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.

End of year celebration
Bahia Street teachers and students celebrate the end of a successful school year.

  • In fall 2007, Bahia Street International Director Dr. Margaret Willson published her book, Dance Lest We All Fall Down, about living in the shantytowns of Salvador and co-founding Bahia Street with Rita Conceição.
  • In the fall of 2006, we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a visit from Rita Conceição, the Director of the Bahia Street Center, to the United States. In 1996, Rita and Margaret Willson first met with residents of the shantytowns to hear what kind of project they felt would best address the issues they faced. Through those meetings, the idea of Bahia Street was born.
  • In 2003, 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.
  • In 2007, Bahia Street and our International Director, Margaret Willson, received the Brazilian Press Award for Outstanding Achievement in Philanthropy.
  • Bahia Street’s first three students are now in university on full scholarship. They return regularly to the Center. One has become the Portuguese teacher at the Center to earn an income while in school.
  • 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.
  • Our Nutrition Project now provides two hot meals every day to the girls.
  • 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 owns a five-story building in the city center of Salvador. Its location gives students living in any shantytown access without changing buses.
  • Bahia Street is funded through individual donations, events, fee-for-service programs, and grants. In the past three years, Bahia Street has received grants from the International Foundation and Rotary International, among others.