An old dream of the rural families who live in the Bahia Southern Lowlands is finally coming true. The partnership formed between the Odebrecht Foundation and teaching institutions that offer a professional education is prompting young people to stay involved with family farming and has earned significant importance in the state’s educational scenario. Through the Rural Family Homes, it is possible to have access to technical professional teaching integrated with high school.

Recognizing the importance of the initiative, the Bahia State Secretary of Education established an agreement that will direct approximately R$ 415,000 for the technical-financial support, maintenance, funding and development of educational actions at the teaching units during 2014. “This ensures that the rural youth have the conditions to study and become qualified in their native towns,” said Joana Almeida, Educational Advisor of the Odebrecht Foundation.

The benefitted entities are the Presidente Tancredo Neves Rural Family Home (CFR-PTN), the Agroforest Family Home (Cfaf) from Nilo Peçanha and the Igrapiúna Rural Family Home (CFR-I). The institutions are associated with the Bahia Southern Lowlands Environmental Protection Area Mosaic Program for Development and Growth Integrated with Sustainability (PDCIS), an initiative supported by the Odebrecht Foundation and public and private partners, and are accredited by the Bahia State Board of Education, which guarantees the students a school diploma and certifies their qualification in different areas of agriculture.

“The agreement is at the heart of the work begun back in 2009 when we obtained the certification from the State Board,” explained Adelcio Menezes, responsible for the CFR-PTN projects and agreements. “The formalization with the Department of Education is extremely important and will serve as the door of entry for making other resources available for rural education,” said Menezes.

The Family Homes benefit more than 250 youth, training them to become rural entrepreneurs. For this purpose, they adopt Trade-Off Teaching, a method that builds the relationship between the student and teaching institution to transfer technical knowledge, as well as between the family and community during the process of practical learning.

Joana Almeida believes that the agreement with the Bahia Department of Education is just one of many partnerships that can benefit the residents of the rural zone. “The responsibilities are greater and the consequences are even more satisfactory results.”