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Bahia Street

Founded	1997 by Rita Conceição and Margaret Willson
Type	Non-profit NGO
Location	Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, Seattle, WA and London, U.K.
Fields	Education, research
Members	2.2 million members and supporters
Website	www.bahiastreet.org.br

Bahia Street is a non-profit organization based in Salvador da Bahia (Brazil), Seattle (USA), and London (United Kingdom) that addresses poverty and violence through girls education. Bahia Street works to promote equality in Brazil through programs at the Bahia Street Center, and beyond Brazil through education and outreach for university students and community members.

Activities

In Brazil, the Bahia Street Center educates 60 young women and girls (aged 6 -14) from impoverished neighborhoods in Salvador. Located in Salvador’s city center and led by educators and staff who themselves come from economically impoverished backgrounds, Bahia Street provides education in all basic subjects, character building, and leadership training. Girls also participate in extra-curricular activities that range from capoeira to dramatic arts. Bahia Street provides transportation to and from school, school uniforms, school supplies, two meals a day, and health care on a consistent basis. In addition, Bahia Street mentors a number of former students now at the high school and university level. Center activities further extend to the local community; parents, caregivers, and other partner organizations receive educational and resource support.

Beyond Brazil, Bahia Street has a stated goal of "promoting greater understanding of race, class, poverty, gender, and collaborative social change." Its programs include education and volunteer initiatives that give participants the opportunity to learn about Brazil and themes related to Bahia Street's work, gain cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary skills, and engage in actions that lead to social change. Bahia Street has partnered with a number of higher education institutions, including the University of Washington and Chatham College in Pennsylvania.

Cycle of Poverty

Bahia Street participants live in impoverished communities around Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. They face a generational cycle of poverty that limits their ability to achieve a life defined by social and economic security. Bahia Street directly addresses four of the six reinforcing elements of the poverty cycle: hunger, health, education, and positive social connection. Indirectly, it supports two remaining elements, employment and shelter, through parent outreach and community programming.

History

Bahia Street was founded in 1996 by Rita Conceição, an African-Brazilian anthropologist and Dr. Margaret Willson, an American anthropologist. The residents of the shantytowns told Rita and Margaret that the only way to escape the cycle of poverty and inequality in which they live would be an opportunity for quality education that would allow young people to enter university and professional employment. All residents agreed that women are the most disadvantaged, and that women would be more likely to benefit others by using their education to work for social justice in their communities.

Timeline

1996: Margaret and Rita decide to address poverty and violence in Salvador, Brazil, through girls education.

1997: Bahia Street is founded as a non-profit in the United States.

1998: Bahia Street begins to pay for its first student to attend private school. By the end of the year, five more girls have joined, and the tutoring program has begun. The money used to support these girls is almost entirely from personal donations. Bahia Street is registered as the Bahia Street Trust in Britain.

1999: Bahia Street begins the process to be recognized as a non-profit within Brazil.

2000: Eight girls are now enrolled at Bahia Street. Bahia Street receives its first major grant from the Global Fund for Women.

2001: Bahia Street enrolls twenty girls. Parents of Bahia girls become more involved in Bahia Street through preparing food and volunteering at the Center. Five new tutors are hired, and Bahia Street receives two new grants from the Seattle Committee for Children and the Fred Foundation.

2002: Bahia Street enrolls thirty girls. An art therapy program is developed, and the girls begin a video project to document their own lives in Salvador. Bahia Street launches its study trip program bringing Americans to Salvador to learn about race, poverty, and international development.

2003: Twelve new girls are added, and Bahia Street purchases a new building. Out of a pool of applicants that included 1,834 with social projects in Brazil alone, UNESCO selected Bahia Street as one of the top 30 social action groups in Brazil.

2004: Reconstruction of the building starts and is executed entirely by local workers. Bahia Street expands its mission to include educational program for non-Brazilians to learn more about race, poverty, and international development.

2005: Bahia Street’s first student takes the Brazilian university exam and passes on her first try. She also wins one of the five scholarships that the university offers. Bahia Street moves into the new building, which finally provides enough space for all of the Center’s programs. Bahia Street runs its largest study trip in November.

2006: Bahia Street celebrates its 10th anniversary with a visit from Rita. A second girls passes her university exam on the first try with marks high enough to allow her entrance to a federal university. A total of fifty girls attend Bahia Street.

2007: Bahia Street receives the Brazilian Press Award for Outstanding Achievement in Philanthropy, and Margaret wins the Thomas C. Wales Award for Passionate Citizenship. Bahia Street starts to provide two meals per day to address growing hunger problems.

2008: Margaret wins the Jefferson Award for Public Service. Rita wins the World of Children Humanitarian Award, its highest award.

2009: Twelve girls have entered university and one has graduated. Rita wins the Ivy Inter-American Humanitarian Award.

Development Model

Bahia Street’s model for social change keeps decision-making power in the hands of the people being served by the project. Bahia Street was founded on the principle that organizations must model within their own infrastructure the change that they seek in the world. Bahia Street strives to work for equality through an organizational infrastructure that leads to equality between the project in Brazil and partners in US and UK. Bahia Street is a registered non-profit in Brazil, the U.S., and the U.K., each with a separate board of directors. The majority of funding for the program comes from countries outside of Brazil.

Bahia Street's focus on equality and social change reflects significant research that ties inequality to the quality of life experienced by everyone within that society. Residents of Salvador, Brazil, face inequality of opportunity and resources, which results in crime, violence, and a cycle of poverty that continues from generation to generation.[1]

Awards

Both co-founders have received awards for their work: Rita won the World of Children Humanitarian Award in 2008 and the Ivy Inter-American Award in 2009; Margaret won the Thomas C. Wales Award in 2007 and the Jefferson Award in 2008.

Further reading

Willson, Margaret. Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond (published in 2007 by Cold Tree Press)

External links

• Bahia Street website