To fulfill our vision of helping the most impoverished of Brazil’s citizens to live full, dignified lives, The MORE Project operates a series of programs, each of which is designed to fulfill a specific need or purpose.
The aim of the “Mom’s House” is to provide a secure living environment for children who are at risk in their primary family relationship. The Mom’s House provides a family setting with shelter, love, dental, medical and psychological care. During their stay, children are taught many of the skills needed to help them create a stable, affirming life.
The Believer’s Project was created to address the immediate and long-term needs of children living in Vila Iparanga. Structured as an additional half-day of schooling, the Believer’s Project has dramatically improved the quality of life of the families it serves in myriad ways that extend beyond the children’s education. To name a few:
The main goal of the Father’s Houses is to enable young men ages 18 to 25, who are homeless or suffering from severe circumstances to lead productive, independent lives by providing educational, psychological, and emotional support in a stable, supportive environment.
The Richard Laverdure Professional School provides much-needed vocational training for teenagers and adults from Vila Iparanga, helping them learn professional skills such as:
The focus of the Nehemiah Project is to rebuild the homes in Vila Iparanga that suffer from extreme structural problems. With homes in such disrepair, many children prefer to be on the streets rather than at home, which puts them in serious danger. By building homes where children feel safe and comfortable, it is the hope of the Nehemiah project that families will grow closer simply by spending more time together at home, and children will attend to their homework and other learning. The Nehemiah Project also strives to address the issues related to the lack of a healthy home, such as job training and rebuilding a life in a new community.
Those who know have always belonged to a supportive community might take all of its hidden benefits for granted. But for those who haven’t grown up in such an environment, the negative effects are often profound. Children who grow up belonging to no one or no place lack these vital connections with others, and even worse, they don’t know how to build healthy relationships with others. Village MonaVie, currently under construction, promises to be one of the most exciting, important, and life-changing endeavors the MORE Projects has ever participated in. By building a central community, as many as 100 at-risk children can live in family units with other children, surrounded by the love, psychological care, and emotional support of trained staff and volunteers-all part of their supportive community. The children engage in a full spectrum of education programs, art, and recreation opportunities. Look forward to hearing many more details about Village MonaVie as we report on construction and program progress.
Become a fan of The MORE Project on Facebook for the latest updates and whats happenings at The MORE Project. Click Here
01.08.2009
11.12.2008
“When I started my MonaVie business in September 2005, I had no idea that seven months later I would be traveling to Brazil with its founder and a small group of caring distributors. Our mission: to explore ways of expanding The MORE Project to feed, clothe, and educate children and adults from some of the most violent, drug infested areas of Rio de Janeiro. Meeting Sergio Ponce, his parents and other dedicated volunteers convinced me that we are partnered with the right people.”
“When Cecilia Ponce described how she started her first home for the ‘street children’ of Brazil, my heart was touched. At that moment, I had another, perhaps greater motivation to succeed with MonaVie. Now, I want to use my success to see how many lives I can touch and how many futures I can improve. I believe we’re going to do some wonderful things in Brazil, and this is just the beginning.” “The distributors of MonaVie can be proud of the work that is happening in Brazil. The more our project grows, the more lives we will be able to change. I envision that one day the MORE Project will be one of the world’s largest humanitarian efforts. I am honored to play a small part.”
— Ron Corbin, MonaVie distributor, McDonough, Georgia
Joao Victor and Jonathan are two brothers from Vila Ipiranga, the slum close to our school. Joao Victor is six and Jonathan is four. The boys are raised by their father because their mother abandoned the family. Jonathan takes prescription drugs because the shock of separation from his mother.
Joao and Jonathan came to our school in March 2011 but at first they really struggled. School work was very difficult and the boys couldn’t focus long enough to learn or even to communicate with the other children in their classes.
Unfortunately, Joao and Jonathan’s story is similar for many of our children at MORE Project. Most experience difficult family lives where conflict at home is normal. Most children suffer from lack of nutritious food and live in homes with intermittent running water. It is not an easy life.
Our new students can be very withdrawn or they are quite aggressive and act out. Many times the children cannot read well nor understand their school lessons. Family members and public schools fail to work with these desperate children.
As new children enter our schools, our social workers and psychologist immediately step in. Our goal is to provide a safe haven and unconditional love to help the children not only survive but thrive. The team of social workers and psychologist also work with the whole family teaching parenting skills, discipline and how to demonstrate love. They help the parents to understand the issues the child is facing and how the parent can support the child.
Although Joao and Jonathan only started at MORE Project in March, we are so happy with the progress they are making! They are learning in class and they have managed to develop their cognitive abilities quickly as well as creating rapport with their teachers. They are responding beautifully to the nurturing environment which focuses on cognitive support, daily love and respect and emotional support. To our joy, they also began communicating with the other children and with adults around them. They are making friends. We look forward to 2012 to continue to watch them grow at MORE Project. With your support, we are changing lives every single day!