Description

For 17 year-old Debora Ferreira, life has been a challenging journey. Born and raised in a poor community, Debora has lived in a disrupted household and has dealt with the painful loss of her brother at a young age. Through hardships, she has not given up hope that life for her family, community and herself can be better.

Santo Aleixo, where Deborah lives, is a poor, suburban area of Jaboatão dos Guararapes in Pernambuco, Brazil. This region, known for its crystalline waters and sandy beaches, once served as the stage of one of the goriest battles in Brazilian history, fought between European nations over settlement and power. Nowadays, a different type of battle seems to go on everyday as injustice and inequality plague the land. While richer neighborhoods on the ocean side receive public investment, the other side struggles with abandonment and lack of basic services such as trash collection and sewage systems.

Debora’s life unfolded in this problematic environment, but instead of conforming to reality, she decided to take action. At first, she did not know how she could effectively do something to bring better life conditions to her community, but when she met other young people involved with social action, she realized her potential.

In Brazil, the Citizen Voice and Action approach has been contextualized into a program called Monitoramento Jovem de Politicas Publicas (MJPOP, or Youth Monitoring of Public Policies). World Vision Brazil has worked to mobilize young people to transform the relationship between communities and their local government in order to bring about improvement in life conditions as authorities are held accountable for their public commitments.

“MJPOP has already brought better engagement among young people and community members, as well as knowledge about our neighborhood’s needs and our rights,” said Debora.
Debora also shared about how the program has impacted her personally.

“MJPOP has made a big difference in my life! Today, I feel more responsible, concerned with the execution of public policies here in Santo Aleixo. Now, beyond my personal dreams, I have a dream of seeing my community advance and that I can see this advancement in a few years. After I learned about this methodology, I believe that betterment in quality of life is possible, and that I must at least attempt to change the reality of my community,” said Debora.

Debora’s story is not over. Along with other young people in her community, she has been utilizing the tools from MJPOP to transform their circumstances. As young people from Santo Aleixo engage with community leaders, organizations, churches, and other social workers, citizenship is being put in action, and change thus has become attainable.