Univida

In Fortaleza, the state school system only offers 4 hours of schooling per day. The schools are underfunded and overcrowded. Over 50% of students drop out by the time they are 11 years old. We work with children on a daily basis, filling up the school day by providing an extra 4 hours of classes. We have students in the morning who go to school in... the afternoon and vice-versa. It has taken many years to establish and develop the University of Life. We began by working with street children but then changed our approach to help prevent children from spending time on the streets. Today, the University of Life is well respected by the community as a centre of hope and opportunity, committed to the welfare and needs of children. We work with children from age 7, and have grown with our students to offer support all the way to the end of secondary school. In 2005 our first students finished secondary school, many of them were the first in their families to ever achieve this level of education. Since then, many more have followed and in 2008 we celebrated again as our students began to graduate from university another first for the community. As we see results like this we are inspired to replicate this educational model by starting more projects. In 2013, we employed our first alumni as a member of staff. We have a team of 20 staff with experience and knowledge of the specific needs of our students. UNiViDA provides counselling for parents, food parcels, evangelical outreach, bible studies and special events throughout the year. Our vision is to expand our services to include vocational training and small business development. In the meantime our goal is to increase the student and staff numbers so that we can help 500 children everyday. Our waiting lists are full and we need your help!Read More