Our partner association is a non-governmental organisation originated upon the initiative of a social educator who, in 1984, started to gather poor kids in the streets of Porto Alegre and taught them how to read and write. By doing this, she was not only helping the kids, but she was also aiding the community as a whole, since the parents of those kids gained time to look for jobs, pursuing to end their unemployment condition. Our partner's project was moved to a new and bigger structure in 2007. Nowadays, the project aids over 80 children from 2 until 6 years old, working as a kindergarten where needy kids from the community spend the whole day so that their parents can go to work. On Saturday, the school also promotes formation of young people, organising educational workshops of assistance and professional orientation as well as handcraft workshops for women. Today the main goal is to develop awareness about the support to the needy people as an essential component for a better society, in which people can live together within a more supportive and peaceful environment; an important objective is to develop the psychological, affective, cognitive, social and spiritual system of the children.

The children receive food, attention, love and can participate in activities appropriate for their ages, such as drawing, painting, dance, games, corporal expression, simple language classes, art project activities, trips and visits to local interesting places.
The volunteers will take care of the children during these activities but also in the daily moments (distribution of meals, teeth brushing...), will play with them (games, body expression, simple sports, music, dance…), help in the pedagogical games (story telling, drawing, plastiline...) and participate in the activities and workshops in which their presence is necessary. Working with the older children, volunteers will also work with sport, English and informatics lessons, manual work, etc. The volunteers will be able to propose their own activities too.

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.

In Porto Alegre, volunteers will have the opportunity to taste a variety of delicious dishes. Among the regional specialties not to be missed are churrasco, a barbecue of various meats, feijoada, a stew of black beans and meat, and barreado, a slowly cooked beef dish served with manioc flour and fried bananas. Volunteers can also enjoy traditional desserts such as cuca, as well as the famous local drink, chimarrão, made from yerba mate leaves.

In Porto Alegre, volunteers will have plenty of opportunities for exploration and discovery. They can visit historical sites such as Farroupilha Park and the Rio Grande do Sul Art Museum, as well as enjoy nature by strolling along the lakeside promenade of Lake Guaíba. The city also offers a vibrant cultural scene with theaters, art galleries, and musical events throughout the year. Volunteers can also indulge in local cuisine at the city's numerous restaurants and cafes.

In social projects in Brazil, most people do not know a second language - such as English - and may not be able to help the volunteers so much at their 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.

The role of the volunteers in the social project is important. The educators are expecting a volunteer who will be enthusiastic and willing to get involved. Most projects don't have a specific role to offer for the volunteer. The volunteers should strive, be creative and self-confident to develop their own activities/workshops while keeping in mind the responsibility of asking the people involved (project coordinators, staff) about the possibilities of doing such things.

ICYE Brasil is responsible for the costs of volunteer’s transportation from the living placement to the project (buses, local train, or sometimes volunteers can go by foot or by bike). Volunteers have to be prepared to catch buses alone, but they should not worry because the bus system is a quite efficient means of transport.