Editor’s Note: This story is part of the Global Ties Kalamazoo series published by Knight Life News. From Feb. 12-16, related content can be found on our website, Instagram and Facebook.
No matter the country, volunteer work benefits communities and uplifts students to create the change they feel is needed.
Luna Moises Santos Ferreira is a 17-year-old from Arapiraca, Brazil, and in her experience, a lack of access to books is a major problem for lower income people in her city.
Luna’s first volunteer project was a book club that provided free books or PDFs so that everyone could join in on discussions.
“My actual project now is focused on getting books for poorer women,” Luna said. “Before, it was only for people in my school, but now it’s extended to people in my city.”
By interacting with her community, Luna has noticed the improvements her city needs.
“We have a lot of people that are homeless or don’t have access to a quality education.” Luna said.
As a result, Luna’s main goal is to continue helping people, and she is pursuing a career that will give her the opportunity to bring useful tools and skills into the greater community. She plans to go to medical school and work with politicians to create change.
Igor Thiago, from Piauí, also volunteers in his city of Oeiras. At school, he noticed that many students struggled in their physics classes, so he began tutoring them.
According to Igor, overall improvements to the education system in Brazil need to take place. He used to attend public schools but now goes to a private school with more funding.
“The conditions depend on the school,” said Igor. “At mine we have lots of projects and opportunities, but it’s not the best education in the public schools.”
Igor plans on attending the University of São Paulo to continue his focus on improving education for everyone and shrinking the gap between opportunities available for students depending on their public or private educations.
According to the non-profit publication Spheres of Influence, “In 2018, only 35.9% of public school students ended up going to university compared to 79.2% of private school students.”
This difference is a result of uneven funding between schools, which makes it difficult for some students to have volunteer opportunities or take part in more advanced classes.
For both Luna and Igor, their own cities have led them to volunteering and community based work, and what they’ve learned along the way will continue to drive their careers.
