City of God Favela

Background

City of God favela in Rio de Janeiro has come to be defined as one of the world’s most notorious urban neighborhoods. The independent movie entitled “City of God” captured its culture of extreme violence which drew considerable attention to the favela’s needs but also created stigma and further alienation for the youth.

Project

In City of God, Developing Minds Foundation sponsors a school to teach over 500 students per year how to use technology, code, repair hardware, and edit video as a means to develop skills to integrate into the job market. By the time students emerge from the program, they have developed a sophisticated set of skills and aptitudes, enabling them to compete with piers attending schools in middle-class neighborhoods.

Throughout the process, teachers instill into the students an appreciation for principles of success, including responsibility, accountability, consistency and clear goals. Our school uses the award-winning curriculum developed and managed with Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI), and teachers are regularly trained to improve their own skills. At this point, all teachers are students who graduated from our program – yet one more way to show children in our program that hard work and dedication leads to a better life.