dreams can be

The City of Juazeiro de Norte, in the state of Ceará, had a day of celebration on the last Monday of the month, the 24th. Located 493 kilometers from Fortaleza, the city had two important events on the same day: the 164th birthday celebration of the city’s founder, Padre Cíero, and the inauguration of the Digital Express project, from the NGO Jutiri which is supported by Oi, through the Novos Brasis do Oi Futuro (New Brazils of the Oi Future) program, an institute for social responsibility.

The Digital Express is a program from the Instituto de Ecocidadania Juriti (Jutiri eco-citizen Institute), an NGO which began in 1998 that works through a renovated bus that is equipped with eight computers, all with internet access. The project was inaugurated in the Colina do Horto neighborhood, where the bus will stay for 15 days, followed by a visit to Salesiano, the center of Juazeiro de Norte.

In accordance with the wishes of the NGO Juriti coordinator, the sociologist Cristina Diogo, the role of the Digital Express is to inform people about the political measures for digital inclusion, showing how the citizen is able to take possession of technology in order to guarantee their rights. “The people are hungry for culture, not just food. Through the Digital Express, we are going to discover the principal problems that plague each neighborhood we visit, and through videoconferencing, present these problems to the authorities who are responsible for finding the solutions”, Cristina Diogo noted.

The purchases for the renovation of the bus were covered at first by an award offered by Oi Futuro, totaling 150 thousand reais. From this money, 113 thousand reais was allocated just to equip the Digital Express. The remaining money was used for maintenance and paying the monitors and driver.

The Digital Express will have passed through 24 neighborhoods in Juazeiro do Norte by the end of the year, working Mondays through Fridays, from 8:00 AM till 12: PM, and from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM, with the purpose of attending to eight people every thirty minutes. To use the Digital Express, one must register himself on the project’s website at www.juriti.org/expresso, where he will have access to all the rules of use. “First, basic computer skills will be offered followed by free internet access. Outside the bus there will be recycling workshops, teleconferences, and film shows”, Cristina Diogo said.

The Greatest Challenge: after acquiring the dilapidated bus was to implement the renovations and make it ready for access as the Digital Express. For this mission, the NGO Juriti invited 46 year-old José Baluduino (also known as Zé do Chassi), the owner of a car repair garage Chassi de Caminhão, from the Salesiano neighborhood, to work on this project.
Zé do Chassi considered the mission that he received “a great challenge”, since he would have to adapt two vehicles, making them into one: an American GM auto-shell from Chassi, and the workings of a Brazilian Mercedes-Benz. He found difficulty in the fact that the two cars were completely different, and they still required a good amount of service, but affirmed that he would be extremely happy after its completion, recognizing all of the benefits that the project will offers.

The restoration of the bus took four and a half months, beginning in November of 2007. According to Zé, the service was intense and required work on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays– he even worked all Christmas day. He received assistance from three workers from his garage.

“During these four months, we tried to consolidate the garage services with the refurbishing of the Digital Express, but a lot of our other jobs ended up running late because our priority laid in the bus”, Zé do Chassi affirmed, saying that the value of his work was not at all closed, since the purpose of the project is geared towards taking children out of marginalization.

The manager of corporate relations of Oi, Urbano Costa, participated in the inauguration of the Digital Express and said that the project brings together two areas of Oi Futuro, which are education and culture, for the promotion of development. He noted that every year there is an opening for the selection of an NGO that participates in education, technology, and information, which will be sponsored for a year and will receive, in addition to money, guidance in the area of administration.

Oi supports projects in the 16 states to which it provides its telephone service. Urbano Costa said that it has been a long time since the state of Maranhão has had projects sponsored, mainly because it did not possess a state law for cultural incentive, thus loosing many projects to its neighbor Piauí which has had, throughout the years, one or two projects approved.

The NGO Juriti: The Institute for Eco-citizenship of Juriti (ONG Juriti) was created in Juazeiro do Norte in 1998, with its headquarters located in the neighborhood of Leando Bezerra. The idea, according to Cristina Diogo, came about through the environmental impacts provoked by the flock of pilgrims that fill the city each year for a religious festival. “A lot of trash accumulated on the streets, the sewer system flooded, and the telephone lines became congested with the excessive use by the pilgrims”, she stated.

The first step in the creation of the NGO occurred when Cristina won the Betinho de Cidadania award for her thesis. With this resource she opened up a small office which gave way to more activities, having the central theme of separating trash according to material for recycling. Right away, the Circo Escola de Ecocidadania (the school for eco-citizenship on wheels) was created, which had as its mission to pass through neighborhood upon neighborhood, showing people their presentations for them to realize the importance of separating trash according to its material in order to recycle.

In its ten years of existence, Juriti has already created an association of garbage collectors, trained 20 educators in the field, and has already brought its programs to other cities in Ceará. The next step is the organization of the Patativa do Assaré show,
which instructs on taking care of semi-arid land, serving to preserve the environment and culture while rescuing the history of Patativa do Assaré. The show will use ten people between 14 and 22 years old.