Segment 1

VOICEOVER

Like many mothers in Viçosa do Ceará, Brazil, Elionete Maria Dos Santos spent years worrying about providing her four children with a safe environment that would give them the educational and cultural opportunities needed to escape a life of poverty. It was all too common for children in the area to spend their time after school doing nothing but lounging in the streets, assuming they attended school at all. Her fears disappeared with the creation of the Children and Adolescents Care Center, which is sponsored by the Municipal Secretary of Health, and supported by UNICEF. Its mission is to guarantee and stimulate access to cultural, educational, and sports activities. Elionete's children receive computer training, special tutoring, dance and singing lessons, as well as get plenty of time to socialize and interact with other children in a secure, safe environment.

ELIONETE MARIA DOS SANTOS [Mother]

For sure, while they are at the center they are not learning anything wrong. They are being prepared for their future, what I expect the most. When they are there I don’t have to be concerned with their meals. They have snacks and even lunch.

VOICEOVER

Elionete herself is receiving training on how to make clothing. The extra money she'll earn will help supplement her husband's modest salary as a bricklayer. The center is also actively working to reduce child mortality. It has hired more than 100 health agents who fan out through the community on motorcycles, reaching some of the area's most impoverished and excluded children. They offer key services like prenatal care, as well as postnatal consultations. There's also a mobile health bus. Families are given a range of services, from immunizations to getting their cavities filled. A dedicated and proactive staff at the center has helped the community increase school enrolment and attendance, in part because they make learning fun.

DANIELA RUFINO [Coordinator, Children and Adolescents Care Center]

My daily role is to make sure that the activities are being fully developed, guaranteeing that children and teenagers are really learning and assuring that this new knowledge is being applied and really learned. So I have to plan and accompany these activities.

VOICEOVER

Since the center opened last year, Elionete's children are receiving better grades and showing greater interest in reading and studying. The centre is just one strong example of what's possible when a community comes together and works to improve childhood survival. This is Thomas Nybo, reporting in Viçosa do Ceará, Brazil. Unite for Children.