Associação Aquarela is a philanthropic nonprofit organization founded in 1996. It's a before and after school program for children ages 5 to 12. Its purpose is to provide non-formal educational services in a systemized and continual way.
It is situated in a community called Vila Nova Jaguaré in the west of São Paulo city. Its mission is to contribute to the development of children and teenagers as people who practice their citizenship in a whole and reflexive way, conscious of their rights and duties.
Associação Aquarela’s socio-educational proposal is based on Brazil’s National Social Work Policy (“Política Nacional de Assistência Social” – PNAS), a policy focused on offering opportunities for social interaction and public life participation. It promotes personal, social, intellectual, and productive potentials according to each person’s profile.
PROJECTS
- Coloring the Neighborhood: Urban intervention project focused on the area surrounding the nonprofit. It does socio-educational, artistic, and cultural actions activities in public places. The project’s goal is to inspire a spirit of citizenship and neighborhood belonging in children, families, and people in the community. It encourages group work on behalf of the community and its well-being.
- Socio-educational: Socio-educational activities are a permanent learning process. They are based on life experiences and what is meaningful to the child. Through continuous comparison, approximation, and research, these learning opportunities contribute to the development of autonomy, self-confidence, citizenship formation, work capacity, and community organization. These activities reinforce content learned in school, even though the nonprofit is not an institution of formal learning. This content includes mathematical knowledge as it relates to mathematical logic and verbal language (reading and writing coherently), along with other areas of knowledge.
- Artistic:
○ Visual:The visual arts project proposal’s goal is to support individual development through the activities and experiences of children in their different social groups.
○Performing: The goal is to promote, through esthetic experiences, depth regarding theatrical language, creating space for investigation and acting on stage, in traditional and contemporary ways.
○Introduction to Music:This project came through a partnership with Projeto Palco (“Stage Project”) in 2017. Today, it is one of the types of activities the nonprofit offers. Through sounds, instruments, singing, and rhythm, psychomotor skills, critical listening, and respect are developed.