written by Gabriela Vasconcellos
photos by Fernando Vivas

Northeastern Brazil. Early in the morning, Maria do Amparo “Paulinha” dos Santos, 20, gets down to work, sorting piassava fiber. She is running her own business: a piassava sorting facility that makes it possible to process the fiber and add value to the raw materials. She only takes time off from work, which is near her home in the former maroon community of Lagoa Santa, in Ituberá, Bahia, to go to the Agro-Forestry Family House (CFAF) for another week of class.

Paulinha joined that educational institution in early 2011, and since then she has had access to training geared to the realities of the countryside. Its educational model originated in France and is based on alternations: a week at boarding school, with lessons in the classroom and the field, and two on the students’ farms, when they apply what they have just learned with the supervision and guidance of specialized monitors.

“When the opportunity to apply for CFAF came up, I was working on the farm and had given up on going to school. I was accepted and had no idea if it would work out, but I believed it would. I’m learning a lot and sharing what I’m learning with my community,” says Paulinha, who is part of the first class taking the Secondary Professional Technical Education Course in Forestry as part of the secondary school curriculum. There are 31 young people taking the course, which CFAF began offering in 2011 after it was accredited by the Bahia State Board of Education.

It was also at the Family House that the young rural entrepreneur learned how to start a piassava sorting project. The facility she set up in her community is the first of its kind in the Southern Bahia Lowlands. “We faced some hurdles at first, and sometimes we thought about quitting. But because we had access to training, we learned how to deploy the project. Today we are running a model sorting facility,” she says proudly.

This initiative is the result of a joint effort by CFAF, the Cooperative of Rural Producers in the Pratigi Environmental Protection Area (Cooprap) and the Tribute to the Future Program, which supports projects certified by the Odebrecht Foundation with income tax owed by Odebrecht Organization members.

Every day, with the help of her cousins Maria Aparecida dos Santos and Cristiane dos Santos, Paulinha cuts and combs about 45 kilos of piassava. The processed fiber is delivered to Cooprap, which uses it to make brooms. The young women are paid according to their productivity. They can make roughly BRL 1,200 in a month (over twice the minimum monthly salary).

“We reinvest our profits in developing our business. That’s what makes a good entrepreneur. First and foremost, we want to make the sorting facility sustainable,” says Paulinha. Like her mother, Tercília da Conceição, she is a member of Cooprap, an institution that, along with CFAF, is part of the Strategic Cooperative Alliance for Piassava, one of the programs carried out by the Program for the Integrated and Sustainable Development of the Mosaic of Environmental Protection Areas in the Southern Bahia Lowlands (PDIS), supported by the Odebrecht Foundation.

Although she has a tight schedule, in which she juggles her work at the sorting facility and her studies, Paulinha still has time to dream. “When I’ve finished the three-year course at the Family House, I’m going to keep on studying. I want to go to college and become an agricultural engineer. I’m looking for ways to increase my earnings so I can take care of my family in the future.”

Her mother is thrilled. “My sons live far away. I wanted them to be near me. I didn’t want them to have to leave here to find work opportunities. Now I’m very happy to see my daughter growing through this project,” says Tercília, the mother of 12 children, just three of whom are still living in her community. If it is up to Paulinha, her mother will stay happy. “My greatest wish is to work in this community and never leave my hometown,” she says.

The path to sustainability
Elinaldo de Jesus, 19, is in a similar situation to Paulinha. The young farmer has seen three of his four siblings leave their home community to look for work. A student at the Igrapiúna Rural Family House (CFR-I), Elinaldo says he has definitely found a growth opportunity. “At CFR-I, I have a chance to study and experience new things. I soon realized that teamwork can be useful,” says the resident of Igrapiúna, Bahia.

Like CFAF, CFR-I was also accredited by the State Board of Education in 2011 and is authorized to teach the Secondary Professional Education Course in Agribusiness as part of the regular secondary school curriculum. There are 32 students in the first class to take the course. Elinaldo is one of them. “I’ve always helped my dad on the farm. This year I’m going to start up a hearts-of-palm production project,” he says. He intends to join the Southern Bahia Lowlands Hearts-of-Palm Producers’ Cooperative (Coopalm). “When I deliver my produce to Coopalm, I know that my hearts-of-palm will have a guaranteed buyer,” says Elinaldo.

Two firsts
The Presidente Tancredo Neves Rural Family House (CFR-PTN) was the first to be established in the Southern Bahia Lowlands and the first in the Brazilian North/Northeast to be certified – by the Bahia State Board of Education. The young people who finish the three-year course there receive a high school diploma and professional certification as agricultural technicians.

The Technological Production and Innovation Director of the House is a young woman who graduated from its first class. The daughter of farmers from Teolândia County, Bahia, Fernanda Silva entered CFR-PTN in 2003, at the age of 15. In 2010, she became a director of that educational unit. “It’s very gratifying to be spearheading a project I helped build. I understand that this makes my responsibility even greater, but I believe we will achieve a future with a focus on education for life through work and values,” says Fernanda.