Criança Feliz is a Non-Governmental Organization is a social philanthropic project born in 1999 in a very poor area of Canoas city, from the efforts of a catholic group of friends. They tried to avoid a big social problem that was the constant presence of children playing in dangerous places, such us on the street and closed to the tracks of the train. As the general cause was the lack of structures and places in which the children could play and the lack of opportunities for them, the project was born with the idea of giving a safe place in which they could pass the day by playing, doing interesting activities, socializing and developing their selves. The children are between 6 to 15 years old.

The volunteers will be asked to promoted workshops in one of the areas:
Games and recreational activities, Pedagogical area, Artistic area (also music like percussion could be interesting for the children). They also will have to: deal with the preparation of the material and the spaces for the lesson or workshops; provide support to the children in their activities; participate in the meeting with the children and the staff; occasionally the volunteer will have to participate and help in some trip or excursions, visit some families, help to organise some parties (for Christmas, Birthdays,…).Beyond the personal workshops, the volunteer will help the educators during the normal recreational and leisure activities organised in the project, such as storytelling, games, visit outside the community, informatics lessons, help during the meals and if necessary, in the kitchen.

Long Term Volunteers normally will be working about 35 hours weekly, every day from Monday to Friday, with a free morning or afternoon. 

The projects provide the volunteer lunch at midday and snacks during the morning and the afternoon, depending on how long the volunteer will be staying at the
project.

Attention : les projets STEPS ICYE ne sont pas des chantiers de groupes. Le placement est individuel (ou à 2 ou 3 volontaires maxi).

Observations:
Small and very poor project with few resources; the volunteer will have few materials available to work with, but he/she will have independence and space to
propose some activities.

In social projects in Brazil, most people do not know a second language - such as English - and may not be able to help you so much at your arrival in
the project… For this reason, a basic Portuguese knowledge (or Spanish) is required in order to get an ongoing communication: the more Portuguese you know, the easier work activities get and the more opportunities appear for you.
ICYE Brasil is responsible for the costs of volunteer’s transportation from the living placement to the project (buses, local train, or sometimes you can
go walking or by bike). You have to be prepared to catch buses alone, but do not worry because the bus system is a quite efficient means of transport.