Studying at PRECE

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

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Thank you friends of PRECE


For the past 2 weeks Marilia and I have been travelling around the USA enjoying the fast paced culture, the delicious food, the fabulous people and personalities, and the landscape ranging from large city skylines to rural mid-western farm land.  The purpose of our trip to the USA was 3 fold- we attended a Cooperative Learning Conference at the University of Minnesota led by Roger and David Johnson and Edyth Houlebuc, visited friends and supporters of PRECE and got the chance to do a bit of sightseeing along the way!

 We are so incredibly grateful for the support of all of you!  Thank you to those of you who donated SkyMiles and money for in country travel expenses as well as those of you served as host families as we journeyed from Atlanta to Minneapolis or bought us lunches and dinners along the way.  Thank you to Roger, David, Edyth and all our new friends from the Cooperative Learning Conference who reminded us exactly why we do the work that we do.  We were both extremely motivated by what we experienced and cannot wait to get back to Brasil to implement some new strategies and share our knowledge with others.  Thank you!! Without your help this trip would not be possible and definitely not as much fun.Each time I am back in the USA I am overwhelmed by the support and love I and PRECE receive from all of you.  As I head back to Brasil tomorrow I will carry a piece of you with me.  Thank you!








Sunday, July 15, 2012

We love visitors!


On the 29th of June many PRECE EPCs and the Professional School in Pentecoste were delighted to receive two North American partners, Kitch and Laura, from the Presbytery of Eastern Iowa.  Pastor Kitch has been to Ceara many times and was welcomed back with open arms by the students and other leaders.  But, this is Laura's first time in Brasil and she was extremely impressed with everyone she met and everyone she saw!


We started the day with a quick visit to EPC Ombreira where youth leaders were teaching Portuguese to a group of young children.  The teenagers told us a bit about the projects they have going on now- a computer lab where they work with young children and the community members can access the internet, a cooperative learning program for children, 5 students studying for the ENEM (university entrance exam), a hip hop group and a chess group.  Pastor Osterne, one of the leaders from the Presbytery of Ceara closed our visit with prayer and a blessing over the youth and the work they are doing.

Next we journeyed down the road to Serrota.  The community of Serrota has begun one of the newest PRECE EPCs.  They are so new infact, that they don't even have a real building.  Right now, the over 60 participants are meeting in a small room which is to the side of one of the coordinators homes.  This doesn't stop the activity though!  In Serrota there are 9 students in the hip hop group, 10 in the theater/arts group, 18 studying for the ENEM, and 30-40 children who participate in the cooperative learning program, and more who participate in the games group.  Many of the students at the Professional School are the ones leading the study groups and teaching the younger children.  So, where do the 60+ students meet when they don't have sufficient room?  Anywhere they can- on the street, under trees, under the awning in the front of the house. Though their dream is to build a space sufficient for their programs, they have not been detered by the fact they do not have a space to call their own, but continue to grow and expand their program.  

After enjoying a fabulous lunch with the Andrade family and Pastor Rosilene in Cipo and walking around the sacred grounds at Cipo where the PRECE movement first began we spent the afternoon with the students at the Professional School in Pentecoste.  I don't know that Laura and Kitch had ever seen a group of High School students with so much energy!  The students were delighted to welcome their new friends and had plenty of questions for them!  All of the students, including students who study English in the courses offered to the community sang two songs in English for Kitch and Laura- Imagine by John Lennon and Count on Me by Bruno Mars.  These songs showed them a bit about the cooperative learning environment at the school- how we are all working together to provide a better future and how we are always available to support one another through difficulties.  Each class then presented music and a dance to Laura and Kitch.  It was a nice mix of traditional Brasilian music, some American songs that fit with our cooperative learning methodology, and of course some newer hip hop!!  The students loved every minute of it and so did Laura and Kitch!

At the end of the day, when reflecting with Kitch and Laura, I was encouraged by their words.  They, like so many Americans who visit PRECE and the Professional school are impressed with the dedication and determination of the youth. Immediately visitors are taken by the way the youth have decided not to wait around for someone else to provide for them, but rather to create their own destiny.  I was reminded of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi in which he says "Be the change you wish to see in the world."  It is rather fitting that the PRECE group at Serrota adopted this as their theme!

Thank you Kitch and Laura for visiting!