SESI Citizenship

SESI Citizenship is a Brazilian program that aims to bring education, sports, leisure and culture to all pacified communities in the state of Rio de Janeiro,^[1] i.e., those that already have the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs).^[2] Created in August 2010, the program has already held about a million attendances in dozens of communities^[3] and was awarded the prize "Citizenship Personality 2013", granted to individuals and institutions^[4] who "contribute to the defense of civil rights, the strengthening of social promotion policies and the ethical values."^[5]

Concept

SESI Citizenship is locally implemented whenever new UPPs are installed at each location.^[6] Its goal is to bring leisure activities and social services for the inhabitants of the region - some of them in a permanent way.^[7] According to previous researches that identify the main needs of each community,^[8] it is created a plan of what will be offered to residents.^[9] By the way, some of them are even hired to perform certain functions, such as: monitor the progress of work; identify the local needs further; promote, explain and enroll residents in activities and courses offered by the program.^[10] The so-called "SESI Citizenship Agents" also encourage people to learn how to read and write for the first time.^[11]

Components of the program

The program contemplates some specific activities:^[12]

• Professional education – Workshops and laboratories that prepare the student for the labor market;
• Basic education – Elementary and secondary school for youth and adults,^[13] in addition to pre-Enem, tutoring, languages, computers, mathematics and budgeting;^[14]
• Athlete of the future – Leisure and citizenship teaching through sports activities for children and teenagers, seeking also to train future athletes;^{[note 1][15]}
• Knowledge industry – Spreads culture and education^[16] while assembling in communities like Andaraí and Cidade de Deus^[17] libraries and digital inclusion spaces, as well as offering workshops, lectures and cultural attractions.^[18] Two partners in this initiative are Futura Channel (which offers television programming)^[19] and the Brazilian Academy of Letters (which helps to create and maintain libraries in communities of Rio de Janeiro,^[20] what includes the training of manpower);^[21]
• Seniors SESI Program – Activities for people over fifty years of age, such as physical exercise, nutritional and psychological counseling, medical care and sociocultural actions as "memory workshops and storytelling;"^[22]
• Culture – Cultural programs and workshops for residents on graffiti, photography, percussion, hip hop music and theater;^[23]
• Kitchen Brazil – Nutritionists teach the full utilization of food in order to improve eating habits;^[24][25]
• Health – Offices of gynaecology, internal medicine, dental and pediatrics^[26] to prevent health problems;
• SESI in Action – Services like issuing documents (identity card, social security number, work ID, birth certificate), recreation for children, craft workshops and painting,^[27] lectures on basic care (brushing teeth, for example), medical tests (measurement of blood pressure, blood glucose testing, body mass index), legal consultation and distribution of books;^[28]
• Lego Project - Uses Lego pieces to stimulate the learning of "logical and mathematical thinking and the basics of physics", including ethical and moral values, interpersonal relationship and teamwork.^[29]

See also

• Crime
• Favela
• Entertainment

Notes

1. Among the activities offered are soccer, futsal, volleyball, basketball, judo, dancing, athletics, swimming and gymnastics.