Studying at PRECE

Studying at PRECE
Students from PRECE study together under the juazeiro tree in small groups using cooperative learning

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Getting to know the people and places of Atlanta!

With Charlie Whitfield for an interview at FPC.

During an interview with Rev. Frank and Hope Arnold. PRECE could not ask for better partners and friends than Frank and Hope!

A great conversation with PRECE supporters, Dan and Margy Smith. Thank you for your support over the years!

Presenting information about PRECE at Roswell Presbyterian Church. Thank you to Yara and Paulo for their leadership there.
A wonderful visit with long time PRECE supporter, Rev. Penny Hill. Notice the Brasilian flag and the wood cut out of the "First Seven" in the background.
A fabulous meeting with the Brasil Committee of First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta.

Visiting with Dr. Graysen Walles at Tech High! A potential new partner for PRECE and the new High School!!

Happy 26th Birthday Maraiza! Thank you to the Garren family for their loving support.
Sunset on the lake! Thank you to Dr. Brown and Jean Dennis (long time supporters of PRECE) for offering us their mountain cabin while we spent two days hiking in the North Georgia Mountains.
Hiking at Amicalola Falls!
Amicalola Falls...

Relaxing with PRECE partner Dr. Brown Dennis at his mountain home.

Braves Baseball Game! Thank you Mike and Alice Tillman!!

Conversation with the FPC Young Adult PW Circle. Thanks for welcoming us Sarah Kathryn, Caitlin, Katie and Susan!

In front of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home. The visit to the King Center was powerful and inspiring for Carol and Maraiza.

World of Coke. Thank you Ben Garren!

Georgia Aquarium with Maddie Ferrell. Thank you Rose Emily and the FPC Brasil Committee!!!

The girls' first presentation of PRECE at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. This was the first time they ever presented anything in English. Congratulations!

Welcome Party with the "Brasil Alumni". Thank you to the Maxwell family for hosting!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Intercâmbio Precista - Do Cipó para o Mundo! #1

For years Americans have been visiting Fortaleza, Pentecoste, Cipó, ADEL and PRECE EPCs to learn about the PRECE movement and its progress. They, being inspired by the work of PRECE leaders and students have taken the good news of PRECE back to their friends, churches and communities in the U.S.A. and encouraged others to support the movement. But, PRECE had never sent their own students to the U.S. to talk about PRECE and share their stories… until yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon I embarked on a month long journey to and around the U.S. with Maraiza Alves Teixeira and Ana Caroline Andrade Avendano. For the past 6 months, these two PRECE leaders have been studying English with me, preparing presentations about PRECE and taking care of all the necessary paperwork for passports and visas. They are more than ready to travel and spread the news of PRECE to all American supporters as well as seek out new supporters.

This exchange program, which we hope to grow and continue each year, has three main objectives:
1) Send PRECE representatives to the U.S.A. to share updates about PRECE with partners and develop new partnerships.
2) Learn about the American culture while staying with “host families” and take this knowledge back to Brasil.
3) Practice English skills.

As we prepared to leave Fortaleza the girls commented that they were both excited about upcoming adventure and all that they would learn, but at the same time they were nervous. Would their English be strong enough? Would people understand what they were presenting and saying? I assure you- their English skills are excellent!

So, saying good-bye to friends and family we boarded the plane in Fortaleza. After a short layover in São Paulo we headed to New York where we met up with PRECE supporter Ansley Whipple who showed us her beautiful city.

The next month will include time with partners in Atlanta, a PCUSA Brasil Conference in Indianapolis, meeting with partners in Iowa, and a Cooperative Learning Conference in Minneapolis. And, of course time with friends and sightseeing in-between. You can follow the journey on http://www.myjourneywithprece.blogspot.com/ or our Facebook pages.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

First and Lasting Impressions

It was 10 years ago when Revs. Penny and Richard Hill first were introduced to PRECE. And, it was at that first moment that they recognized the amazing power and potential of PRECE. At that time Rev. Penny was serving as the Family Minister of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta and she was in charge of bringing families (as well as her own) to Fortaleza to engage in partnership work with other churches and PRECE. Immediately Penny began to share the story of PRECE with others, raise money for PRECE and actively support the efforts of PRECE. She has helped to create a wide-spread support network for PRECE in the USA, and year after year she has returned to see how PRECE is growing and how her friends are doing.

This past weekend Revs. Richard and Penny Hill spent the weekend at Cipó and visited many of the PRECE EPCs and ADEL projects. They were amazed to see how much PRECE has grown in 17 years and how quickly ADEL has developed in just 3 years. Over the weekend we reflected on how much had changed over the 10 years that they have been visiting PRECE. On their first trip there was only the Cipó campus with 80 students. Today PRECE has spread to 14 campus, almost 500 PRECE students have been admitted to the universities and thousands of children and teenagers are now studying with PRECE through the pre-vestibular classes and cooperative education courses for children. WOAH! And, in just 3 years ADEL (http://www.adel.org.br - the Agency of Local Economic Development- which was started by PRECE graduates and works to provide agricultural and economic assistance and start- up programs in the rural areas) has spread to 8 counties, is educating 80 students through their “Youth Entrepreneur Program” and is supporting hundreds of small farms and producers of agricultural goods such as organic fruit, honey, vegetables, meats and dairy products. This is astonishing progress for just 3 years! Penny and Richard were so excited to see the fruits of PRECE.

During an interview on the PRECE radio program Penny commented that they truly believe that PRECE has the ability to change not only the life of one person, not only the community of Pentecoste, but rather the educational structure of all of Brasil and eventually the whole world. She encouraged the PRECE students to keep up their good work because one day future generations will be reading about them and the PRECE movement in history books! Richard said that he believes that within the PRECE movement is the key to positive change and community development in such that PRECE develops individuals that are committed not only to their own success but to the growth and progress of their entire community. This is made evident in the way that the university students return to their communities each weekend to educate and empower a younger generation. In closing remarks Richard encouraged the PRECE students and leaders not to look toward outside entities for help. The PRECE students don’t need a President Lula or Americans to provide for them. They have all that they need within themselves and within their communal movement. And, rather than them looking towards others, the rest of the world needs to be looking toward PRECE to learn what true Christian behavior is- love of neighbor and care for the other.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

PRECE Memorial... My Memorial






For the PRECE Memorial all students and partners are asked a write their own Memorial. Below is mine...



Since moving to Brasil I have woken up every morning with the same thought, “I am the luckiest girl in the world.” Most mornings this is a reflection of the fact that I get to work with and walk alongside what I consider to be the most inspiring educational movement I have ever known, PRECE. Other days it is a self centered reflection because I will get to watch the sun set over the Atlantic or walk along the beautiful beaches of Ceará. But, every day it is a reflection and acknowledgment of all of the privileges I was granted at birth that others were not so fortunate to be given.

Let’s face it, being born a white north-American grants one advantages that others never imagine or dream of. Through my study of “white privilege” I was introduced to the writings of Peggy McIntosh who refers to the unspoken advantages we are granted at birth as an “invisible knapsack”. (1) Some of us are born with a knapsack that is light and contains only a few items; others are born with a knapsack that is bursting at the seams and difficult to zip. In the United States, the color of my skin means that I can walk in to any store or bank without a security guard watching my every move. In Brasil, the color of my hair (though I want to color it red because of the attention it calls from men!) means that business people treat me differently believing that I have money to purchase the most expensive products. And, around the world, the language that I learned at birth means that I can always find someone who can communicate with me or there is a sign to guide me in the right direction. It’s easy to see- I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I have witnessed acts of extreme violence but never have I been a victim to violence. I have seen great poverty, hunger and need but never have I gone without a meal. I have watched in horror as injustice dominates people but never have I known the sting of racism, classism or piercing discrimination. And, I have wept for those who suffer oppression, knowing at that same time my skin color, the tint of my hair, my ethnicity and my nationality make me one of the oppressors. It is because of this, because of my luck, that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called me to daily try to shed my full knapsack and stand in solidarity with those whose knapsacks appear to be lacking. It is my call as a global citizen and a follower of Christ to walk alongside all of my brothers and sisters seeking to improve the plight of all humanity until we are all born with equal rights and privileges.

Growing up, my life was very different from the lives of most PRECE students. My parents had both gone to college, had master’s degrees and were well respected teachers in our small country town of Wabash, IN. Schooling was always a given for me, and I grew up knowing that I would go to a strong private college/university when I finished high school. It wasn’t an option. It was an expectation. Transportation was never an obstacle for me. My mother or father drove my sister and I around in one of our 3 vehicles and when I was 16 I got my driver’s license just like all of my friends and was provided a car to drive when I needed. I never knew life without paved roads, running water or electricity. These were givens that the infrastructure of my country provided. Resources like food, clothing, school supplies, computers and more were always a given in my family. If my parents couldn’t provide the things I “needed” then my grandfather would step in to help. I never knew what it meant to want for anything. I wasn’t “rich” by American standards, but we were comfortable.

But, there was one thing that was missing from my life until the day I was introduced to PRECE. Before knowing PRECE I had never known community- true community. Sure, my family is close and we love each other- my sister is my heart and soul. Of course, I have developed deep friendships that I cherish and could not live without. Naturally, I have a strong network of support that I can rely on when I need strength. But, never had I experienced the type of community that PRECE creates. This is the community that develops when people walk hand in hand, struggling together, living together, learning together, failing together and succeeding together. It is the community that develops because there is the realization that alone one cannot accomplish his or her goals but with the support of others he or she can exceed those goals and excel to dreams never before imagined. It is the community that must develop in communities where the struggle is great and the burdens are heavy.

The first time I heard Prof. Manoel Andrade speak of PRECE was in Atlanta in 2007. I was working as the Director of Elementary and Family Ministries at First Presbyterian Church and had recently taken on the shared responsibility of bringing groups of families to Fortaleza, Brasil to work with partner churches and organizations. The second time I met Prof. Andrade was in Fortaleza, Brasil. I had been studying the work of Paulo Freire at Emory University and was blown away by the similarities between what I had been studying in liberation education/theology and the journey PRECE was taking. I knew immediately that I had to be a part of PRECE. In July of 2009 I took a study leave from my job and spent a month living and breathing the PRECE movement as I visited the EPCs in Pentecoste and Fortaleza teaching English classes. It was this month that sealed my future. PRECE had gotten in to my blood and I knew that I had to find a way to get back to the PRECE community and all they could teach me.

In July of 2010 I arrived in Fortaleza and have been walking alongside PRECE since. I feel that I don’t have much to offer the PRECE community- some English classes, connections with Americans and the resources/opportunities they can provide, and maybe some reflections/advice in regards to Cooperative Learning. But, compared to what PRECE offers to me, I give practically nothing. PRECE has changed me and the way I see the world and relationships. The PRECE community has taught me love, acceptance, patience, perseverance, vigilance, and the true meaning of community. I am forever grateful for the role PRECE has played and continues to play in my life.

Every day is a new adventure and a new opportunity for growth. Every day I am inspired by the stories of the PRECE students. Every day I stand in awe at the strength and determination of the people from the rural communities of Ceará, Brasil. Every day I am thankful for the chance to walk alongside PRECE. Every day I am reminded that I am the luckiest girl in the world.

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(1) McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsackhttp://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html