The average child living in a favela in Brazil has one opportunity for education – a under-resourced, under-staffed public school which has lessons for 4 hours a day if the teachers turn up to work or are not on strike.

Even if they go to school they will most likely drop out before 4th grade why?

Constant sickness – that leaves children up to a year behind in IQ development

No learning support – no assessment or special needs education

No parental encouragement to study – illiteracy at home, pessimism about education

Pressure to earn income – the daily reality of poverty, hunger and desperation

This is reality for over 100 million children in Brazil right now

By the time children are 11 or 12, they spend more time on the streets than anywhere else.

The realization of a bleak future can trigger a cascade of emotions and behavior, especially when combined with unstable family environments full of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment, irresponsible behavior and rejection.

After years working with street children, The University of Life was created as a preventative program to fill in the gaps left by the public school system.

The program specifically removes the barriers preventing the educational development of children in the favelas, and promotes the role of parents, family life and the physical improvement of conditions in the community.

The University of Life is a four acre educational facility, teaching 350 children per day. If a child goes to public school in the morning, they go to UoL in the afternoon and vise-versa. 

With extra school time, love and encouragement, appropriate teaching support, hot food, clean water and a safe environment, learning becomes possible and children progress academically. Most importantly they can begin to dream, develop in character and find some purpose in life.