Instituto Amora Carambola

Cidadania em Comunidade Quilombola

The Amora Carambola Institute was awarded the Incentive Award from the BrazilFoundation in 2004 to develop an employment training project for young residents of the Maroon settlement Sapatu, in the town of Eldorado. The idea was to train them in banana processing techniques using the structure of an existing production unit in the region.

With the support of BrazilFoundation and a partnership with Unicamp University, the Institute trained 30 young people in production management and prepared with the basic skills for activation of the unit, along with lessons on theory and operation of the machinery. Additional support received in 2005, enabled the Institute to buy supplies and fund the costs of the unit in its initial structuring phase. Community mobilization and the empowerment of young people were instrumental in establishing a sustainable model of development in the region.