in Brazil
láudio Castro was born in
Itabuna, southern Bahia, in the
heart of the “endless land” in
the mid-1950s. It was there, as writer
Jorge Amado described so well in
several of his novels, that cocoa pro-
duction was the backdrop for an am-
biguous socioeconomic setting. Cláu-
dio also knew of the two sides of the
cocoa cycle, which reached its height
during the thirty years preceding his
birth: the power of a few landowners
on one side and the harsh social real-
ity of thousands of rural families who
reaped little benefit from the wealth of
the cocoa trees on the other.
The question is inevitable: was
it because of this that Cláudio ar-
rived at the Odebrecht Foundation
in 2002 to work in this rural zone
of the Southern Bahia Lowlands,
to support the poor families in the
region? He replies: “Previously, I
had worked in the data process-
ing area at the Góes Cohabita con-
struction company, but joining the
Odebrecht Foundation was a major
professional watershed in my life.
The opportunity arose and I grabbed
it. I was highly motivated, probably
because, as a child, I was aware of
the tremendous need to support the
sustainable development of the ru-
ral zones in Bahia – and moreover,
the entire North and Northeast of
our country”.
During his five years with the Foun-
dation, Cláudio Castro managed the
Southern Bahia Lowlands Institute
for Sustainable Development (IDES)
and the Sea Family House, and co-
ordinated the implementation of the
Agroforesty Family House in Igrap-
iúna. “It was a remarkable experi-
ence,” he says. “I was able to work
alongside Mr. Norberto Odebrecht,
who taught me a lot. And I could do
what I like; what I think is right, which
is contributing to the struggle to re-
duce social inequalities and create
opportunities to generate work and
income for rural families.” Looking
back on his time at the Odebrecht
Foundation, he makes a point of
mentioning two leaders who also
taught him a great deal: Antônio Car-
los Viard and Marcelo Walter.
In 2007, Cláudio arrived in the
Dominican Republic to continue do-
ing what he likes most: coordinating
Odebrecht’s sustainable development
activities in that country. “We deployed
programs that focused on forming
community and family agricultural
associations, environmental educa-
tion and producing work and income
opportunities.” He highlights the
Housing Construction Project in the
Guayuyal Community and the Prov-
ince of San Juan, the Sewing and Ar-
tisans’ Cooperatives in Samaná, and
the Educating is Building Program.
Then, in 2010, Cláudio became part
of the team reporting directly to Marco
Cruz, Odebrecht’s CEO in the DR, as
the officer Responsible for Support
for Social/Environmental and Com-
munication Programs: “My name-
sake, Cláudio Medeiros, here in the
Dominican Republic has taught me
so much. Now I have the opportunity
of working with and learning from
Marco Cruz in this new and challeng-
ing phase of my career.”
Married, the father of three and
a doting grandfather (“I got a beauti-
ful granddaughter as a gift this year,
and we are looking forward to another
grandchild due in March”), Cláudio
emphasizes the importance of family in
his personal life and the programs he
works with. “Appreciating family values
is the basis for social development.”
Restless and extremely self-crit-
ical (“I have always been like that
and always will”), Cláudio cannot
abide hypocrisy (“one of the most
terrible sides that a human being
can show”). However, he is always
overjoyed when he sees the results
of his work. “What makes me happy
is feeling that I am helping improve
people’s lives. They are often people
that I don’t know and never will. I be-
lieve that we come into this life to be
happy and make others happy and
that is the objective that we must
seek to achieve every day.”
written by José enrique barreiro photo by Geraldo Pestalozzi
PROFILE: Cláudio Castro
C
77informa 77informa
Carlos José: “Toda obra tem começo, meio e fim, mas esta aqui é permanente”
Cláudio Castro: “We come into this life to be happy and make others happy”
78
courageFIRM BeLIeF In TALenT AnD
The Recycling Women project enables social inclusion by generating income from handicrafts
written by luiz assuMPção photo by andré valentiM
agali de Almeida Cesar Machado
turned to handicrafts as therapy. To
overcome a bout of depression, she
decided to learn a different skill,
so she took a course and started
selling her creations at fairs. Soon her work started
attracting attention. her friends and neighbors in
the Malvinas community in Macaé, Rio de janeiro,
showed interest in the skill she had developed, and
Magali decided to share her knowledge.
The artisan invited four friends to develop a proj-
ect that would include women from her community.
She believed that other people could benefit from
her skills. That is how the Recycling women Project
(Promur) was born in 2007. using scraps of fabric
collected from local garment makers, the partici-
pants learned to make bags, clothes and other items.
The workshops were held on Saturdays. Magali
rented a place where she could teach, paying the
rent out of her own pocket. But then, after bank-
rolling the project on her own for a few months, the
founder lost the job that paid Promur’s bills. After
nearly two years of activity, the project would have
had to close its doors. Fortunately, an anonymous
businessman was willing to pay the rent for the stu-
dio where the classes were held.
Instead of giving just one class per week, the
founder started to devote herself exclusively to Pro-
mur, which is now open daily, holding free work-
shops from 8 am to 4 pm. The project, whose goals
are unity, overcoming adversity and social inclusion
with income generation, has had the support of Ode-
brecht Oil & Gas (OOG) since 2011.
“My life has improved a lot”“I resisted the idea of abandoning the people who
saw hope for a better life in these classes,” recalls
Magali. “I had to do something. There were lots of
women who were on their own, abandoned, with chil-M
79informa
couragedren to raise. I had to use the skills I’d learned to help
them make money and survive.”
Pensioner Maria estela Moura, 70, used to feel help-
less and forsaken. She was looking for a pastime, and
found much more at the studio in the Malvinas community
when she joined the project three years ago. “I felt all alone.
Thanks to Promur, my life has got better, too. I’ve learned,
taught, made friends, and I can even make some money.”
Through the Schools in Action program, an OOG initiative
organized in partnership with the city of Macaé and uneS-
CO, the company identified some of the characteristics of
that program in Promur, such as participative management
and the capacity for social mobilization. OOG’s support con-
sists of encouraging and helping Promur carry out profes-
sional education courses, participate in craft fairs and sell
its members’ products at the company’s Logistics Support
Bases in Macaé, organizing workshops on management,
and ordering custom giveaways and gifts for the company’s
seminars and annual meetings. Moreover, OOG is transfer-
ring financial resources from the sale of recyclable materials
produced at its offshore drilling units to help Promur buy its
own headquarters. After two years of partnership, project
participants’ average income has increased by 23%.
About 400 women have taken Promur workshops. Al-
though some students are just looking for a hobby, most
of them have started producing handicrafts independently
and can now earn enough to support their families. “Some
girls have even started their own businesses thanks to what
they’ve learned in the workshops,” says Magali proudly.
hundreds have already benefited from one person’s
initiative and perseverance. Several residents of nearby ar-
eas recognize the importance of Promur’s work and want
to see a branch open closer to home. Promur is a project
that generates income and contributes to the socioeco-
nomic development of low-income communities. As the
Odebrecht entrepreneurial Technology (TeO) advises and
emphasizes, Magali and her team don’t give people fish.
They teach them to fish.
Retiree Maria Estela Moura (left) with her friend Marla Cruz: “I’ve learned, taught, made friends and even manage to make some money”
80 informa
ARGUMENT
80
81informa
ew concepts are as frequently discussed
as sustainability. There is no disagree-
ment regarding its applicability to any
branch of human activity, but the challenges
involved can be disheartening, especially
when it comes to issues related to climate
change and the elimination of poverty. But
the focus here is on using what we have al-
ready accomplished to guide what we should
achieve going forward.
There is good reason for optimism, and that
is what drives us to take action, as UN Sec-
retary General Ban Ki Moon said at a recent
meeting in Doha.
The last decade of the previous century
and the first of this one marked a period in
which we advanced considerably in our un-
derstanding of sustainability and the practic-
es leading to it. We started out by positioning
the players on the sides of good and evil,
respectively, the third and second sectors,
with the first sector (government) playing the
role of command and control.
It took us some time to let the focus on
“who is right” transition to “what is right.”
We have made progress because we left the
trenches to find a field of demands and op-
portunities, and finally reach the tangible
aspect of what sustainability is all about. As
representatives of a third-sector organiza-
tion, we can say that these results have only
occurred where there were alliances among
NGOs, communities, businesses and
governments.
We have made progress, but we can still
broaden the spectrum of these achievements.
We must find the “win-win” way to construct
the necessary infrastructure in each coun-
try. We must leave the route of conflict and
consider a new path for this construction. We
can put in place a hierarchy of issues when it
comes to social and environmental impacts,
aiming to prevent, mitigate and lastly compen-
sate. We need to stop focusing on individual
projects that lose the sense of the whole, and
consider a portfolio of territory-based options.
We must include the overall local, regional and
global benefits in impact assessments, instead
of taking a merely local perspective. In short,
we must insert each project in its territorial
and sectoral context.
Finally, although there are more opportuni-
ties for improvement, it is time to endow proj-
ects with elements that allow for adjustments
and improvements over time. These are the
elements that we are developing in an initiative
called “new intelligence for infrastructure,”
which reflects our commitment to the path to
sustainability.
Ana Cristina Barros
is responsible for
the Smart
Infrastructure
program, run by
the NGO TNC for
Latin America
Converging views on sustainability
“We must find the ‘win-win’ way to construct the necessary infrastructure in each country. We must
leave the route of conflict and consider a new path for this construction”
F
80
82 informa
82
In the Southern Bahia Lowlands, people are coming to understand that everyone can contribute to the
environmental balance of their habitat
productive watersIn hARMOnIOuS AnD
written by gabriELa vaSConCELLoS photos by aLmir bindiLatti
productive watersmore, because this is an activity that everybody
believes in.”
Therefore, it is the waters of Lake Antônio Rocha
that enable the aquafarmer to support his wife and
three children, but his work does not end with feed-
ing tilapia. Deninho believes that, like everyone else
in the community, he is responsible for keeping the
lake clean. He lives near the source, and working in
partnership with the Land Conservation Organiza-
tion (OCT), he has planted a hectare of land with dif-
ferent crops, such as rubber and fruit trees, a meth-
od known as the Agroforestry System (SAF). “The
SAF is included free of charge, providing a source of
income for the family unit. It offsets the use of part
of his land to preserve native vegetation,” says Vol-
ney Fernandes, the Leader of the OCT’s Cooperative
Alliance for Environmental Services.
very day when he wakes up and opens
the window, Adenilton do Nascimento,
31, looks out on Lake Antônio Rocha.
It is his source of income, since he
farms fish in its waters. The source
of the lake is named after his father, who has lived
in that region for over 30 years, and is a prominent
figure in the Juliana community, located in Piraí do
Norte, in the Southern Bahia Lowlands.
Better known as Deninho, Adenilton is a mem-
ber and treasurer of the Continental Waters
Aquafarmers’ Cooperative (Coopecon). The result
of the social mobilization of fish farmers and ru-
ral families, Coopecon was founded in 2010, and
Deninho was one of the first to join. “The payback
is growing every day. Today I make about BRL
1,000 [per month], and I believe I will earn even
E
Adenilton do Nascimento, his wife and three children on Lake Antônio Rocha: with the help of partners, the aquafarmer is raising fish and reforesting
84 informa
“We could see that when the land was cleared,
there was less water. Thanks to reforestation, we’re
protecting these resources for future generations. I
never thought I’d ever do that. I used to hurt the en-
vironment and now I’m defending it,” says Deninho.
With the OCT’s support, the aquafarmer has also
planted an additional hectare with eucalyptus trees.
“Growing trees will be very good for us, because in-
stead of cutting down the forest, we can harvest own
wood,” he says. “People here didn’t have that kind of
awareness,” he adds.
Deninho’s wife, Leandra Santos, trusts her hus-
band’s judgment. “My kids are thinking about fol-
lowing in their father’s footsteps,” she says, clearly
pleased, and shares her own dream: building a
new home. Deninho is thinking about his children’s
future. “I never had a chance to study, but I want
to give them a good education, and teach them the
importance of living in a community and preserv-
ing nature,” he says. His eldest daughter, Yasmin,
is in the 5th grade at Youth House State School
(CECJ) in Igrapiúna county, Bahia, and is thinking
of becoming an aquafarming technician when she
grows up. “I encourage Yasmin every single day,”
says Deninho.
Strengthening four types of capitalCoopecon, OCT and CECJ are institutions linked
to the Development and Integrated Growth Pro-
gram with Sustainability for the Southern Bahia
Lowlands Environmental Protection Areas Mosaic
(PDCIS). Supported by the Odebrecht Foundation,
in partnership with government agencies, civil so-
ciety organizations and private institutions, the PD-
CIS simultaneously works to strengthen four types
of capital: productive, through the establishment of
strategic cooperative alliances to generate jobs and
income; human, represented by educational cen-
ters that help groom young entrepreneurs; social,
by encouraging the construction of a more just and
egalitarian society; and environmental, through ac-
tivities that prioritize the recovery and conservation
of natural resources.
Essentially, the program is based on the prem-
ise that development represents the human evolu-
tionary process, and that everyone can contribute
to the balance of their natural habitat and thereby
enable progress. This is also what Deninho wants.
With the help of the Rights and Citizenship Insti-
tute (IDC), he has achieved a basic right for his
family and community: civil documents. “The IDC
organized a project here, and I took the opportuni-
ty to get ID cards for my kids. A lot of my neighbors
had no papers at all. We all know that an undocu-
mented person is not a citizen,” he argues.
A role model in his community, the aquafarmer is
also committed to leading the Association of Small
Farmers in the Juliana Region. With the support
of the Pratigi Environmental Protection Area (APA)
Guardian Association, which, like the IDC, is also
part of the PDCIS, Deninho’s association has mobi-
lized the 40 families that live in the Antônio Rocha
area. “I want to bring people together to discuss the
best things to do,” he says. For Deninho, the im-
portant thing is to strengthen the residents’ feeling
of belonging, and thereby achieve the Eighth Mil-
lennium Goal: developing a global partnership for
development. “By joining forces, we will get results
like bigger incomes and the conservation of natural
resources,” he affirms.
Yasmin, Adenilton’s eldest daughter: she wants to be an aquafarming technician
85informa
Next issue:Synergy
Founded in 1944,
Odebrecht is a Brazilian
organization made up of
diversified businesses with
global operations and
world-class standards of
quality. Its 180,000 members
are present in the Americas,
the Caribbean, Africa, Asia
and Europe.
reSPONSIbLe FOr cOrPOrAte cOMMUNIcAtION At cONStrUtOrA NOrbertO Odebrecht S.A. Márcio Polidoro
reSPONSIbLe FOr PUbLIcAtIONS PrOGrAMS At cONStrUtOrA NOrbertO Odebrecht S.A. Karolina Gutiez
bUSINeSS AreA cOOrdINAtOrS Nelson Letaif Chemicals & Petrochemicals | Andressa Saurin Ethanol & Sugar | Bárbara Nitto Oil & Gas | Daelcio Freitas Environmental Engineering | Sergio Kertész Real Estate Developments | Antonio Carlos de Faria Infrastructure & Transport | Josiane Costa Energy | Letícia Natívio Industrial Engineering and Defense & Technology | Herman Nass Shipbuilding Coordinator at Odebrecht Foundation Vivian Barbosa
edItOrIAL cOOrdINAtION Versal Editores editor-in-chief José Enrique Barreiroexecutive editor Cláudio Lovato Filho Photo editor Holanda Cavalcanti Art and Graphic Production Rogério Nunes Illustrations Adilson Secco english translation H. Sabrina Gledhill English Edition Coordinator & Electronic Publishing Maria Celia Olivieri
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edItOrIAL OFFIceS Rio de Janeiro +55 21 2239-4023 | São Paulo +55 11 3641- 4743email: [email protected]
Originally published in Portuguese. Also available in Spanish.
86 informa
“Dissatisfaction with
existing conditions is
part of human nature. A
tendency towards optimism
is an innate quality of
people endowed with the
entrepreneurial spirit”
TEO (Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology)
ro
Gér
io r
eis