The VOA Project

Children & youth

Jun 29

Written By Annikken Grieg Sæthre

Who: Children At Risk Foundation

What: The VOA Project 3.0

Where: São Paulo

Project period: 2026-2029

About the project

The VOA Project ("voa" means "fly" in Portuguese) secures and strengthens the holistic development of children, adolescents, and adults living in socially vulnerable favela communities outside of São Paulo. Run by the Norwegian foundation Children At Risk Foundation (CARF) together with its Brazilian partner organization Rede Cultural Beija-Flor (RCBF), VOA is a tested social support model composed of three integrated subprojects.

The subproject Projeto Ninho ("the bird's nest") provides children and adolescents a safe, structured environment in the middle of the favelas, where the kids can grow through arts, culture, and sport activities. The activities bring the children in from the streets, and into a place of safety, care, and room to grow. Around each child stands a support network of nutrition, psychological follow-up, and home visits to families – ensuring a healthy, supported upbringing for each child.

The subproject Vocational Training & Employment offers free professional courses to youth and adults from the local vulnerable communities, in fields such as administration, technology, gastronomy, and beauty. The courses give participants formal certifications and new professional skills, opening doors to employment and income generation that can lift entire families out of poverty.

The subproject Valiant Girls addresses the gender-based barriers girls face in the favelas by providing full scholarships to selected young girls from these communities. Each scholar is accompanied through a comprehensive educational program that follows them from high school through university.

Through these three subprojects, the VOA Project addresses vulnerability and social development at several stages simultaneously, and creates lasting change for individuals, families, and entire communities in some of the most vulnerable urban areas of Brazil.

About the organization

Children At Risk Foundation (CARF) is a Norwegian foundation working to ensure safety, care, and educational opportunities for children growing up in the favelas of São Paulo, Brazil. Together with its Brazilian partner organization, Rede Cultural Beija-Flor (RCBF) — known as "Kolibri" in Norwegian — they run activity centers in highly vulnerable favela communities outside of São Paulo.

The activity centers bring children in from the streets and surround them with arts, culture, and sport, alongside individual follow-up in nutrition, psychology, and family circumstances. For older youth and adults, free vocational training in fields like administration, technology, gastronomy, and beauty opens pathways into stable employment and increased income that can lift entire families out of poverty.

Working from within the same favela communities for more than 20 years, the social model of CARF and RCBF creates lasting social change on three levels simultaneously – for the individual, the family, and the wider local community.