Construction of the "Sport and Recreational center Novos Alagados"

Salvador da Bahia, capital of the State of Bahia, is Brazil’s third largest city per capita with a metropolitan region (RMS) that includes approximately 3.5 million people.

The past twenty years have seen an accelerated and disorganized demographic growth in Salvador’s Metropolitan Region that has created an urban landscape characterized by many unofficial areas where the quality of life is very poor.

 

Recent studies by the Federal University of Bahia reveal the existence of more than 400 marginal urban areas in Salvador, where 1.2 million - 45 per cent of the city’s population - live in substandard or structurally precarious housing lacking acceptable sanitary conditions.

About 12 per cent (135,000 people) of Salvador’s marginal urban population live in the Ribeira Azul area, a vast agglomerate of "favelas", northeast of the city.

Ribeira Azul is on the edge of the "Baia de Todos dos Santos" and is made up of a long string of about 10,000 hillside dwellings on the perimeter of the coastal shoreline.

Due to the lack of other free mainland areas, this stretch of dwellings lacking utilities or services of any kind began to expand and inch closer to the sea. It expanded with new waves of low or no income families struggling to survive below the poverty threshold. These communities are mostly made up of unmarried or single mothers with three or four children.

The remaining urban communities, about 40,000 dwellings, are located further uphill, in precarious structures (wood, sheet metal) or partially walled, brick structures.

These structures, without potable water, electricity or sanitation, form a number of nearly impenetrable agglomerations, since the only way of moving from one dwelling to another over make-shift, precarious planking.

Today, the area is the target of a number of coordinated programmes to restore urban and social planning, aimed at the urban integration of these areas and the promotion of the socio-economic development of the population.

THE FAMILY SITUATION

Most "favelas" inhabitants are school-age children and adolescents who live in families where, the paternal presence does not generally exceed 20-30 per cent and where the heads of the family often not the natural fathers.?These children more often than not end up abandoning school for work, often associated with life on the "street". Most children thus permanently compromise their chance to study and earn a professional qualification that would enable them to emerge from their social condition.

INFANT MORTALITY AND MALNUTRITION

Infectious diseases and malnutrition continue to rise, causing a high infant mortality rate.?Infant malnutrition is one of the most serious yet underestimated problems. Research carried out in the Ribeira Azul area reveals that approximately 38 per cent of children 0-6 years old suffer from malnutrition.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS

Specifically, our project addresses the following problems:

conditions of neglect, abuse, family violence and situations of partial abandonment;

infant malnutrition;

school drop out rates;

problems related to interpersonal and social interaction.

THE JOÃO PAULO II SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER

In 1999, the construction of the "João Paulo II" Socio-Educational Center, a structure for 400 young adolescents and the families in the neighborhood located close to the João Paulo II day nursery, in Ribeira Azul was initiated and completed. The Center offers after-school services, cultural activities, games and recreation, as well as professional training.

THE "NOVOS ALAGADOS" SPORTS AND RECREATION CENTER:

Numerous coordinated projects that can respond organically to the many needs of the neighborhood’s inhabitants is the result of on-site experience.

The need to transform the "João Paulo II" Socio-Education Center into a school it is becoming increasingly evident. Therefore, a nearby replacement site is imperative to continue the activities carried out by the center up to now.

The government of the State of Bahia has donated a piece of land of about 8,000sqm located very close to the center, where a new sports and recreation center can be built.

This new center, called "Novos Alagados", will have facilities for sports, leisure, and recreation, as well as spaces dedicated to after-school and professional training for adolescents. The activities of the "Novos Alagados" Center will be incorporated into the existing activities programme, ensuring the coordination of all the activities to achieve the most effective results.

LOCATION

With a total surface area of 7,481sqm, currently the land is without buildings. Major draining operations prior to construction will be essential due to surface and underground water sources.

CONSTRUCTION

Complex geographical conformation requires the use of reinforced cement foundation pillars to reinforce and stabilize building foundations. The center will be built in reinforced cement with brick walls and partitioning. After which, the whole building will be faced with quarry bricks.

An internal pedestrian system and gardens (benches, flower beds, lighting) will enhance the main access points.
The 684sqm, after-school center will provide after-school and recreational activities. Five classrooms, a kitchen, restrooms and corridors with a capacity for 200 children will be equipped with all necessary furnishings.

THE SPORTS AREA

Next to the main building, there will be a sports area with a football field, surrounded by a metal mesh fence for protection and small spectator terraces.

ACTIVITIES

Inside, the center will be equipped for all the activities for first-level students:

School support and backup activities

Recreational activities

Theatre

Cineforum

Meeting room

Small crafts

Food and nutritional education

Outdoor games for the smaller children

Football tournaments

Football school

Four hundred adolescents and pre-teens will be assisted by eight adults to ensure the efficient management of both the center and the activities.

BUDGET

The estimated budget is of Euro 420,160 (includes: excavation, draining, fencing, reinforced foundations, football support construction, furnishings, meeting room, sports area, internal gardens and drive/pathway system, project design).

AVSI AND CHAMPIONS FOR CHILDREN

The collaboration between AVSI and Champions for Children provides financial support for the implementation of the enhancement of sports related projects, aimed at ensuring that the described activities are carried out professionally and proficiently.

In particular, the following actions will be undertaken:

Transfer of technical know-how in the sports facilities’ construction phase;

Collaboration on the technical aspects of organizing the sports activities;

Training via e-learning of the sports staff by highly qualified instructors;

Training onsite by the Champions for Children personnel;

 

Opening of a “Champions for Children” sports center.