Helping tommorow
Mão do Bem, directly translated as “the good hand” is a community project in the favela Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our aim is to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of families and individuals who live in Rocinha through monthly food distributions and education in how to plant food at home, start a compost, recycling, how to cook with jackfruit and providing opportunities such as courses in how to start your own business. We also hold conversation circles and coffee evenings with invited guests, discussing domestic abuse, dealing with anxiety, and female leadership, among other topics.
All our members live in the Rocinha favela, Rio de Janeiro, the biggest favela in Latin America. It is estimated somewhere between 70,000 – 250,000 habitants. No one knows for sure, since new houses are constantly constructed. The favela is rigged with social challenges such as poor sanitary, police violence and drug-trafficking, but also a thriving community, a relatively safe favela, situated in Rio´s South Zone with many schools, businesses and social initiatives such as capoeira and dance classes for children.
Mão do Bem is a non-profit organization that relies on private donations from around the world, and partners in Rio de Janeiro to provide the food and education for the group.
Mão do Bem was founded at the start of 2020 as a response to the difficulties faced by the community during the pandemic. Many people in Rocinha lost their jobs, and for a community where most people live from paycheck to paycheck, the difficulties they faced were severe. Mão do Bem sprung from the desire to beat the hunger, and encourage people to grow their own food, create a support system and give people an opportunity to access better quality food and education in the favela, in the hope to see the favela thriving to the point of Mão do Bem not being needed. We have given classes and workshops in a number of areas, and hope that it will spring seeds of inspiration in our members, which may lead to a growing interest in the areas. We have provided workshops on how to grow vegetables at home, make a compost of recycled materials, cook with jackfruit and we provide mentorship in how to start your own business in the area of gastronomy.
During the pandemic the basic food baskets (´cesta basicas´) contained a big plastic bag with a mix of basic kitchen items such as rice, beans, pasta, sugar and coffee, nothing fresh and nothing green, only the basic staple groceries. However, after the initial year of distribution we felt the lack of vitamins and nutrition in the food provided, something which is vital in order to stay well during the pandemic. Hence, we changed and improved our contribution by sourcing organic vegetable baskets from local farmers around Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais that were given to the families in Mão do Bem. Supporting local farmers and improving the health in the favela. We introduced the new vegetable and fruit baskets together with a class with a nutrient, followed by a cooking class by two French chefs who provided ideas for how to use the organic food baskets.
During the first year of pandemic and the lockdown in Rio, the founders of Mão do Bem, together with the NGOs Acorda Capoeira and Tropa Solidaria distributed 1500 food baskets in the favelas Rocinha, Belford Roxo, Pinga D´agua, Centro and Lapa, and 300 meals for homeless cooked and delivered in Lapa, centro of Rio de Janeiro.
CONTACT US:
+55 21 965616157
