Another season.....

Another season has passed. Some good things happened along the way. We have made a difference in some people's lives. Even if it was for a few moments, or a day or perhaps longer. Lifting spirits, putting smiles on faces that were not there before, bricks to help build, notebooks and pencils for school, ice pops for a few minutes, sneakers for unshoed feet, packages of food for some families, lots of powdered milk desperately needed, an outing for some children...all this and more has brought possible hope to some. There were many who donated. Thank you for your care.

It is time again to collect. We will do some raffles. Baskets with some goods in it will be raffled off. Please, look and see if you have anything that was gifted to you and you will not use it but will be a nice item for a gift basket. Or if you like to purchase something, that will be nice too. Books, herbal teas, lotion, pretty napkins, note cards, etc. If you are local, I can pick it up. If not you can mail it to me:

Jessica Torok Brown
P.O. Box 249
Mill Neck, NY 11765

Of course donations are always welcomed. Any amount! Yes even $1 would be very much appreciated. Just slip it into an envelope and send it. Please! Thank you. Obrigado!

Update on Joao's house

Slowly, Joao and Vera's house is getting built. It has taken longer than Daniel's. Daniel did most of the work on his own house. Joao has had some difficulty, he does not know how to build a house. He hired a man for meals and a little money to help him when Joao had work, and this person was not always available. Also there was a problem of some missing blocks. Joao was terribly upset and was crying that someone had stolen some blocks. It is such a desperate situation there. We had some funds left and we were able to replace the missing blocks. Daniel offered to help Joao build his house, he said "I was helped and now I will help." Over the next few days Daniel will be available. They will at least complete a room so the family can move back into the house and no more blocks will be stolen. Joao's outside kitchen, as shown here will be a thing of the past (first picture). Of course he has to purchase an oven and a refrigerator. Hopefully we can raise some money for this. Now that we are in the USA for a while we asked a friend to take pictures of the house as it develops.

Children of Cascalheira and Projeto TAMAR

Last Saturday we took six children of Cascalheira to Projeto TAMAR in Praia do Forte. It was prearranged with TAMAR and we had our own educational guide. He was great with the kids. To see the children out of their very poor and sad element was touching. They were able to run around, touch a stingray, view other sea animals such as sharks, turtles and different fish. Before going into TAMAR we had lunch. What a bunch of hungry little ones. Later walking through town we met up with some clowns who were out to make some children happy. Of course ending the day with ice-cream was special. A fabulous day we all had. Our dear friend Sueli has been incredible, by now she too knows the children and being from the same area she has been tremendously helpful. It truly felt very good to make a difference in some children's lives, even if it was for one day.

School Supplies for Children

February is a new school year in Brazil. We were at Cascalheira visiting and catching up with Joao's house. Unbeknownst to us it was a few days before school started and the children were begging to please get school supplies for them. The next day we went school supply shopping for about 10 children, purchasing notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners and backpacks. It has been our experience that whatever we purchase is never enough, because there are so many of them. So we did buy some extra supplies (and it still it was not enough). The following day the items were given out. Parents and children were very happy. Some of them asked for shoes, most of them do not have proper shoes, just flip flops. One boy, Bruno asked me privately if we could please bring him a pair of sneakers and if we could meet him early before school started so he could wear the shoes to school. We told him he will have his shoes. Unfortunately it could not work out to meet him early, but he did get his shoes. After the school supply distribution many children came up to us with little notes with their name and list of supplies (pictures at the end). It would be nice if the schools would give these basic tools to these children.