Young girls supported by the Odebrecht Foundation’s Social Program are the masters of ceremony of Odebrecht Annual Meeting 2019

Carolaine Sena and Gabriela Rocha are only 19 and 16, respectively. The young girls are students of technical courses integrated into high school offered by Casas Familiares, partner schools of the Odebrecht Foundation in the realization of its Social Program; PDCIS. This year, they left Baixo Sul da Bahia with a special mission: to be masters of ceremonies at Odebrecht Annual Meeting, a traditional event that brought together 150 leaders from all the Businesses last Friday the 13th, in São Paulo.

With the theme “Opportunities, mobilization and results,” this year’s Annual Meeting invited participants to reflect on the moment and the opportunities that will allow the Odebrecht Group to grow again.

This is the first time that young people from Baixo Sul da Bahia were invited to be protagonists of the meeting. The invitation reinforced Odebrecht Foundation’s role within the Group and the relevance of its actions in the search for a society with equal opportunities for all.

Learn about the history of the girls

Gabriela lives in Piraí do Norte, a rural area that contrasts a rich biodiversity with low Human Development and Education Indexes. She is in the third year of Casa Familiar Agroflorestal with headquarters in Nilo Peçanha (BA). Together with her family, she owns beekeeping, banana and cocoa businesses.

“Studying at Casa Familiar has opened up new perspectives for me. I have acquired knowledge and evolved as a person and citizen. Today I am convinced that I can make a big difference in the community where I live, helping my family and many others to strengthen family farming and increasing environmental awareness,” explains Gabriela.

Carolaine is from the city of Camamu, another also very needy area in Bahia. She has graduated last Saturday, the 14th, from the Casa Familiar de Igrapiúna, which, like Gabriela’s school, is also supported by the Odebrecht Foundation. The greatest dream of this girl is to become a great producer of chocolates to add value to cocoa, which is a very important product in her region.

“Today I know I can be a businesswoman and continue in the field with quality of life”, shares Carolaine.

This is not the first time the two young girls have spoken to a large group of people.  The two of them, as well as the other students of Casas Familiares, are trained to have an active participation in their communities, disseminating the knowledge built in the school to other farmers who often did not have access to a quality education. Therefore, they have already worked in seminars and lectures, especially when the subjects are citizenship, agriculture and sustainability.

In 2019, more than 13,000 people in 270 communities benefited directly and indirectly from PDCIS, Odebrecht Foundation’s Social Program. Like Gabriela and Carolaine, more than 1,200 young people have been formed or are in formation in Casas Familiares since 2006.