Brazil sem grades (Brazil without bars)

This is an NGO (or known as ONG here) we visited in Porto Alegre. The name refers to houses here which are nearly all behind bar fences for protection. If you live in a nice neighborhood near a city, your house has bars. The man behind the plaque in the blue shirt founded this organization after his 18 year old son was shot in a parking lot. He turned his grief into

an avenue for open dialogue about why there is so much violence in Brazil. After doing lots of research, specifically about the connection between poverty and violence, their mission turned into a family planning campaign. That is to say, handing out condoms and birth control pills at designated posts in school districts and elsewhere. Jennifer informed me that Brazil´s Health Minister has made it a number one priority to prevent teen pregnancy, which is a population she worked with at Fayetteville High School. The problem is that the condoms and birth control aren´t effectively reaching those whose lives would be benefitted by their use. So, Brazil Sem Grades has training workshops for volunteers to carry out the duty. It was interesting to hear about the Catholic church´s response to this NGO. They said they have been invited by priests to speak about family planning but definitely don´t endorse a campaign in favor of abortion.