Training Center 3 of the MNMMR
By the end of the 1980s, the National Movement of Street Boys and Girls had learned that street educators and shelter workers desperately needed better training and education. The three Training Centers (one in Belém, one in São Paulo, and Center 3 in Recife, described in this essay) are the result of the decision to concentrate on training qualified street child service providers.
The Pernambuco State Chapter of the MNMMR is Brasil’s strongest, and one can see their strength in the Training center. The Center works with street educators in all of the states of Brasil’s poor North-East, but it also trains city workers, judges, lawyers, and members of the Tutelary Councils. Shine a light gave a course for many of the educators trained by the Center, and can testify that they are amazingly well prepared -- perhaps better so than in any other part of Latin America.
Training occurs in courses all around the states of the North-East; most classes happen every weekend for a year.
Training street educators is not an easy task. Many have lived on the street and never had good schooling, so the first step is teaching critical reasoning, literacy, and study skills. Afterward, the educators analyze their own work and how they can improve it.
Beyond this general course, the Training Center also offers brief classes on specific subjects like AIDS, child labor, prostitution, etc.
The MNMMR has always been an urban movement, but the Training Center has recently begun classes for rural youth workers as a way to improve life in the countryside and to decrease migration to urban centers.
Polo III de Capacitação, MNMMR
Rua da Aurora 127, Edificio Santa Alice, Apto 402
Boa Vista, Recife, PE
Brasil
81 3221 5691
fax 3423 5397
cfpolo3@elogica.com.br
www.mnmmr.org.br
