Mão do bem – Reflections by Sofia Sunden

Can you imagine that this year is already coming to an end!? Looking back over this year I feel in awe of all that we have accomplished with Mão do Bem! We have had so many incredible guests and events! It feels unreal that we managed to pull all of that off in one short year!
We started the year by introducing regular coffee evenings and conversation circles with inspirational speakers, and our first guest was the founder of La Carioca, Flavio Datz. He started the first cevicheria in Rio, which has now grown to three restaurants. Flavio liked us so much that he offered his precious time for a course and mentorship in how to start and run a business in the area of gastronomy. This ran for three months and twelve people were allowed into the small, intimate mentor group. We were so proud to be able to offer that fantastic opportunity! By the end of the day, my dream and aim is that all the seeds we plant in the group through our events, will spark an interest and sprout into something bigger. What that something bigger is will be different for everyone in the group. This mentorship was the seedling for some of our members to get guidance on how to start their own business. The classes in planting vegetables at home have led to that a number of our members have started their own vegetable garden, and me and a few others have started to cook with jackfruit after the course we provided. I adore the whole process of going into the forest, fetching my own healthy fruit, cooking up a feast with it, and I know that a few of the other ladies do the same ever since we had the amazing course with the people from Sinal Do Vale, a beautiful organic farm outside of Rio.