Preparing Brazilian Youth for Community Leadership

Preparing Brazilian Youth for Community Leadership

Global Communities is implementing the Sowing Futures in partnership with the John Deere Foundation to build the capacity of communities and local institutions to prioritize needs and mobilize resources that improve socio-economic conditions, particularly for at-risk youth in Horizontina, Brazil. This video shows how the program works with community members to form community development committees and help develop their capacities as community leaders. Sowing Futures staff designed a 40-hour course that provides knowledge and skills training in participatory community development, community facilitation, community development planning, stakeholder engagement and project development. So far, they have offered three courses, with the latter two in partnership with the “Falculdade de Horizontina – FAHOR” University. At the end of the course, participants receive a university course certification in Participatory Community Development. The certification from Horizontina’s FAHOR University means more opportunities for course participants, many of whom have not completed high school. Attending the course in the university’s classrooms and receiving the course certificate (many of which are hung up in their homes) does much to raise their self confidence and the self-esteem of themselves, their families and their neighbors. During and after the course, the newly formed community leaders begin the process of community organization and mobilization.