Aulas de Ingles

As I am participating in an SIT program in Brasil, I have not officially started my service yet. However, I have had the opportunity to spend a week at my community partner for a field research project, so I have had the chance to observe and interview participants about many of the programs. Banco Palmas is located in the periphery of Fortaleza, in what would certainly be called a low income community. The Banco Palmas building, although one-story, towers over all of the other small brick houses in the community, and is a bustling center of activity every day. One of the most innovative aspect of the organization is their commitment to involving youth in their programs. They provide many skill training programs for youth in the community, as well as jobs within their own entrepreneurial businesses and a permanent staff that is almost entirely under thirty. Although there are boundaries within the community as I am not fluent in Portuguese and have never lived there before, the fact that so many young people are involved in the organization makes it easy for me to relate to them and participate and learn from many of their activities.

The prevalence of young people working at Banco Palmas has also led me to my service placement, which will be, perhaps among other things, teaching English to the employees and volunteers within the organization. I am already anticipating large challenges to this as my Portuguese is intermediate at best and I have never taught teenagers/20 year olds English before. Just in the few classes that I taught during that week, I was aware of the language barrier and the potential problems that it will cause during my research project. However, in just three days I have found out how much people can learn and how willing they are to practice their new English, which is almost instant gratification for a teacher.

My advisor for my research project is Joaquim De Melo, the founder of Banco Palmas who, although the idea has spread around the world, remains in the same community to improve the programs and improve on his model. Joaquim was a Franciscan Monk who came to Bairro Conjunto Palmeiras when it was a very violent neighborhood. He saw the need to increase the capital in the community while also creating solidarity amongst the inhabitants, and thus quit his life in the church to pursue Banco Palmas. After he created Banco Palmas and the social currency Palmas, the Bairro has become much safer, and has more wealth as well. Joaquim is now internationally known as an Ashoka fellow, and is an inspirational person to work with. One of the only men on staff at the organization, Joaquim is one of the best managers that I have seen and someone who knows how to follow a good idea when he sees it. While he does not speak English, I have already learned volumes about what it means to be socially responsible in business and community actions. Because he always considers the social and human implications of his work, he is a model for how I should approach my service—with the value added for the community I am trying to serve.

Working with Banco Palmas so far has given me an opportunity to see how it is possible to create socially responsible businesses while also creating human and social capital. My role in serving their project is to make it easier for them to communicate with others on an International scale, as many organizations are looking to them as models for economic solidarity in Africa and the rest of the world. While I was always interested in business and development work, my service experience with Banco Palmas has allowed me to see how business and the capitalist system can function successfully without exploiting individuals or communities. Banco Palmas practices ‘Capitalism with a conscience’ in order to create a sustainable system that can benefit as many people as possible. It has given me a new perspective on what development, both economically and human, can mean in the real world.

-Caroline Whistler, October 2006