Classmates on Santa Cruz School, on Rio, that helps a school on the Northeastern brazilian region

On Brazilian northeast climate is very dry. So dry, that constantly northeast population has no enough water. Sometimes things go badly, and there is hunger, sickness and death for local people.

One of these times, on 1998, some schools on Rio de Janeiro organized itselves in a project, "School Friend" to send food for schools on brazilian Northeast. It was done and helpful, but after the drought, the schools stopped to help.

But one school in a poor region from Rio de Janeiro didn't stopped and until today send food, money and material for one school on Ceará state, on northeast. It´s a friendship that grew up along this four years: the friendship between kids of Manoel Martins de Souza School, on the distant village of Arneiroz, on Ceara, and kids of Apolo XII school, on Rio.

Tereza Cristina Perdigão Veiga, 18 years old, 2nd grade on High School explains: "we still help because we want they keep in school. We know that´s it´s not a question only of food".


On Norhestern: Helping from Rio was important to make the local mayor act too.

There were many difficulties to find donations. Only when a TV made a reporting on Apolo XII action, they got help. The TV gone away, and difficulties come back. But students didn´t gave up. They created many ways of getting money: parties, travels and contributions of each one. "Just a little of each one is for them a great help", says Leonardo Coutinho, 17, on Apollo 12 3rd High School year. Over the letters, students from Ceara and Rio become friends: "I would like to play soccer with them", tells Leonardo.
It´s interesting that contact between these two students groups has turned on local authorities also, to do things as painting the school and improve number of teachers working. With the money sended by Rio students, on Northeast the school is getting better: they could buy an oven, water filters and make some uniforms.

On october, when cooperation between these two schools will complete four years, they would like to meet themselves for the first time. They still need sponsorships for this.

Colégio Apollo 12 - Contact: apollo12@bol.com.br

Adapted from
http://www.vivafavela.com.br/

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