country programs
JCC Brazil : News from Brazil 2008
October 22, 2008: JCC food drive in Pompéia, State of São Paulo, Brazil, benefits senior citizens home
On Wednesday, October, 22, 2008, the JCC group at the Dezessete de Setembro Statual School conducted a successful food and clothing drive. The collection was donated to the Frederico Ozanan Senior Citizens Home in Pompéia. Over a two week period, with the support of fellow students and their families, school staff, and other adults, the group collected roughly one ton of food! Mr Pérsio Siqueira, director of the senior citizens home and employees Mr Nicolosi and Mr Oriovaldo and others were present to receive the group's donation. School principal Mrs Adriana, and coordinator Jefferson were present as well. After presenting their gift, members of the JCC visited the home with their school principal and JCC advisors Márcio and Mendes.
The project sought to strenghten bonds youth and the elderly and to develop mutual respect and good citizenship. Efforts like these make JCC of Pompéia one of most dynamic and successful of all programs in Brazil.
October 17, 2008: Casey Award Winners Recognized at Anniversary Celebration
On October 17, 2008, in the City of Avaré, SP, Brazil, the 53rd Battalion of Military Police celebrated its anniversary. Attending this event was Major César Augusto Luciano Franco Morelli, Commander of the 53rd Battalion, and Lieutenant Hérika Costa Viana Gonçalves, Public Relations, who also were the recipients of the Casey Award. The medal was presented in absentia by International Chairman of the Board of YCWA, Jerry Rudoff, and by National President of the JCC in Brazil, Mrs. Célia Penatti. The award honors their excellent work and efforts in the setting up of the JCC program in the city of Avaré. The Chief of Staff of the Senior Commander of Military Police of Interior # 7 in the city of Sorocaba, Colonel Fátima Ramos Dutra, was present and enjoyed hearing of the program and the information that was read about the YCWA/JCC activities. The families of Major Morelli and Lt Hérika who were also in attendance for the ceremony. Messages of congratulations from Vice President of JCC Brasil and Specil Advisor, Vice Cônsul Huberth Neiva, Mrs Célia Penatti, President in Brazil and also Jerry Rudoff, Chairman of the Board of YCWA were read aloud at the ceremony.
Congratulations to the Casey Award winners.
Lt. Hérika and Maj. Morelli with relatives, the City Mayor, Col Fátima Ramos Dutra, press people and police contingent (in the background).
Left to right - Lt. Gonçalves (husband of Lt. Hérika), Lt. Hérika, Col. Fátima, Maj. Morelli´s daughter, Maj. Morelli, Mrs. Morelli and City Mayor Lílian.
October 2008: Program at Paulo Araújo Novaes School in Avaré, São Paulo
On October 13, 2008, the JCC program was presented to the Paulo Araújo Novaes School in the city of Avaré, SP, Brazil. This meeting was to present the YCWA/JCC program to all of the teachers and Principal of that School. The meeting was a big success and they enjoyed hearing of the potential of the program or the students very much. Principal Pedro was very proud and expressed his appreciation as his school was chosen as the first one to set up the JCC in the city of Avaré. At the presentation, Lt Hérika, Police Officer João and Cpt Jorge explained and showed them the main concepts. Without exception everyone expressed their excitement to begin the program there. Officer João will attend a JCC Training program for instructors that will occur soon in São Paulo. After this, he will be the person in charged of program development in all JCC activities in the city.
October 2008: A touch of JCC in the US
The Vamos falar Portugues Foundation is a group that was founded for Portuguese speaking children now living in the US that provides them with books and opportunities to practice their original language. YCWA supports this program in cooperation with JCC Brazil. We invite you to view their website at: www.vamosfalarportugues.org
October 2008: Spotlight on Barueri, Sao Paulo state
The program in Barueri , Brazil began in 2007 and is managed by the Civil (Municipal) Guard of the City of Barueri, State of Sao Paulo. Currently, the program can be found in 16 schools. The JCC team has eight advisors with Mrs Tatiana Antonini as the coordinator. To date, the total number of students directly involved in their core groups are 839 with a total of 12,293 students effected by the program. The civil guard is very excited to be involved in the JCC as are all of the youth they serve. They are involved in many school and community activities as are all of the JCC sites throughout Brazil.
For example, in Barueri the JCC group and all advisors visited a senior citizens home and presented dance and theater. Both the residents and the students loved the program and it was a very good moment for reflection by all. They have also done a number of group trainings on subjects such as mentoring and conflict resolution ( two of the nine program components). In addition, they talk about matters of mutual interest to the youths and adults such as drug prevention, teen pregnancy, car safety, etc.
What is really amazing is how much this program has grown in just one year's time and the quality of programming that they have been able to accomplish. Of course we do know the reasons for their successes... dedicated and involved students who want to make a positive difference in their schools and community as well as adult advisors who share their common goal.
We wish to congratulate the leadership of the civil guard in Barueri which has shown the wisdom and vision to allow this program to develop in their community as well as to all of the YCWA/JCC volunteers, students and advisors. They prove the motto "You can make a difference!!!"
September 2008: Spotlight on Mineiro do Tiete
This month's spotlight is on student Carlos Gabarron of Mineiro do Tiete.
>> See: Carlos Gabarron
Some photos from Carlos' home program in Mineiro do Tiete, a city in the state of Sao Paulo. The group is one of the most dynamic in Brazil, doing numerous activities for the school and community.
Blood drive
Clothing drive
Field trip to the rain forest preserve
JCC participated in the local folk festival
Mobilizing the "troops" for the food drive
Food drive - sorting donations
June 2008: Collecting food and clothing for the poor
The photo report below speaks for itself. Kids in JCC held a food and clothing drive for the poor from June 5-9, 2008.
May 2008: Spotlight on Jessica from Sao Paulo
This month YCWA's Youth Spotlight shines on Jessica Gabriele Ricardo of the JCC program in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jessica has been an active student leader in her JCC program. Her recent actions against a local gang brought her to our attention. Read more.
March 13-14, 2008: Getting Out the Vote in Minas Gerais
Schools in the city of Uberlandia, 171st Company PM School Patrol, the 32nd Battalion of the Military Police of Minas Gerais, participated in a new project, Civic Expression (Expresso da Cidadania) March 13-14. The project, led by the legislative assembly of the state of Minas Gerais, has the support of JCC, the 32nd BPM and other institutions to promote civic awareness among teens aged 16 to 18 and encourage them to register for the vote and participate in the political process. The event was lent a good dose of star power by Marcos Frota (pictured above, in t-shirt), a famous TV and film actor who also has his own circus.
March 2008: Update from Jau State of Sao Paulo
The JCC program in Jau State has posted a blog describing its activities. See what the kids in Jau are up to... www.pmjccjau.blogspot.com (material in Portuguese).
March 2008: Update from Barueri JCC
The Barueri municipal newsletter for September 2007 featured the JCC Barueri program. Barueri is a young city, where 41% of the population are under the age of 20, and 30% are under 15. The JCC program is expected to serve up to a thousand students in the 5th to 8th grades in Barueri's public schools. JCC students will work with the Civil Guard to address a spectrum of social problems contributing to crime and violence. The kids are doing great work. We wish them all the best.
The original story is posted on the Barueri website (in Portuguese).
February 2008: Fall training helped strengthen Youth Crime Watch concepts in Brazil
A two-week course (80 hours of training in all!) for trainers of the JCC program was carried out November 26-December 7, 2007, at the Hotel Sol in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A total of 67 students participated, 61 from Minas Gerais State, one from Amazonia, two from the Federal District, one from Para, and two from Sao Paulo.
Photos from this event
 Training |
 Training 2 |
 Training 3 |
 Implementation Training at Cruz School |
 Implementation Training at Gaspar School |
 Police Academy Graduation |
 Tour of Ouro Preto |
 Tour of Belo Horizonte |
The course aimed to provide general knowledge and skill-building for Military Police planning and implementing JCC programs and training mentors for the program in its philosophy, methodology and mission. In addition, a statement of cooperation between the Military Police and the JCC Brazil non-governmental organization was issued to consolidate and improve efforts in Minas Gerais, focusing on crime, drugs, and violence among young people and optimizing the role of youth working with the police and the community, especially the school, to find solutions. The training was a cooperative effort between YCWA and JCC. Representing YCWA were Gerald A. Rudoff, co-founder and International Chairman and senior trainer Terry Allen Jones. Representing JCC were nationally certified JCC instructors and Military Police of Sao Paulo State instructors 1º Ten PM Rosemeire Vitonto, 3º Sgt PM Elisângelo Ivanildo da Silva, Cb PM Aluizio Pires jùnior da Silva, Sd PM Shirley Pereira de Lima and Sd PM Ilza Sarapião Araújo. JCC Brazil NGO instructors participating were Célia Luzia Penatti Arcêncio, President JCC NGO, and Civil Maria Luiza Ruiz Moreno, Psychologist and former Military Police Captain. The Technical Coordinators for this course were Captain Sergio Papadiamantopoulos Gomes da Silva, of the Ninth (9ª) Region of the Military Police of Minas Gerais and Coordinator Metodološki Lieutenant Jose Paulo Lomba Filho, of the Academy of Military Police.
The inaugural lecture was given by the JCC Brazil NGO President, Célia Penatti, after a message from International Chairman of YCWA, Gerald Rudoff. Authorities present were Colonel Luciene Magalhães de Albuquerque, Sub-Chief of the State Higher of Military Police of Minas Gerais State and Lieutenant Colonel Robson Alves Ferreira Campos, Chief of the Section Third of State Higher.
The training itself spanned 80 classroom hours over a period of two weeks. It followed international training practices of YCWA and included various activities for the Implementation Training as well as that of Training of Trainers. Additionally, there were specific classes dealing with the fields of education, psychology and public safety. As part of this training, activities were conducted that gave all of the students an opportunity to apply those things they learned into actual practice. As part of this practical effort, students participated in actual JCC implementation training in three schools in different regions of Belo Horizonte. The students, working in teams, had the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge that they had acquired in the first days of the course. It was felt by all who participated in this training course that it will propel JCC into a new growth direction will greatly aid the development of the program countrywide.
The Mentors course of Program Youth Building Citizenship - JCC, was governed by the Service Order 31.930.43/07 of the State of State Higher of the Military Police of Minas Gerais.
January 15, 2008 - Kids in the state of São Paulo clean up the streets!
JCC members in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, took up rakes and trash bags this Tuesday morning to clean up the 14th Military Police headquarters. The group hoped to spread the message that a better quality of life begins in your own front yard. Young JCC members were joined by officers of the 14th Military Police Battalion for the event. And it seems that a good time was had by all.... Photos below.
January 2008 - JCC Brazil on YouTube
» Television report about JCC featuring interviews with JCC members (in Portuguese).
