Recent Accomplishments
We are proud of what we have accomplished since our founding in 1997. Each girl who passes through our doors represents not only her own future, but the future of her family and her community. Their success energizes and inspires all of us.
Bahia Street teachers and students celebrate the end of a successful school year.
1996
Margaret and Rita decide to address poverty and violence in Salvador, Brazil, through girls education.
1997
Bahia Street is founded as a non-profit in the United States.
1998
Bahia Street begins to pay for its first student, Juliana, to attend private school. By the end of the year five more girls have joined, and the tutoring program has begun. The money used to support these girls is almost entirely from personal donations. Bahia Street is also registered as the Bahia Street Trust in Britain.
1999
Bahia Street begins the process to be recognized as a non-profit within Brazil.
Older girls already present at Bahia begin to put their leadership experiences to good use, and help in the selection process of the new students.
2000
The total number of girls in Bahia Street is brought up to eight, and nearly all the girls pass their end of year school examinations. Bahia Street receives its first major grant from the Global Fund for Women, written by the Bahia Street board in Salvador.
2001
Bahia Street enrolls twenty girls. Parents of Bahia girls become more involved in Bahia Street through preparing food and volunteering at the Center. Five new tutors are hired, and Bahia Street receives two new grants forum the Seattle Committee for Children and the Fred Foundation, based in Amsterdam.
2002
The number of girls enrolled at Bahia Street grows to thirty. Of the girls who are already present, all pass their end of year exams with grades of 8 or more out of 10. An art therapy program is developed, and the girls begin a video project to document their own lives in Salvador. Bahia Street launched its study trip program bringing Americans to Salvador to learn about race, poverty, and international development.
2003
Twelve new girls are added, and Bahia Street buys a new building with plans to stop renting. Out of a pool of applicants that included 1,834 with social projects in Brazil alone, UNESCO selected Bahia Street as one of the top 30 social action groups in Brazil.
2004
Reconstruction of the building is begun, done entirely by local workers. Bahia Street expands its mission to include educational program for non-Brazilians to learn more about race, poverty, and international development.
2005
Juliana, Bahia Street’s first student, takes the Brazilian university exam and passes on her first try. She also wins one of the five scholarships that the university offers. Bahia Street moves into the new building, which finally provides enough space for all of the Center’s programs. Bahia Street runs its largest study trip in November.
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Dance Lest We All Fall Down is selected for re-publishing by University of Washington Press, available in Fall 2010.
General success…
- Nearly all students who take their end-of-year exams pass with scores of 80% or above. Most of them are illiterate when they begin the program.
- Not one girl has gotten pregnant in over 10 years.
- Bahia Street has developed unique curriculum and instruction methods that emphasize active, relevant, student-centered learning.
- Several Bahia Street teachers have begun their own education projects in their communities. Many teachers return to university after teaching at Bahia Street.
- Bahia Street has become one of the leading social change organizations in Salvador.
