This year, Nourish International's Michigan chapter is sponsoring a project in Fortaleza, Brazil alongside of its on-the-ground partner, Banco Palmas.  This project seeks to create a center and factory, called the Bate Palmas Company, for the construction of musical instruments. This business will build upon community programs which provide young individuals with training to build and play instruments and to perform throughout the state.  During several performances, community leaders were approached with requests for musical instruments, but there was no means to meet that need.  The prospect of Bate Palmas excites Banco Palmas and the community because it is a way to institutionalize and generate a source of sustainable income for youth who have graduated from the established training program. Additionally, the project will create new space as an educational center inside the community that can be used for teaching and training in order to facilitate entry into the local music industry.  

As with any enterprise, Bate Palmas requires start-up capital. At present, Nourish International's Michigan chapter has raised $2,900 out of the total project budget of $3,800.  The team is working hard to raise the additional $900.  If you would like to help bring this project to fruition, you can contribute today here.  To make sure the funds get directly to this project, please make a note that the funds are earmarked for the Palmamix project in Brazil.

Fortaleza, the largest city in the state of Ceará, was for a long time one of the least developed cities in the country.  During the 1980's, the phenomenon of 'rural exodus' ('êxodo rural') transpired, as thousands of rural individuals migrated to Fortaleza to escape the harsh conditions on farms plagued by drought and to look for new economic opportunities. The city quickly grew to become the 4th largest in the nation.  Within Fortaleza lies Conjunto Palmeiras, a "favela" slum community of 50,000 inhabitants, and Banco Palmas specifically works in this community.

The initial inhabitants of Conjunto Palmeiras were comprised of people who were forcibly removed from coastal lands with high property values. There were not given adequate compensation and were told to move out to the wetlands next to the city’s landfill. Some 1,500 families were “relocated” in this process, and the population has increased drastically in recent years. In Conjunto Palmeiras, a recent study showed that “only 13% of interviewed people had completed basic schooling; 83% lived solely on government aid and had no prospects for employment. Only 14% exercised any business activity and of these only 16% had received any kind of professional training. This underscores the importance of community-driven efforts to launch sustainable enterprises.