Character Education Programs in Indigenous Villages #Brazil

In November, IAYSP Brazil met with different Indigenous groups to talk about starting Character Education programs. The process involved several steps:

Meeting with the leaders of the Cabeceira Indigenous Village in Nioaque:

To talk with leaders and propose the character education project, YSP members visited the village of the Head of Indigenes where they could meet the chief and his son; who is responsible for the activities of the local youth. The head-chief had a positive attitude towards the idea of YSP conferences and approved the start of the project. The young people will be implementing mobilization work, especially the chief’s son, with the goal of starting activities on Saturday, November 26.

Meeting with leaders of the Brejão Indigenous Village in Nioaque:

To approach leaders and propose the character education project, YSP visited the Brejão village and met the Director of the elementary school, teachers, the chief’s son, and a social worker. After presenting the character education project, the villagers shared their community problems and were also very positive in initiating the project. An agreement was establish to hold the project after the following week but without a defined date and time.

Lecture on moral and family values ​​at Escola Municipal Indígena Prof. Eugenio de Souza:

The director of one of the schools in the Brejão village invited YSP to talk about the family on the family day at school at the Indigenous Municipal School, Prof. Eugenio de Souza. As the community is Christian and religious, there was an opportunity to talk about the four realms of the heart and the principles of character education.
They were also able to invite the youth and parents to participate and support the YSP character education project. Thus, YSP collected a list of one hundred signatures from interested parents and young people.

First meeting of the character education project with young people from the Cabeceira Indigenous Village:

The first meeting for the character education project took place in the village of Cabeceira on Saturday 27, where YSP held the first lectures. The chief’s son was also in attendance, with a young woman responsible for the village’s indigenous causes and a representative of the three local ethnic groups.
The lecture and dynamics focused around the theme of what it is to be good, using the example of filial love. Participants approved of the content and made good reflections on their local reality, and were determined to bring more young people from the community to the next meeting.