But I write this letter with some sunny news: the building, the Bahia Street Center, is finished!!  For those of you who have been with us for some years, you will know that this has been an eight-year process.  We were able to buy the building at the exact right time (when the dollar was very high and buildings were still relatively inexpensive in Salvador) with first a generous loan, then a bit later, a very generous donation which paid off that loan.  But then we had the task here of raising the funds to rebuild, and in Bahia the huge task of actually reconstructing this building that was in such bad shape that it had to be completely rebuilt.  So to everyone who has donated over the years to make this possible, thank you.

The Bahia Street Center is now a five-story building, complete with a modern kitchen that satisfies all health codes and which can easily feed the hundred or so of people the Center feeds twice daily.  At the back is an outside play area that also includes a stage for school performances and other community events.  The entire rest of the bottom floor is devoted to a dining area.  All stairways now have high and secure banisters to prevent children from falling as they race from floor to floor.

The entrance of the building is now a reception area, there is a teacher’s preparation room, and Rita has a Director’s room where she can finally have private conversations with caregivers and others as needed (also a quiet place to get work done!). The shower room and bathrooms are completely tiled and also up to health codes. There is a large computer room with about 15 computers where they can now have classes in the evenings for community members in addition to the day classes with the girls. The building now hosts numerous classrooms and the library has been moved to a larger room with a window, making it a light and airy space for the girls to read and explore books.  There is a ‘pre-literacy’ room of bright colors, full of toys and games to stimulate the youngest children in preparing them for literacy.  There is a completed activity room where the girls play capoeira and do other physical activities.

And—again this took some time—we finally have a completed science lab!  Thank you to those of you who made donations specifically for this lab.  It has the facilities for chemistry classes, we have a skeleton and the tools needed to teach anatomy and other health sciences classes and other courses related to lab sciences.  This is very important as it will help the girls to prepare in this under-represented area.

The very top of the building is now one large room.  During the day this is used for a classroom, but in the evenings, it is the site of a program started last year to offer courses to girls and women wishing to pass the difficult university entrance exam.  Most students in Brazil, once they graduate from high school, still have to take expensive preparation courses for an exam which permits them to enter various universities.  Bahia Street last year began offering these classes and the demand is overwhelming.  Already last year even in the small pilot program, one girl passed her exam and is now at university, and more are expected to take the exam this year.  It is amazing that although most of the students of the exam preparation course are young women, a few women in their fifties have also joined.

The Bahia Street Center now stands out with its beautiful blue, newly-plastered classic facade facing the street.  A wonderful sign declares Construindo mulheres (“building women”), on top of the Bahia Street logo: layers of bricks on either side of the words “Bahia Street.” For photos of the newly-remodeled center, see our website, www.bahiastreet.org.

Meanwhile the core Bahia Street programs are continuing well.  Four ex-Bahia Street students who are now at university are working as interns at the Center, their wages being used to help support them in their studies.  The school students are going on field trips, such as a recent excursion to a local water treatment plant to understand how clean water is processed, and to the planetarium. 

It is fun also to let you know of a comment in the recent supplement to the main Salvador newspaper in a featured article on ‘the Streets of Salvador.’  In discussing the street upon which the Bahia Street Center is located, the writer suggested that the street name should be changed to Bahia Street in honor of the Center’s important work.  A reflection of impressive local support indeed!

I do hope you all are well.  I suppose, as I look out at the rain again—which has not stopped as I have been writing—that this is better than the horrific heat other areas are suffering. Small consolation I know.  We may just have to find sun in each others smiles.

Thank you all again so much.  It is a joy to be with you all on this journey.

Abraços
Margaret

Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond is now available for order.