Brazil

Our Cabrini Connections

The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Connection

Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. Our mission is to assist the poor and disadvantaged, leveraging the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to alleviate human suffering, promote development of all people, and to foster charity and justice throughout the world.
Working through local offices and an extensive network of partners, CRS operates on five continents and in 99 countries. We aid the poor by first providing direct assistance where needed, then encouraging people to help with their own development. Together, these approaches foster secure, productive, just communities that enable people to realize their potential.
As the official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community, CRS is also committed to educating the people of the United States to fulfill their moral responsibilities toward our global brothers and sisters by helping the poor, working to remove the causes of poverty, and promoting social justice.
In Brazil, CRS is working to eradicate slave labor through the regional program Trails to Liberty (Trilhas da Liberdade). The local income generation groups are supported by the CRS/US Dept. of Labor TRILHAS project.
The above is from the CRS website.
Information about CRS work and partners in Brazil may be found here.

Income-generating projects
CRS, through the Center for the Defense of Human Life and Rights (CDVDH), aims to considerably reduce the recruitment of at-risk workers and the number of victims of slave labor through projects such as starting a business to produce educational toys for nursery schools. The local income generation groups are supported by the CRS/US Dept. of Labor TRILHAS project.

Charcoal project
A remarkable project to produce ecologically-improved charcoal is being developed as an income-generating project for ex-slaves.

New!

See new photos (click here)

Developing leaders
CRS, through the Center for the Defense of Human Life and Rights, works to develop leadership and community among young people.

Working to free slaves
Through the Center for Human Rights, CRS works to provide freed slaves with psychological, social, and legal assistance.

Building new opportunities
CRS, through the Center for the Defense of Human Life and Rights (CDVDH), helps develop income-generating projects for long-term economic progress.

Send an email to President da Silva regarding slavery (see link on right) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Building reasons for hope
Through community organizing, awareness raising, and skills training, CRS and its partners open new possibilities for people who might otherwise be lured to enslaved labor.

Working for Human Rights
CRS works with courageous partners such as the Center for Human Rights and with allies such as CPT whose very lives are sometimes threatened.

Our CRS Partner Friends in Brazil
Through CRS partners, Casa da Cidadania d. Helder Camara-Centro de Direitos Humanos of Araguaina (CDH) and the Center for the Defense of Human Life and Rights in Açailândia (CDVDH), we met many dedicated and courageous Brazilians whom we will always remember and be inspired by. Muitos obrigados!

Joseph P. Kelly, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES. Most of all, we are indebted to Joseph Kelly, our intrepid planner, guide, and translator in the northeast. Joseph's hard work planning the trip and leadership during the trip made maximized the benefit we all received. Allison Steinmaus, a masters degree intern at Fordham, provided excellent translation and background insight. We at Cabrini College thank you deeply!

Raising public awareness
Through theater, dance, Capoeira training, literacy programs, CRS, through the Center for the Defense of Human Life and Rights (CDVDH), forms community and mobilizes the general public to campaign against the practice of slave labor.