NEW: Youth Empowerment and Community Engagement through Art, Culture and Education – 2024

Overview

The population of the state of Bahia in Northeast Brazil is majority African descent (80%). Bahia, and particularly Itaparica Island in the Bay of All Saints – the site of this Duke Engage program – is rich in Afro-Brazilian history and cultural practices. Yet many of the communities that are the caretakers of this history and culture suffer from a severe lack of infrastructure, security, adequate schools and employment opportunities. In Vera Cruz, a municipality of 44,000 residents on Itaparica Island, school drop out and unemployment rates are high. The Bantu institute, located in a community of several hundred families in Vera Cruz, offers Afro-Brazilian cultural practices, academic tutoring, and employment skills training to youth ages 6-19. The mission of the Institute is to empower youth to take pride in their heritage and to raise consciousness about racial and social injustice in Brazil. Tutoring and job skill training amplify this mission by helping youth stay in school and gain employment so as to improve living conditions for themselves and their families, and help uplift the community. Along with assisting with classes in English, computers, and math, Duke students will work closely with the Institute’s director and local volunteers to develop and implement other educational and community outreach initiatives. Students will also have the opportunity to learn alongside the youth in the capoeira, percussion and other Afro-Brazilian cultural classes. Weekly reflection sessions with the Institute’s director will guide students to link their new experiences with larger questions and strategies for combatting inequity and working for social change. Planned activities and short trips throughout the summer will introduce students to some of the rich Afro-Brazilian history, religion, music and dance in Bahia.

Community Partnership(s)

The Bantu Project is an international NGO that operates in Brazil, Australia and the Philippines. The Project was founded in 2006 by Edielson Miranda (Mestre Roxinho) while he was living in Australia and working to help heal trauma among young African refugees. In 2020, Mestre Roxinho returned to his hometown of Vera Cruz, Brazil, to serve his own community. Since its opening, the Bantu Institute has expanded its after-school classes to include capoeira, percussion, circus skills, computing, videography, English and mathematics for youth ages 6-19. It is also developing adult outreach programs—such as a women’s jewelry making collective—to help generate income for families in the community.

Students will be involved in various Bantu Institute projects, which could include the following:

• Aiding local volunteers with classes (especially English)
• Working in the community garden
• Helping serve meals (lunch and snacks) to the youth at the Institute
• Assisting with community outreach such as focus groups and mural painting
• Developing and offering new afterschool activities
• Helping to renovate a newly acquired building that will house sewing, printmaking and carpentry workshops

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Program Requirements

Language: While there is no language requirement, preference will be given to students who speak or are currently studying Portuguese. Those students with no Portuguese will be strongly encouraged to study it spring semester prior to departure. While the director and a few of the volunteers at the Bantu Institute speak English, most of the community members do not. Students with no Portuguese should thus be willing and comfortable to begin learning, or improving, their Portuguese through daily exposure and practice (there may also be the option to take classes while there).

Coursework: no requirements but courses in Portuguese, Brazil or capoeira will enrich your experience.

Skills: no specific skills are required, but previous experience working with youth, or teaching English, would be helpful.

Personal Qualities:  flexible, outgoing, enjoys working with youth, willing to take initiatives, comfortable with unstructured time.  This program is designed as an immersive experience for Duke students to learn from and with a community about its strengths, challenges and needs.  The Bantu Institute at the Vera Cruz site is relatively new and still developing programming. Thus, students should not expect a pre-planned schedule, but rather be prepared to help think through and implement projects in conversation with the director, local volunteers, and community members.

Logistics

Housing, meals, and transportation:

Students will stay all together in a hostel a 20 minute walk from the Institute. Rooms and bathrooms are double occupancy. There is a small kitchen, washing machine and outdoor patio for drying clothes and eating meals. There are nearby restaurants and supermarkets so students will be responsible for their own breakfast and dinner. Lunches (rice, beans, protein) will be provided at the Institute. Students will get to and from the Institute by walking or other vetted modes of transportation. Trips to farther destinations will be in a van with a vetted driver and could involve ferry rides (there is only one bridge connecting the Island to the mainland).

Local safety, security, and cultural norms: We encourage students who have questions or concerns about health or safety in international programs to check Duke’s International SOS (ISOS) portal for relevant information. If you have special needs related to health, culture, disability, or religious practices, please contact the program director(s) or the DukeEngage office to discuss whether your needs can be accommodated in this program.

For guidance on how race, religion, sexual/gender identity, ability, or other aspects of identity might impact your travels, we suggest exploring the Diversity, Identity and Global Travel section of the DukeEngage website.

Academic Connections

This program is open to all students and might especially appeal to those taking courses in Cultural Anthropology, African and African American Studies, International and Comparative Studies, Dance, Portuguese and Latin American/Brazilian studies.  Students who have previously participated on a Study Abroad or Bass Connections in Rio de Janeiro are encouraged to apply.