The opportunity to change your life

Children & Youth

Jul 3

We are all looking for ways to improve our lives. But often we need a helping hand to open the doors that will lead us down new paths. Jonilda Santana, 35, found that helping hand at Rede Cultural Beija-Flor (RCBF), an institution supported by the Grieg Foundation.

For 12 years, Jonilda has lived in Sítio Joaninha, a peripheral and very poor neighborhood in Diadema, a city in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. A single mother of a 4-year-old boy, with little schooling and no steady job, life hasn't been easy to keep the house and provide comfort for the boy.

But things began to change when Jonilda followed the advice of her older sister, Luciete, and enrolled in the RCBF's professional hairdressing course, the Ordalinos project. “My sister did the course and encouraged me to do it too so I could help her,” she says.

The experience of the course was so positive that Jonilda decided to go one step further: she stopped helping her sister to set up her own beauty salon. Even before finishing the course and with a makeshift space in her own home, the new hairdresser began to see improvements in her life.

“It's starting to change! I already have a few clients, but as I'm just starting out, it's still not much money. But it's already helping!” celebrates Jonilda. “With the money from these services, I'm doing some shopping for the house and paying the water bill.”

The service room isn't ideal yet, but Jonilda has her sights set on the future and is working towards her goals. “I want to study to learn more and do my job better. I also want to have my own salon and hire someone to help me and serve more people.”