The Center for Digital Inclusion - Personal Stories of Transformation

I introduced you to The Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) in my March 31 blog, The Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) is a phenomenal story about the impact a small group of people is having on thousands of people living in abject poverty in the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro and in 13 countries around the world. They teach people technology skills, social action, civic education, community building and entrepreneurial skills. Based on the principles of self-sustainability and self-management, people become change-makers transforming their lives and uplifting their communities. These stories were published in my book DreamMakers: Agents of Transformation, in Brazil in June 2010 (Qualitymark Publishing).

These stories you are about to read are very personal compelling testimonials of the people at CDI and the people whose lives have been transformed through their partnership with CDI. These DreamMakers found the courage to overcome unimaginable obstacles to transform their lives. The challenges these brave people faced, most of us only see in movies and read in novels, yet they show us that in reality, any obstacle can be overcome and we have the capacity to make our hopes and dreams come true.

I have tremendous respect and admiration for all the people in these stories. These courageous people unzipped their lives and let us into their hearts and minds. They tell their stories in their own words. They share their fears, struggles and mistakes as well as their triumphs. Their compelling stories are the most powerful examples of DreamMakers I have ever witnessed.  They are achieving phenomenal results not by relying on government intervention or charity work; instead they are teaching people to become self-reliant, self-managed and self-sustainable. The people at CDI are beautiful DreamMakers. They are putting their vision and values to work to help affect profound change in the lives of thousands of the most marginalized and underserved people in our society.


I interviewed each of them and asked them the following seven questions:
1.   What are the defining moments in your life that lead you where you are today?
2.   What is your vision for your future?
3.   What are your core values - what matters to you most in life?
4.   What obstacles have you encountered; how did you overcome them?
5.   Did you have any mentors or “helping hands” along the way?
6.   What message do you have for: the cynics, the hopeless, the young people?
7.  What is your vision for the world?

The first story I will share with you is Rodrigo Baggio, Founder and Executive Director The story is told in his own words.


        “We don’t have to wait for God or government;
               when we commit ourselves to improve our reality
                 God clears the path”  
                                                Rodrigo Baggio

DEFINING MOMENTS:  In Pursuit of Self

      “I thought I was slow”

When I started to learn how to read and write, my parents and teachers began to worry because I was not learning at the pace of my classmates. They sent me to see psychologist and counselors because they thought I was a slow learner. I began to internalize what they were saying, so eventually I believed I was slow. They finally sent me to a specialist.  This very special teacher taught me to read and write in a different way. She discovered that I loved cartoons and she let me learn by reading comic books. She discovered that I was dyslexic - a reading disability resulting from the inability to process graphic symbols. The comic books helped me because I am a visual learner. Comic books combine the words in a bubble with images. Finally, I began to learn to read and write. That experience helped me to learn about learning. I apply that lesson everyday as we build our organization and teach change-makers. Our students learn through an experiential approach – they don’t just study words.

My teacher also discovered I had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). This gives me enormous energy. I can’t just concentrate on one thing. In school, I could not sit at my desk for very long; I could not listened to the teacher for very long; I had to do many things at one time. I was completely confused and a very different kid because of my ADD and Dyslexia. I had a lot of behavioral problems and was sent to the psychologist many times.  So I had to learn to focus my energy, but I needed to focus on things that mattered to me. So I joined the student theater; I got involved in student movements, I became very active in school. By the time I was At 17 years old, I was overloaded and I ended up in the hospital due to stress. I learned that I had to focus and mange my energy.

When I was 12 my father gave me my first computer, it was the first personal computer in Brazil – the TK82. It did not have an operating system so you had to program it in Basic every time you used the computer.  I taught myself how to use it by reading the manual and experimenting with programming. I began to teach my friends how to use the computer, and then my teachers. Soon I was developing programs and games. At a very young age, I became an entrepreneur and began charging for my work. That was an amazing experience for me. At the age of 12, I discovered my first passion - technology.

That same year I discovered my second passion. Every time I watched the news on TV, I was disturbed by the poverty and violence I saw. I remember thinking to myself “I want to do something to help”. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I wanted to do something. Then one day a man came to our school and gave a speech to all the students at an assembly. He had started the first social project for street kids in Rio. It was a project run by the Brazilian Army and the Catholic Church. After the speech I went up to him and told him that I wanted to become a volunteer in his project. He was surprised and not very interested in my offer to help. He said, “What can you do, you are just a kid”. 

But I was determined to do something. So I found the address of the Catholic Church that was part of the project and I went to the cathedral. I asked the first person I saw if I could volunteer for the street kids project. I got the same response the man at our school gave me: “You should be spending your time with your friends, playing soccer or watching TV”. As she walked away I started looking around and I saw a priest. I was not Catholic, I was raised Methodist but I knew he was a priest by his clothing, so I approached him. I told him that I wanted to volunteer my time to help the street kids. He was moved by my request and took me to meet the group of people working in that project; they accepted me and I became the sports coordinator at 12 years old.

In this work I discovered that the street kids fought a lot when they played sports. When they got angry they would quickly resort to violence. They would fight or go after each other with knives or broken bottles. This was very different from my world. In my community kids called each other names when the games got heated, but we rarely resorted to violence. I remember the day a gang invaded the Cathedral where we were meeting. They attacked the church with stones and broke out the church windows. We ducked under the pews on the floors. I vividly remember feeling my face on the floor and pieces of glass peppering my body, and wondering to myself “Will they stop or will they advance”, fortunately they stopped. In that moment I decided I needed to teach them a more peaceful way.

There was one very special day when my decision was put to the test.  Two gangs started fighting; there were about 15 kids on each side. I knew in my heart that they really did not want to fight but they did not know another way to resolve conflict. I was the sports coordinator but I was 12 years old, the same age as them and even though they were street kids and I was from a different reality, they trusted me. I decided to step in. In that moment the leader of one of the gangs put a knife at my ribs. He pressed the knife so hard he punctured my skin and I saw blood started trickling down my side.  But an amazing thing happened to me; I felt an enormous amount of energy. Although he threatened to kill me, I was not afraid; all I felt in that moment was love. I told him “You can kill me, however while I live you cannot reduce the love I feel for you or the desire I have to work with you”.  The force of my energy (and I believe my love) impacted him; he looked at the other boys, they looked at each other – and they left. This was an amazing experience for me; I had made a difference and I was only 12 years old. This was defining moment in my life. I found my second passion – social action.

“So at 12 years old I found my two passions in life – Technology and Social Action”

The director of that social project was so impressed with my ability to relate to the street kids that he introduced me to the Chief of Police of Rio de Janeiro. The police chief had seen me in downtown Rio walking with the street kids, interacting with them in the streets where they hung out. He wanted to know how I gained their respect and why they accepted me into their world. This was a very dangerous area where homeless kids used drugs, had sex and slept. Even though I was very different than them, the kids respected and accepted me. Most important they were willing to learn from me. I realized at 12 years old, I had found my two passions in life - Technology and Social Action”

As a teenager I was two Rodrigo’s: one was passionately engaged in social action, social movements and the other was deeply involved in technology. Those were my two loves and yet, they were worlds apart from each other. In one world I was an entrepreneur teaching computers to students and teachers in my community. In my other world I was working to help the street kids in a vastly different community.

When I went to college. I decided to study social science. I had already mastered the technology of that time; I had even launched programs into the market like graph computers and animation.  So I decided to study social work, social anthropology and social movements to lean more about my second passion. At this time in my life I decided to leave my church. I had become disillusioned because I felt my church was only concerned with theology and was not working to make things better in communities. It had become more concerned with charisma rather than helping people. So while in college I also decided to study different religions and I learned about this community of indigenous people that lived in the village of Céu do Mapiá located in the headwaters of Igarapé Mapiá, in the Amazon.  Today this village is located in the National Reserve of Inauini-Pauini, one of the most preserved areas in the Amazon. I became so fascinated with this community that at 17, I decided to go visit them. My parents did not agree with my decision so I had to go on my own. This was a fascinating trip. I traveled 11 days by bus across Brazil – from Rio de Janeiro to, Boca do Acre in the state of Amazonas.  On that trip I truly discovered Brazil. I sat next to so many different people from different states in Brazil and I saw so many wonderful things.   

“I asked God a question; Who will I be in the future?” 

When I finally arrived at the indigenous community I was so fascinated with the people that I decided to stay and live with them for a month. I learned how they lived in sync with the Rain Forest. This was before the environmental movement to protect the Rain Forest had started. I was amazed how they lived in harmony with nature. It was a beautiful experience, I felt like I was one of them. I even joined them in their spiritual rituals.  During one of the rituals I had a transcendental experience. In that moment I felt that my body, soul and spirit was in direct contact with God. I experienced Nirvana; pure peace and fulfillment. In that state of being, I asked God a question;  “Who will I become in the future?”  Two concepts were shown to me - Technology and Citizen’s Rights. This was the early vision of what I was to do with my life. At the time I did not understand it, however I have held those two concepts in my mind from that day on.  

To be continued

May all your beautiful hopes and dreams come true!

Michele

www.dreammakers.org