What is a DreamMaker?

MARIA do SOCORRO, President of ASVI/CDI 

“I knew I was helping them but the big surprise
 was how much they were helping me – 
 this experience changed my life”.

I am from Ceará, one of the 27 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country. My dad moved to Rio with four kids, seeking a better life. I have lived in several favelas in Rio. I will never forget when I was 5 years old; I used to cry a lot because I would hear gunshots at night. The bathroom in our house was a hole in the ground. Before moving to Rio my family lived in my great-grandmothers house. It was a big house, we lived a completely different lifestyle.

My parents always emphasized education, so when I was 15 I decided I wanted to become a psychologist. I went to university and I worked very hard. I worked during the night as a typist - from midnight to 6 AM to pay for my college and I went to school during the day. I studied clinical psychology; I was not attracted to social psychology. My plan was to open up a small consulting practice; I never thought about working in the community.

“I can count on one hand the number of kids 
that dropped out and returned to a life 
of crime and drugs.”

Then in 2001, everything changed. At first I worked with the Catholic Church, counseling people with psychological problems in the favela where I lived. Then someone approached the church about starting a project for the community; working with young kids, it was like a daycare center. The church gave them the space and they wanted someone representing the church to work in the program. I thought at first that I would be just representing the church. After I started working with the kids and their families I began to understand their needs and I became deeply involved. I became completely obsessed with the work, it was so fulfilling. I knew I was helping them but the big surprise was how much they were helping me – this experience changed my life.

I was doing everything from fixing snacks for the kids to visiting the families. Knowing you are making a difference in peoples’ lives is a wonderful feeling. Soon, I started working with young people, adolescents. They would come to the program after school and talk, talk, talk; they needed someone to listen to them. They needed to get so much off their chest and they had no one to listen to them. Soon we had over 450 young people in the program. We were teaching them job preparation skills like information technology. We counseled them on drug prevention, drug abuse, human relations and ethics. We had very strong results. I can count on one hand the number of kids that dropped out and returned to a life of crime and drugs.  The other 445 young people were working hard, going to school and getting jobs.

 In 2006 we encountered some financial problems and we had to end the program. Because I was so deeply involved, people viewed me as the manager of the program; they kept calling me asking when the program would start up again. Motivated by the youth and my own commitment, I went back to the parish and asked the priest if I could start the program up again. I volunteered to work with little or no salary. He decided to give me the space for free and I was able to start up the program again. I started soliciting for contributions and volunteers. I approached a community organization that was a women’s group that did recycling. We decided to put the two programs together and legally established ASVI.

 CDI heard about our good work – they came to visit and did a diagnostic evaluation to see if our leadership met their criteria.  In our organization we had always taught IT and citizens rights, but we had them as separate programs. With CDI we could bring these two programs together and serve people of all ages in the community. The CDI/AAVI partnership transformed our organization and the results were fabulous.

Obstacles:

“ I was recognized as one of the top 5 most prominent women leaders in the world...”

Our results were so amazing that in 2006 I was recognized as one of the top 5 most prominent women leaders in the world for promoting development in their communities. I flew to New York for the award ceremony. This was another defining moment in my life. It was an amazing experience; I was with the most amazing women. The recognition included a month long learning experience in New York that was very demanding. I had to overcome tremendous obstacles. While I was there my husband was hospitalized back in Rio, which was tremendously stressful. Also, the courses were in English and I could not speak the language. Every time I thought about quitting, the amazing women in the program with me would encourage me to stay. 

The other women honorees became very interested in our organization. They were fascinated about our approach and our results. Most of all, they were fascinated that we run our organization on a completely volunteer basis with no outside funding; all of the staff at ASVI are volunteers, including myself. They were so interested that I invited them to come to Rio and visit our Center. I did not expect them to really come – but they did. While all this was happening my husband’s condition worsened and he died a month later. I was confused and very challenged; however women around the world contacted me and gave support and encouragement – so I kept going. I love what I do and every time I think about getting a paying job, I get pulled back to this work.

Vision- My vision is to see many of the youth owning small businesses or having jobs and giving back to the community by teaching at CDI. I see them giving English classes, teaching technology, teaching entrepreneurial skills. 

Values - I value Friendship Humility, and Love - Humility but not weakness. Most of all I value love – without love nothing happens.

My Message: 

To the Cynics of the World - Why aren’t you looking at your own belly button? Stop judging others who are trying to make a difference. If you are not looking at yourself and if you are criticizing others you are spending less time becoming a better person.  

To Young People - Love yourself; if you love yourself, you will love other people and you will be loved.

My Greatest Lessons In Life:

Everyday I am learning something new; that is the greatest lesson I have learned in life.

The beautiful vignettes continue in my next blog – CDI Partners transforming their lives and uplifting their communities.

May all your beautiful hopes and dreams come true!

Michele

Transformation Catalyst

www.dreammakers.org