About us

The Institute

The Instituto Criança é Vida (Child is Life Institute) was created as a social project run by a private company in 1996, which initially worked with 20 volunteers in 9 institutions. It is a non-profit organization that develops projects to support what doctors and psychologists see as the necessary to prevent diseases and ensure the healthy development of babies, children, and adolescents. The main focus of the projects is their physical, emotional and social health.

With our face-to-face work being interrupted by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Institute’s multidisciplinary staff developed a series of specific instructional units for the purpose of ASSISTING, SUPPORTING and INFORMING educators and teachers. These instructional units were multiplied via Zoom meetings for online classes of about 30 participants; the meetings were interactive, and each educator was encouraged and required to have an effective participation.TheTen themes were chosen from the range of demands requested by our usual partners in Social Assistance and Education.

We were surprised by the results as well as the enrollment numbers: the focused work on educators during 2020 and 2021 was the most popular undertaking we had in the Institute’s history.

With the return of children and adolescents to schools and institutions, we have developed new themes focused on strengthening emotional health, always in line with the project demands for children and families supported by Education and Social Assistance, refocusing on organizational audiences.

The new projects have been designed for hybrid implementation: through both in-person and virtual platforms. In the virtual model, we provide printed teaching materials, conduct training via virtual platforms, and guide educators on how to multiply (implement) activities with children and adolescents. Through the in-person model, printed teaching materials are distributed, and activities for multiplication are presented by our team and experienced by the participants.

All our regular projects have been reviewed, incorporating issues related to addressing the impacts of the pandemic, mental health, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

If you are interested in additional information about the Institute or our instructional units – in English – please contact us at: [email protected]

Sustainable Development Goals- SDGs and Child is Life Institute projects

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly (UN) set global goals for sustainable development, i.e., goals and targets to ensure ‘no one is left behind’. At this meeting, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 global goals were established, ranging from environmental, economic and social aspects, all to be achieved by 2030. The 2030 Agenda – the document that gathers the goals and targets for sustainable development – covers initiatives on poverty, food security, agriculture, health, education and reducing inequalities, among other fields.

Some goals rely on governments and global companies taking action, but some include more specific recommendations that can be adopted by institutions involved in education, health and social assistance, such as Instituto Criança é Vida (Child is Life Institute) and its partners.

Since 1996, based on its mission to help build a healthier country,  the Instituto Criança é Vida (Child is Life Institute) has been developing projects focused on training educators. This enables them to promote the physical, emotional and social well-being of children and teens as well as socially vulnerable communities. This way, the Instituto Criança é Vida (Child is Life Institute) remains at the forefront of social work. It develops projects in fields such as health and well-being, food safety and improved nutrition, quality of education, reducing inequalities, sustainable consumption, among other themes, which are directly related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Learn more: Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs: https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

Here are our latest impact results:

The Cause

Deficiencies in infrastructure, such as basic sanitation, urbanization, housing and families lacking financial resources expose children and adolescents to situations of risk: respiratory infections, malnutrition, skin problems, verminosis, scabies and lice, home accidents and others. Childhood and adolescence are often not given due consideration, children and young people feel deprived of affection, protection and attention, suffer corporal punishment, violence and sexual abuse, are exposed to sex at a very young age and have low self-esteem.

The work with parents and educators shows that people do not do better, not because they do not want to, but because they do not know how – education is the way. But how should we educate? The staff of the Instituto Criança é Vida (Child is Life Institute) trains educators and employees of institutions, in addition to partner company volunteers, to multiply projects for children, adolescents and families in communities where they are active.

Mission

Collaborate to build a healthier country

Vision

  • We will expand our work in order to strengthen the family, the institution and the community, creating better conditions for physical, emotional and social support for children and adolescents up to 15 years of age.
  • We will work to geographically expand our projects, following criteria to ensure orderly growth and maintaining the same quality of service.
  • We will strive to make our work known, encouraging partnerships with companies as a way to strengthen projects, showing that it is not necessary to “reinvent the wheel.”
  • We will continue to listen to our public (assisted communities, sponsors, advisory council, the board of directors, technical advisors and volunteers), analyzing their suggestions and criticism, so that our current and future projects maintain the credibility they have achieved.
  • We will maintain the identity of the Institute and the strength of our mission with the joy and commitment of our staff and with confidence in our “way of doing things” (enthusiasm and determination, seriousness and transparency).
  • We will keep our eyes focused on the broader social context with the purpose of anticipating needs created by unexpected changes and that directly affect our public, as the Covid-19 pandemic for example.
  • We will monitor procedures and practices ensuring the adoption of principles and practices of good corporate governance in order to ensure the quality of our management and our longevity.

Values

Solidarity and commitment in the dissemination of knowledge with lightness and joy

1

If you are interested in knowing better the Instituto Criança é Vida (Child is Life Institute), please get into contact by email – [email protected] or telephone: 55.11.5185.4510