Nosso Passeio no Parque Lage! 22/12

Our field trip to Parque Lage! 

This Saturday volunteers took some of the children out for a winter break field trip to Parque Lage.   There we had a picnic, the girls played jump rope, saw the historic Parque Lage Building which is now an art school, had fun looking at the fish in the aquarium, and took a quick hike. There are so many wonderful places in Rio to take the kids, and it is a really special experience because a lot of the kids haven't seen much outside of Rocinha and São Conrado (the surrounding neighborhood). You can really make it a special trip for them!

And I must say, they were really well behaved! Thanks to the volunteers Elizabeth and our new Resident Volunteer Sergio for taking the kids out! It was a great time!

Here are some pictures!

Feliz natal e ano novo para todos! Um abraço e até logo!

Happy Halloween!

On October 31st we had a Halloween party with our children's classes!

We had the help of our Voluntourists and our Resident Volunteers. Katie, Elizabeth, Jennifer were there as well as Kika (American) and Dasha (Russia). The volunteers decorated the pre-school with decorations we bought from the center in Rio with Vivi beforehand and dressed up as witches and cowgirls. The kids also dressed up, most everyone came as witches!

When the kids got to the school at regular class hours, we surprised them with treats, soda and games. We started the night out talking about what Halloween is like normally in the United States, and taught everyone how to say Trick-or-Treat!

VEJA! Take a look at our pictures!

We played bobbing for apples, danced, and had a mummy-wrapping competition!

Obrigada to everyone for your help! and... Happy Halloween!

Field Trips with our Children's Class!

Here at 2bros we plan out field trips once or twice a month with our children. It's a great opportunity for them because a lot of the kids don't usually leave Rocinha except to go to school. We have taken them bowling and ice skating so far, and it's been very successful! Everyone is able to enjoy themselves and it is a great chance to connect with the kids outside of the school environment.

We usually do the field trips on Saturdays, and they are meant o be cultural experiences or for the kids to do something fun outside of their community. We travel by bus and provide for everything but the bus fare.

Here are some pictures of our trip to the ice rink in Barra!

The Resident Volunteers (pictured above is Elizabeth) are responsible for planning field trips as part of their duties as Volunteers. But it's more fun than work, and very gratifying to see the kids have so much fun.

Thank you as always to Vivi, who helped organize this event. Beijos!

Visit to the Rocinha Surf Escola! Friday, August 10th

Something that is important and fantastic about Rocinha is that it is a great community connected by many
hard-working people. In an effort to connect with other NGOs and projects in Rocinha, the students made a visit to the Rocinha Surf Escola (Rocinha Surf School)! On Friday, August 10th, our new Resident Volunteer Katie brought our students to visit the school and the director there, Ricardo Ramos, a Brazilian surfer who started this NGO and now runs a school giving surfing lessons to children and adolescents in Rocinha.

lick here to visit his facebook page and learn about the surf school he runs, it is also a great place to volunteer! Our Resident Volunteer Elizabeth will giving an English class there in exchange for a surf class for the students of 2bros! Que legal!



Obrigada to all the hard working staff at Rocinha Surf Escola, especially Ricardo Ramos!

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2bros Adults class

Tuesdays and Thursdays we give classes for around thirty adults who are from the area. Some students are from Rocinha, some from Rio das Pedras, another favela close to us, and from Taquara. They all have different reasons for taking English classes. Some people just love English, while others work in the tourism industry and need to improve their English in order to get more work. The ages go from 18 up until 58. It is an even balance of men and women, and the atmosphere is relaxed and happy.

Right now on Tuesdays and Thursdays we give three classes: a Beginning Level Adults, Intermediate, and and Advanced Seminar for the small group f advanced students we have. Check back soon for a student profile to meet one of our students!

Here are some pictures of Thursday, August 2, 2012.

Obrigada to Voluntourists Christine for giving the beginners class and to Naomi for giving the advanced class. We really appreciate your help and you do a fantastic job.

Weston Moody's Visit: June 2012

We are very grateful to have received Weston Moody as a Voluntourist in June. He stayed for a month with the family here in Rocinha! He helped us grow our project in a variety of ways. A Spanish teacher from Kansas, he had a lot of suggestions for how to improve our classes and got us thinking about doing an international Skype date between our kids here (we have about 25 now) and his kids in Kansas.

We also, with his collaboration, have started an English Club on Saturdays! We are planning on using videos that he makes in English in the club. More on the English club later!

Weston gave English classes, a Chinese class, and also did Conversation Hour a few times with our students, who all requested his contact information.

Weston and our house dad, José Marinho, in Rocinha. 

Why did you come to Brazil?
I have always wanted to go to Brazil after traveling through Latin America.  I heard about the Two Brother’s Foundation and thought it would be a great opportunity to help and connect with the people of Rocinha.  I also wanted to learn Portuguese.

And what brought you to Rocinha?
I first learned about Rocinha from the Vice President of Two Brothers, Paul Sneed.  After talking with him about the community and his experiences in Rocinha, I knew I wanted to live and work in Rocinha.

What did you hope to gain from your experiences working with 2bros?
I wanted to connect with the people of Rocinha and really get to know how the community works.  I didn’t want a tourist’s experience.  I wanted to teach and help the community.

What did you enjoy about your experience with us in 2bros?
Not to sound cliché, but everything!  Working with Liz and Rebekah was a great opportunity.  Helping out with the classes, getting to know people in the community, and plenty of opportunities to learn Portuguese.

What exactly did you do while you were working with us?
Helped with adult and children classes.  Outside of Two Brothers, I had language exchanges with adults in the community.

How much time did you give to 2bros?
I made it a point to come to every class.

What is next for you?
I am back in the U.S.A. getting ready for another school year.  I hope to start a partnership with my school in the U.S.A. and the students of Two Brothers Foundation.  I am also dedicating more time to studying Portuguese.

Do you think you will stay in contact with any of our students?
Absolutely!  I have already started language exchange classes via Skype.

Want to contact Weston to ask about her experience?
Find her on Facebook here: moody.weston@gmail.com

Obrigada pela ajuda Weston! You will be missed here in Rocinha!

A special visit! Voluntourist Lucy Vieira: 6/8/12

Resident Volunteer Rebekah Santos invited her mother, Lucy Viera, to come to class. She came up with the fun idea of painting t-shirts with the kids! With donations given to 2bros, we bought t-shirts and paint from a vendor in Rocinha and the kids collaborated with Lucy to make their own 2bros t-shirts.

Not surprisingly, the kids were very creative and the shirts turned out great. It was a great opportunity for the kids to connect with each other and the 2bros project. The kids wear them to class and we are going to wear them for any kind of excursion that we do in the future, and travel somewhere outside Rocinha in a group.[gallery columns="5"]

Thank you Lucy! Volte sempre!

Culture Fridays, 6/16: Rio + 20

This Culture Friday, in light of the important international environmental conference Rio + 20, we discussed how the kids could do their part in Rocinha. One of the biggest problems facing the development of the community in Rocinha is trash collection and recycling. Currently, there are very few public trash cans, and many are prone to throw their trash in the streets. However, recent improvements include the government trash collection program which takes trash out of the favela and into the dump, which comes around daily, and campaigns around Rocinha to increase trash awareness, and help to create a culture of picking up trash to keep the favela clean.

Here at 2bros, we ran a trash pick-up competition! Rebekah bought prizes for the kids that were all scholarly related, including a chalk board, calculators, pencils,and notebooks. The kids who picked up the most trash were allowed to choose first! The kids really loved it.

After the trash pick-up, the group got back together and discussed why picking up trash is important, and also talked about some of the weird things people found lying around the streets.

Parabéns Ana Clara, who picked up the most out of the group!

Joining us was Aida,once again, and a new Voluntourist Flor Preto who stopped in to help out for the night from Argentina.

Culture Fridays, 5/11/12: Art Class with Rebekah

As part of our Culture Fridays, Rebekah Santos, a Resident Volunteer here at 2bros, is giving an art class. This art class fell on a particularly special date; the Friday before Mother's Day! Rebekah used this as an opportunity to teach the kids about Mother's Day in the US. The kids made cards with expressions in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, all celebrating how great mothers are!

Thanks to Aida Mas, who helped us out again this week. We loved your idea of translating Happy Mother's Day into Spanish as well. Parabéns!

Veja! Here is how some of the artwork turned out. Que lindo!

The kids were able to paint because of donations to our project, thank you to Dan Jackson for the donation you made!

Want to help out? We have limited resources at the moment at 2bros. You can make a donation for projects these here. Thank you, and hope you all had a great Dia das Maes!

Field trip: Music Concert - 5/4/12

On May 4th, one of our Resident Volunteers, Rebekah Santos, led the children's class on a field trip for our Culture Friday. She took both sections of the children's class to include everyone, about 25 people. Our Voluntourist Aida helped her out, and between the two of them the trip went really well!

Veja! Take a look at some photos of their Passeio:

They went to the other side of the passarella in Rocinha, near the Samba School, and saw a musical presentation by the group Harmonitango, from Argentina. It was a wonderful chance for the kids to go out and see something they wouldn't necessarily have attended. A few of the kids are really interested in music, and all of them appreciated being taken somewhere special.

Here is a link to see the group playing at the same venue but on a different date. Take a look:

The kids loved it, and we are planning the next field trip for another cultural experience, hopefully to come soon.

Want to be a Resident Volunteer? Find out more information here.