27 May 2002 Representatives from the Jewish community of Brazil and from ORT International Cooperation (IC), inaugurated the Porto Alegre Mother and Child Care Centre on 13 May. The ceremony was joined by the Israeli Ambassador to Brazil Daniel Gazit, Mayor of Porto Alegre Mr Werle, Chairman of the Brazilian ORT Association Mr Renato Goldstein and Municipal Secretary of Education Mr. Eliezer Pacheco, and the ORT IC representative in Porto Alegre, Mr Jacob Amselem. The Mother and Child Care project has been operating in Porto Alegre since October 1998 helping those living in the poorest areas of the city. It is ORT’s policy to involve its beneficiaries from the planning of the project through project implementation and evaluation. During the period of a project’s preparation and construction, ORT trains local people who are then ready to take over when ORT withdraws, thus ensuring the project’s sustainability. The Municipality of Porto Alegre will now be responsible for the continuation and the administration of the project activities with the permanent technical and vocational support that has been provided by ORT. More than 30% of the families living in Porto Alegre earn less than the national minimum wage and around 120,000 children and adolescents live in poverty. Situated in the developing region of Cavalhada, Porto Alegre is notorious for its criminal gangs involved in drugs and causing violence. ORT has help to set up an infrastructure for a community centre, which houses a pre-school for children up to the age of 6, and classrooms for adult vocational training classes. The Mother and Child Care programme provides adults, especially mothers, with health and nutrition education, improving existing health care and helping to alleviate malnutrition among young children. In addition, vocational training courses for adults at the centre focus on training unemployed people from the community in skills such as gardening and building construction. “The Porto Alegre Town Council commits itself to ensuring the continuation of this project now that ORT has completed the groundwork,” said Jacob Amselem, the ORT International Cooperation representative in Porto Alegre. “The Jewish community of Brazil is very proud of this very important and valued project that ORT has initiated.” For printable versions of these photos please send your request to [email protected]