São Paulo, Brazil. A Brazilian initiative that gives children and young people a perspective.
Pequenas Estrelas Na Terra (Little Stars on Earth) is a social work project for traumatized children from the southern outskirts of São Paulo. We look after children and young people aged between six months and 18 years. Our guiding star is to give the children a foothold in childhood, which is still so tender and vulnerable, by ensuring healthy nutrition, providing educational activities, daily rhythm, and love and affection in order to be a secure foundation in their lives. We then accompany them through the waves of adolescence, showing them that it is worth learning and respecting rules and boundaries in order to find love, friendship and their place in the group, school, family, society and the world. We show them that it is worth dreaming and trusting in their own strengths, believing in meaning and that they deserve everything good, all their strength and abilities in order to be part of a better world.
Our work is based on Waldorf education and the anthroposophical view of people and the world. We offer wholesome meals and activities in line with their age and current stage of development and ensure that every activity makes sense. We see art as the most personal expression of every being. We make as much art as possible, for example, in our Starbridge Circus. For us, it is a way of connecting with the great spirit that is the meaning behind everything.
We currently look after 170 children and young people. A major challenge in our work is the battle with “invisible enemies”. Whereas in the past it was a lack of nurturing for social interaction, violent communication and physical aggression, today we are confronted with a coldness of feeling—a lack of interest, a sense of truth and the will to live. The original fights on the way to school have been replaced by cyberbullying, social exclusion, and punishment on social media.
We as a team realized that no one does work like ours alone: it took everyone who came before in order for us to be born, so that we could be there with these children, in this world with all its challenges, and with all the gifts and skills that each of us has brought to this life.
More Starbridge Circus
Translation Charles Cross
Image Circus Ponte das Estrelas, Photo: Celia Cristina Santana
