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Juggling for life

Cultural activities can develop a fairer society in a violent area of Rio

Kneeling down face to face with him I didn’t know quite what to say. I had just said hello to a young boy, 9 years old as it turned out, and I had asked him what he thought about Crescer e Viver – a social circus project in downtown Rio. He shrugged his shoulders a little, smiled, and said that he liked it there – “I can play with my friends and I learn a lot every day”.

The young boy seemed happy and was taking part in the activities along with the other children. But he was being watched-over by the tutors with special care and attention. Only a few days previously his older brother had been killed, at home, as part of a gang dispute which had turned tragically violent.

In only a few years Crescer e Viver, which is supported by the ABC Trust, keen to raise further funding for their work, has become one of the most respected and recognised social circus programmes in Brasil. Their aims most broadly stated are to improve the life conditions of children and young people at risk and the communities in which they live. They use a circus-arts approach to their work in combination with a wide range of other artistic and cultural activities. But this description of what they do belies the power and influence of their work. One of the most dramatic indicators of their success, even beyond the many stories of how Crescer e Viver has changed individual lives and the communities in which they live, is what they achieved in São Goncalo. They established a base in the local state school which draws pupils from an area of the city which experiences acute poverty, high rates of violence and unemployment.

To begin with there were 200 regular pupils at the school; after 3 years the school had filled to capacity with 1,200 pupils enrolled, and there is now a waiting list for families keen to have their children benefiting, not only from the state provision of basic education, but also the expanded programme of extra-curricular activities and social support provided by Crescer e Viver.

In recognition of these remarkable results and the energetic team led by Project Coordinator Junior Perim, Crescer e Viver received an invitation from city authorities to expand their work to the central downtown area of Rio de Janeiro.

Activities are free for all the children who take part - and are carried out 6 days a week. There are a number of activities on offer including: Art and Street Culture – basketball, graffiti, capoeira; Social Circus – circus skills and citizenship classes; and the Artists Life – in which they produce special performances – or ‘spectacularios’. Crescer e Viver not only provides educational and development opportunities; they also provide access to much needed health care and engage children in talking about citizenship, the environment, drugs, violence, and sexual health.

There is a deliberate policy of mixing children, boys and girls, from different ethnic and social strata. Children are shown how it’s possible to overcome differences and prejudices and break what are so often ‘invisible boundaries’, and build bridges not just between individuals but within their communities too. In many cases what the children learn in art and circus skills are also the means by which the team at Crescer e Viver can engage children in dialogue about their lives, how they can make the most of opportunities presented to them and overcome sometimes enormous difficulties.

As I left the project later that day it seemed to me there could barely be a better place for the young boy I had met earlier on. He would be getting support from his family, for sure – it was clear that at Crescer e Viver he could play with his friends – but here he would learn beyond the realms of his imagination. JD

CRESCER E VIVER
CRESCEREVIVER.ORG.BR
ABC TRUST
ABCTRUST.ORG.UK