A school of solidarity between religious presence in the world twenty years in Rio, Foz do Iguaçu, is expressed through a “Civil Society” formed by the CFIC along with the Sisters of Mary Most Holy Comforter. This is an example of cooperation between equal religious institutes. Forming an articulated clinic agreement with the public system and a nursery school, who had the support of the Italian Church. A vocational training center was created through a project funded by the Italian Foreign Ministry.
Several projects of social promotion are currently under way, both in the field of education and healthcare: the outpatient clinic, professional education with the university course in nursing, the Mae Maria pre-school, the Caja.
1) The outpatients clinic “Nossa Senhora Aparecida”: This healthcare service started off with a small dispensary (called “posto de saùde” Padre Monti), to care for anyone in need. It included a small pharmacy that gave out free medicines to help the sick. Soon the “posto de saùde” became too small and insufficient to respond to the many requests for healthcare services. In the light of this, it was decided to build a ne
w Outpatients Clinic dedicated to Madonna NossaSenhoraAparecida, the Patroness of Brazil. The Outpatients Clinic, designed in modules, includes a section for outpatients and a day hospital for mini-surgical operations, a section for diagnostics (Laboratory for chemical-clinical tests and an X-Ray Department, a section for the administration and a section for the wards. This health centre will be used by the local inhabitants with the aim to support the local health services by providing a proper facility with adequately trained staff, equipment and services to adequately meet the needs of the population and also offer the poor the chance to access the health services. As well as outpatients services, this health centre takes part in vaccination campaigns against AIDS, as well as to promote cancer prevention and also provide healthcare prevention for pregnant women.
2) University Course for Nurses: A university course to train nurses was set up, in collaboration with the State University UNIOESTE – the Foz do Iguaçu Campus –. Education is one of the key objectives of the Foundation: education is a gift to the person and an important contribution to the society. So, it is for this reason that the Congregation is enhancing its collaboration with the University to rise the level of education among the youth.
3) “Mae Maria” Nursery school: In the town of Foz, nursery schools are still missing. Children, especially those from the favelas, do not have a place where they can socialise due to the social and urban decay, so they are forced to go into the streets with all the negative consequences this entails.Offering them the opportunity to stay together and orient them to school, is a very important factor, both for themselves and their families.The “Mae Maria” Nursery school was opened in 1992, attended by pre-school age children (between age of four and six), coming from all the town and especially from the favelas. The educational activities and the pedagogic attention given to these children are fundamental, both to avoid the possibility that children leave school and that they end up living in the streets.
4) The Caja (Centre of Comprehensive Care for the Youth): CAIA (Centre of Comprehensive Attention for the Youth) collaborates with the Faculty of Nursing of UNIOESTE University. This Centre is open to all the youth of the barrio, as well as those from the surrounding barrios. CAIA offers the youth a complete program of social and healthcare support, taking into account the social, financial, cultural, religious, physical and mental aspects, in order to achieve their full development and reduce individual and social imbalances.