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 In East Timor, southeast Asia, 8,500 children are health-assisted by a group of volunteers. Their mothers receive guidance about caring for their kids, regarding feeding, oral hydration and vaccination, among others. When the children are malnourished, they receive a food product made out of natural nutrients. The actions follow the model developed by the Pastoral da Criança (Children's Pastoral), a community organization connected to the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB).
The Pastoral da Criança implements among impoverished communities an education project for the development of the children, whose methodology has already been exported to 16 countries. The work is developed by volunteers, in general within the community itself, who guide pregnant women and mothers on breast feeding, oral hydration of children with salts, nutrition and hygiene. In Brazil, over 270,000 volunteers aid two million children and 100,000 pregnant women. Abroad, the program has already reached Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, in Africa, the Philippines and East Timor, in Asia, and 11 Latin-American countries. There are not figures for all the countries, but in Paraguay, for example, there are 16,000 children being assisted, in Colombia, approximately 15,000, according to the coordinator of the Pastoral da Criança, pediatrician and sanitarian Zilda Arns Neumann. In the countries in which the methodology has already arrived, it is connected to the Catholic Church, but, according to Zilda, that is not a requirement for it to be implemented. "But there should always be a religion behind it, as it is volunteer work inspired on fraternity," she said. The coordinator, who is also the founder of the Pastoral, explains that in Guinea-Bissau, for example, where she has recently been, she visited six communities that are being assisted in which 90% of the population is Muslim. In the country, the work was implemented by a religious person from the interior of São Paulo (southeastern Brazil) who moved to Guinea-Bissau. The Pastoral da Criança has not yet arrived in the Arab countries, but Zilda believes that there would be no problem for the project to be developed there, for example, by Muslims. "We respect the local culture to preserve children," stated the doctor. Zilda said that there are points in common between Islam and the work developed by the Pastoral. She mentioned, for example, the fact that the family is sacred and the great faith in breastfeeding shared by the Muslims and the Pastoral. Charity, according to her, is another point in common. The coordinator tells that there have already been inquiries from the Palestinian embassy in Brazilian capital Brasília, around two years ago, about the possibility of taking the methodology to the Arab country. According to Zilda, the work of the Pastoral is implemented in other countries when there is local interest. Normally, Brazilian teams travel to the country to train technicians or receive them in Brazil. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) started the initiative of spreading the Pastoral's method to other countries. The work developed by the Pastoral, in reality, was born connected to the UNICEF. It was the executive director at the organization in 1982, James Grant, who suggested to Cardinal Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, then Archbishop of São Paulo, the creation of a project to fight malnutrition and children's mortality in Brazil. Dom Paulo presented the proposal to his sister, Zilda. She faced the challenge and the CNBB approved the project she presented. The Pastoral da Criança was established in 1982 after a pilot experiment implemented at São João Batista Parish, in the city of Florestópolis, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Out of every 1,000 children born in the city, 127 died. After one year of the work developed by the Pastoral, the level had dropped to 28 deaths. The experiment provided the impulse for the proposal to be spread around Brazil. Today, the work is developed in 43,000 communities in 4,300 Brazilian cities. One of the most famous products developed by the Pastoral da Criança, in reality, is the multi-mix, a food product made from nutrients that may be found in the community. The high nutritional value compound was created by the Pastoral in 1987. Zilda Arns is the coordinator of the national and international Pastoral da Criança, but she will soon start dedicating herself exclusively to the international work. The Pastoral and Zilda herself have already received various awards, national and international. The doctor has even been recommended by the Brazilian government for the Nobel Peace Prize, from 2001 to 2004. Those interested in taking the Pastoral da Criança methodology to other countries should get in contact with the organization's offices, in the city of Curitiba, Paraná. Contact Pastoral da Criança
Telephone: (+55 41) 2105-0250
Email: pastcri@pastoraldacrianca.org.br Anba - www.anba.com.br
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I hope you are not American (USA), because ironically that statement would demonstrate your lack of knowledge of U.S. police science. The police force in the United States are a paramilitary force, with related arms, rank structure, and the methodology of defining an enemy. If you ever saw that U.S. reality show years back, that had former U.S. military special operation members from the 4 branches (that is excluding the Coast Guard) and police SWAT team or task force members you'll note U.S. police (not all of which had former military experience) were chosen and mixed in all the combat teams. The team predominately filled with L.A. SWAT team members and other city SWAT or "task force" members won two separate contests over the teams more predominately made up of former Navy Seals, Army Special Forces, Marine Force Recon, and former Air Force Combat Controls members. The two contests they won were 1) The CQB take down of a building and 2) a rural hostage rescue mission that required intercepting a convoy of trucks. (Of note: one of those Navy SEAL's that was on that show by the way, latter went over to U.S. occupied Iraq as part of private security firm based out of the U.S., he was killed over there in one of the most publicized events [back when they hung the burned and charred bodies up for camera view])
Has Brazil NOT millions of children labor, uneducated, street children, and without healthcare ????
Is Brazil helping other nations....because you cannot handle anymore your own problems ?
Or NOT enough budget for your own children....and thus you ask financing to wealthier nations for caring the OTHER nations
children ??????
Clean your own mess....FIRST.....AND then only ...help the other nations BUT.....WITH YOUR OWN MONEY !!!!!!!!!
A joke these Brazilians ! A shame these brazilians ! A tragedy....these brazilians !