WHO ARE WE

Our Civil Social Organization (CSO) is duly registered with the competent institutions and open to all who wish to help. Its name is "Associação Amor e Vida" (Love and Life Association), and its purpose is purely philanthropic. Its name refers to the divine beauty of children's purity. Our NGO is being built over the years, throughout which many people have been donating to the "love and life to the angels of our Eternal Father".

Located in the municipality of Cariacica - ES, Brazil, the association was born before 1995, but it was only registered on this date by volunteers conscious of the socioeconomic vulnerability of the families and their children. At the time, there were many children out of school, begging on the streets and at the doors of supermarkets, excluded and marginalized by society and public power.

Our Association is alive and dynamic in its daily life, always seeking, through its staff, to develop socio-educational actions that contribute to the quality of life of children, adolescents and their families. They are offered workshops and meals on the school counter, always focusing on assistance within the policy of the Service of Coexistence and Strengthening Family Links (SCFV), aimed at preventing situations of vulnerability and social risk, such as delinquency, drugs, violence and child work.

During these past years, the Association has never closed its doors, always worked hard and sought the best for their members. Over time, we receive visits from alumni (married adults with children, by now), who return to remember and thank us for their time at the institution. They state that they felt a lot of improvement in their lives, such as a higher self-esteem and a feeling of belonging.

Currently, our Association maintains its own headquarters, called Unit I - Casa Jesus Menino, in the neighborhood of Jardim América, and Unit II - São João Batista Environmental Center, a large farm, in the neighborhood of São João Batista.

Our Institution is managed by a group of volunteer directors and its maintenance is supported by partnerships, donations, projects and edicts. It has private, municipal, state and federal initiative, as well as food donations.

In addition to the workshops, talk shows, visits to Vale's Botanic Park, and parties, our children share their time with community volunteers and exchange students (via international exchange conventions signed between UFES/AIESEC). They are selfless young people from other countries who bring a great and loving heart. Interacting directly with the children, they teach them about different customs and languages, which, as a consequence, gives them a better education about the world.

WHAT WE WANT TO BE

Associação Amor e Vida wishes to remain respected, loved, transparent and moved by all, in support of the cause of children and adolescents, aiming for a promising future for all of them.

We aim for financial autonomy, in all areas, especially what concerns the staff, so that they are permanent and well paid. Currently, employees are temporary because they are hired project by project. Such dynamic has caused discontinuity and sometimes loss of quality of services.

In addition to daily activities like playing games, practicing sports and doing arts and crafts, we regularly plan bigger events, like:

- "Dia das crianças" (Day of the children: a full day of celebration and games).

- Excursions to farms, playgrounds, museums, theatres, etc.

- Christmas and Easter celebrations.

- Birthdays.

 - Global Village AIESEC (Volunteers from all over the world teach the community about their home countries).