How to create opportunities for young people and their families in the rural area while focusing on education, work, citizenship and, above all, the environment? Since June 1, students from the Mail of the Future Program, promoted by the Correio* Newspaper in Salvador, are answering this question through an exchange of experiences with the Odebrecht Foundation.

After being introduced to the three programs coordinated by the institution during a meeting with Graciela Mends Ribeiro Reis, Vice President of Organization & Governance at the foundation, the university students visited the Bahia Southern Lowlands on June 2 to learn about the supported institutions.

Matheus Buranelli, 24, is completing his fifth semester at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBa) School of Communication. His experience with the topic started earlier, when he saw the packaging from Realeza Tapioca in his home, produced by COOPATAN, a cooperative supported by the foundation. “I came to see the behind-thescenes of this product, how it is made,” he said. “I learned that I had no idea how it all works.”

For Linda Bezerra, Editor of Correio* Newspaper, visits like this one help complement students’ learning. “They are an experience for life,” she said. “It is something extremely rich for a journalist, providing both professional growth and a global view.”