Part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPNet) and supported by the Odebrecht Foundation through the Program for Development and Growth Integrated with Sustainability (PDCIS), the three Family Houses reached the mark of 1,200 young graduates and students in 2017.

 

At the institutions, which offer technical programs integrated with their high school education, students such as Renata Silva, 15, learn farm management, soil management, irrigation, cooperatives, ethics, citizenship, as well as the proper techniques for cultivating a variety of crops and courses from the national common curriculum. A resident of the small community of São Paulinho in Teolândia, Bahia, the teenager started cultivating her land by planting four hectares with plantains. In a year and a half, she expects to harvest 90 tons of fruit, with revenue estimated at R$20,000. “I’m determined to enjoy quality of life here in this rural area, helping my community and family,” said the sophomore student from the CFR-PTN.

 

In 2014, Matsunaga visited the Lowlands of Southern Bahia and heard firsthand from students their stories of transformation. “I saw the joy in their eyes when they put into practice what they learned through this project, with the hope of raising their families right there, without having to leave,” he said during his visit to the Family Homes.