For the Portuguese writer José Saramago, “reading is, probably, another way of being in a place”.  During the month of September, the students of the Casas Familiares won many new places to go by means of literature: in partnership with the Odebrecht Group, the Odebrecht Foundation donated 5,626 books to the schools.

The books are all national works of literature covering the themes of environment, sustainability, education and culture, in addition to publications that make up the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology. The donations were divided between the Agroforestry Family House (Cfaf), Rural Family House of Igrapiúna (CFR-I) and Rural Family House of Presidente Tancredo Neves (CFR-PTN), NGOs partnering with the Odebrecht Foundation for the execution of its Social Program, PDCIS – Development and Integrated Growth Program with Sustainability (PDCIS).

The books will aid in the education of hundreds of youths who study at the Casas Familiares, as points out Quionei Araújo, director of the CFR-PTN. “We will use this material mainly in our literature classes. This is a great need that we had. The books will also contribute to our reading workshops in which we distribute awards to the students who read most”, he explains.

Education for Sustainable Development

For Cristiane Nascimento, in charge of the Foundation’s Communication and Sustainability area, enabling this donation is one more way in which the institution reinforces its commitment to quality education. “The promotion of Education for Sustainable Development is one of our work fronts. We believe that, with quality education, we can build a more just and equal opportunity society”, she says.

Marcelo Gentil, in charge of the Odebrecht S.A. Communication area for the Northeastern region, explains that this donation is also the result of a desire to share knowledge. “We have a large collection in our library in Salvador and for this reason we decided to donate the works to institutions that could benefit from the content”, he affirms.

In addition to the Families Houses, the Federal University of Bahia (Universidade Federal da Bahia – Ufba), the Museum of Art of Bahia (Museu de Arte da Bahia – MAB) and the rare book laboratory of the São Bento Monastery (Mosteiro de São Bento) will also receive publications. “We separated the items by themes. Everything was classified so that the donation could be segmented to each partner”, explains Gentil.