IN THE AMAZON, EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL IS EVERYWHERE
School education and job training are needs that are not easy to meet in the most isolated and difficult to access areas of the Amazon.
When they exist, small local schools often have only one class, with students of different ages and levels of education. Also due to transport difficulties and distance, teachers are sometimes lacking, and teaching gets discontinued.
FOR TRADITIONAL PEOPLES, THE FOREST IS THE HEART OF LIFE AND THE RIVERS ARE ITS ARTERIES
But most of the schools are urban-oriented, with a curricular structure that does not see the educational potential of the forest and its rivers.
Amazônia has provided the peoples of the forest with multiple training opportunities and support for school education. From the construction of schools to the installation of satellite connections; through environmental education programs and exchange with other schools, up to the distribution of supplementary school material.
Facilities
We have built schools, training, and community work spaces in different forest communities. Periodically, we support local populations in the restoration of their buildings, which is a frequent necessity due to the extreme climatic conditions.
The installation of satellite connections to the internet, together with the work of numerous volunteer computer teachers, has allowed local communities to improve communication and overcome isolation, interacting with the rest of the world and making their voices heard.
Professional training
Gaining new knowledge, skills and competences can offer new opportunities for income and work. In the context of Amazonian society and possible professions, we have offered the populations of the forest internships and training courses for young computer scientists, agricultural technicians, health technicians and river vehicle mechanics. Courses in English and Italian language for adults and children, hotel management, tourist guide and gastronomy have also been made available.
Courses are offered in associationism, corporativism and leadership, administration and management of people and conflicts, as well as workshops dedicated to commercial activities with low environmental impact (such as the collection of fibers and fruits of the forest and the production of handicrafts). These activities brought together hundreds of participants from communities, associations and cooperatives from four river basins of the Rio Negro, the main tributary of the Amazon River.
Interculture
Travelling is always an educational experience, especially when it allows visits to companies that face (or have solved), problems similar to ours. Amazônia has accompanied small groups and representatives of forest peoples through knowledge experiences aimed at sustainable development and trips to other regions of the Amazon, Brazil, Europe and Africa.
We have promoted numerous twinning initiatives between Amazonian and European primary schools as a tool to strengthen mutual understanding and create social and cultural links between different realities. We believe in the need to build common growth paths among the children of the world, deconstruct stereotypes and join forces under the common goal of protecting nature.
Environmental education
Understood as awareness of the value of the forest and its natural resources and the importance of maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, environmental education is an essential cornerstone of socio-environmental conservation.
The new generations of traditional forest inhabitants face the difficult transition to modernity, the use of technology and the approach to urban reality. Amazônia works to give them the necessary tools to understand the value of a healthy and balanced environment and the need to keep it that way.