Centro Comunitário Sociocultural de Barra Dos Coqueiros

Novos Caminhos

Leadership, Social Transformation and Income Generation for Women

The municipality of Barra dos Coqueiros has 27,000 residents and is located 3 km from Aracaju, the capital of Sergipe. After a bridge was constructed connecting the two cities, both the population and investments grew exponentially, bringing new opportunities. Despite this, many women there have no professional training or job opportunities, and are dependent on their husbands. The city also has a high rate of domestic violence.
The Barra dos Coqueiros Community Center was created 30 years ago by a group of women who had increased their productivity, and are now a model organization in the city. The women offer educational courses and technical and professional training, have groups for artistic and folkloric activities, and maintain a community radio station.

With support from BrazilFoundation, the project will:

• Acquire machinery for food production;
• Train 100 women aged 18-40;
• Expand and diversity the production training techniques;
• Place women in the workplace and increase their income.

IMPACT

• 100 women trained
• Job and income generation
• Improve quality of life

“We helped to improve the lives of women who were hopeless and economically and emotionally dependent. We promoted deep social and economic change, improving their quality of life.” – Lanua Ribeiro, Center Director