feature story Chevron Brasil adapts social projects according to social isolation

The social projects supported by Chevron Brasil are being adapted to continue the classes that were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, in partnership with Instituto Aliança and Rede Asta, the company develops two social programs in São João da Barra municipality – one project in education area and another in the economic development area.

“In this moment of so many uncertainties that we go through, supporting the communities where we operate is key. For this reason, we are maintaining investments in our social projects which aim to train entrepreneurs and young people with a vision of the future to work in any environment”, said Patricia Pradal, Chevron Brasil Business Development & Corporate Affairs Manager.

The main change in the social projects was in the proposed methodology that became entirely online. Initially focused on face-cleanup-to-face-cleanup classes, the two partner institutions needed to review content and adopt applications such as Zoom, Instagram and WhatsApp to maintain participation. 

In addition to online classes, which are held twice a week, the two partner institutions have carried out constant evaluations with each participant to identify doubts about the content and difficulties with the new methodology.

“We increased our interaction with them to be able to identify the difficulties, whether due to the lack of good technological equipment and resources or psychological issues. This has been the biggest challenge”, told Antonio Villela, Rede Asta coordinator. 

Rede Asta implements the second edition of Artisans Business School in São João da Barra. The purpose is to train entrepreneurs with a vision for the future, management skills and access to tools that facilitate and boost their business. Despite de changes, this edition managed to keep the 40 artisans registered in January with an average participation of 17 women in online activities.

For Luciana Oliveira, Instituto Aliança coordinator, the pandemic further highlighted the social inequality in Brazil. “Not every teenager has a computer, cell phone or Internet access. These limitations make it more difficult for young people to participate in this new project format”, she observed.

Despite of the limitations, Luciana says that, in most of the cases, the institute was able to identify these difficulties and implement actions which would help students connect to the internet and be able to carry out activities through groups on WhatsApp or the institute’s Instagram page – tools that do not rely so much on a good internet connection. 

The third class of the Transforming the Present, Projecting the Future project started with 240 young people subscribed in February. Now 204 students follow the online classes. Developed in partnership with the São João da Barra Education Secretariat, the project aims to reduce school dropout and improve the performance of education indicators in the municipality.