The Good Shepherd Project

The purpose of The Good Shepherd Project is to break the cycle of poverty, violence and despair that trap children and young people from the shanty towns of Brazil.

Operating in areas of high social deprivation, the Good Shepherd Project seeks to protect children from exposure to the drug, alcohol, physical and sexual abuse that permeates the impoverished communities,

Founded in 1993, GSP is a UK registered charity that funds the provision of education, skills training, nutrition and healthcare to children at risk.

The Good Shepherd Project works in partnership with Projeto Bom Pastor (Belo Horizonte) and Projeto Alcançando Vidas (Rio de Janeiro), two Brazilian registered charitable organisations each situated in the heart of the shanty town communities that they serve

Favelas spring up when the disenfranchised rural poor, migrate to the cities looking for employment. A national unemployment rate at around 10% and lack of social services contribute to high levels of crime, violence, prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse.

The projects directly deliver support via high quality programmes developed by the project leaders, themselves residents of the neighbourhoods, to provide solutions to the immediate needs of the local population.

In the UK £15 will buy:

• 2 cinema tickets
• A takeaway for two
• A CD or DVD
• A Tee shirt

BUT in Brazil,

a whole month of teaching, food and healthcare for a child in one of our projects

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Volunteers

Volunteers from overseas play a very important role in the running of the projects. In addition to the 'hands on' skills that they bring and the practical support of project staff, the very presence of 'rich' westerners gives worth to those ignored by their own society.

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Fundraising

Click here to see some of the innovative ways in which the work is funded