* Author: Renata Ferreira Chagas*
We will soon be launching the third edition of São Paulo 2.0 and, once again, I feel privileged to be involved in the project’s coordination. For those that aren’t familiar with this initiative, it is a corporate volunteering scheme in which some 20 Iberdrola employees from different countries give up three weeks of their summer holidays to teach computing to low-income youngsters in São Paulo.
As I always say, I would take part every year as a volunteer, like my colleagues from Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, even if I didn’t work in the area of communications for Iberdrola – as it happens, it’s my “obligation” to run the project in Brazil.
I would give up my holidays for three weeks in another country, working and donating my time. Nothing motivates me more than working with and for other people. If those people are disadvantaged teenagers, aged between 14 and 16, that lack many opportunities in life, then it’s all the more inspiring.
To have the chance to boost these youngsters’ knowledge and spend time with them over a two-year period is an incredible learning experience. We may believe that’s because the kids are learning, but in the end it is us, the volunteers, who learn the most: learning to look at our fellow human beings, to feel compassion, to work without receiving anything in exchange except for smiles and hugs.
Last month, I was invited to take part in the graduation ceremony held for the first group to complete the computing course which had started their studies in 2012 and were now in possession of the diploma. I heard stories about teenagers that had found their first jobs during that two-year period. I heard the mothers of the students thanking us for having given their children the opportunity to enhance their education and taken them off the streets in their free time. I saw kids that were showing an interest in geography and in learning other languages because they had spent three weeks with people from other countries that had opened up their eyes to a world they can explore.
There were some hard times as well, and we saw some of our youths drop out of the course for various reasons, to look after younger brothers and sisters because their parents had to work all day long or due to the loss of a bread-winning relative. Even so, every time I went into the classroom and saw 30 kids facing the computers, eyes fixed on the screen and fingers slowly typing out the letters one by one as they discovered a universe of possibilities, I was filled with hope for those teenagers, with the certainty that we were on the right road.
My country has numerous problems and I am aware of all our shortcomings. That is why I believe that change comes from the people and that our small contribution will go towards building a better future through education.
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I am immensely proud of my work and happy to work in a company that shares the same values I have. This project is a prime example of that. Adding a more human dimension to our relationships; showing concern about the future of our planet and its inhabitants; spreading knowledge; always being eager to learn and exchange experiences: these are all values close to my heart.
