Batucada Yemanjá has had the priviledge of participating in World Vision [Visão Mundial] development programs in Brazil and Africa for nearly 20 years. In that effort, Batucada Yemanjá presently sponsors two wonderful children; Wendel in Brazil and Moyo in Zimbabwe. Wendel comes from a favela called Jardim Uchôa in the north of Brazil [Recife, Pernambuco] and he is 11 years old. Moyo lives about 45 miles south of Bulawayo in Insiza, an area of Zimbabwe struck paricularly hard by food shortages and the AIDS epidemic. He is 5 years old. Moyo and Wendel receive daily food, schooling and health care. These benefits are also extended to Moyo and Wendel's siblings. Even if in a small way, Batucada Yemanjá is thrilled to be able to help these deserving families.

Moyo, Wendel and the samba were born in poverty, poverty that is difficult to fathom in the developed world. For example, 7.5 million Brazilian children, under the age of 10, work 12 hour days for less than a dollar a day. Others, less fortunate, work as "semi-slaves" for no pay at all, supplying the world with a cheap source of orange juice, white sugar, charcoal and shoes.

In the Brazilian tradition, batucadas and afoxês often collect money and other resources for the less fortunate. Please, join us in this tradition. The music of Brazil and Zimbabwe have enriched our lives here in Seattle in so many ways. However, no music is sweeter than the love and health of a child. Thank you so much for bettering the lives of these two very important children.

The Jardim Uchôa Project - Brazil

Wendel Lives in the favela called Jardim Uchôa in Pernambuco, Brazil. World Vision began the Jardim Uchôa project in 1983.

Current project goals include:

* Conducting tutoring classes to help 100 children reach their academic potential.

* Training school teachers to help them develop their teaching skills and encourage academic succuss among their students.

* Furnishing books for a community library that will be enjoyed by children and adults.

* Ensuring that quality health care is available to 1,000 boys and girls.

* Providing 1,000 children with daily nutritious meals so they can grow strong and healthy.

* Organizing much-needed dental exams for 250 sponsored children.

* Teaching older children vocational skills to help them earn an income later in life.

* Offering leadership training workshops to strengthen local churches and their outreach ministries.

please see: http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/projects.nsf/ProjectsID/052317?OpenDocument

The Insiza Project – Zimbabwe

Moyo lives in the village of Insiza in Zimbabwe, 45 miles south of Bulawayo. World Vision began the Insiza project in 1996.

Current project goals include:

* Providing farmers with irrigation materials and training to help them increase harvests and better provide for their families.

* Building eight new classrooms and improving the science curriculum to give students a more beneficial educational experience.

* Constructing community toilets and wells to help prevent waterborne diseases and provide families with clean drinking water.

* Ensuring that sponsored children receive regular health and dental checkups.

* Assisting 438 children who are unable to pay their school fees by giving them goats to raise and then sell as a source of reliable income.

* Training small-scale gold miners in project management and first aid, loaning them equipment, and offering loans as an incentive to establish operations and generate additional income for their families.

* Offering leadership training workshops to strengthen local churches and their outreach ministries.

please see: http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/projects.nsf/ProjectsID/170617?OpenDocument