Student of the Month — Hope for the Next Generation

NOVEMBER 2008 > JEFFERSON

Seventeen-year-old Jefferson was born and raised in São Bernardo, an industrial city on the outskirts of Greater São Paulo. He was only 13 years old when he joined the Reading Circles program, and was already working handing out leaflets at traffic lights. “Back then I did not like to read,” he remembers. “I used to think that books were only good for decorating bookshelves.”

Jefferson’s teacher invited him to participate in the program and he agreed because of the prospect of receiving free books. During his first Reading Circle session, he was surprised to see that he could express his ideas. Jefferson enjoyed the experience so much that he began attending Reading Circles regularly, first as a participant in a group of his classmates, then as a participant in a regional group, and finally as a group leader for sessions at public middle schools in São Paulo and São Bernardo.

Now, Jefferson is a high school senior and plans to go to college to study environmental engineering and business administration. He credits the Readings Circles for his academic success, saying “[t]he project has taught me to think, to develop my intellect and creativity.” Jefferson also discovered his passion for reading and writing poetry. He is very appreciative of the experiences and opportunities that he has had, which his father, a house painter who migrated from the northeastern state of Alagoas, never had.

One of Jefferson’s favorite books in the Reading Circles is João Guimarães Rosa’s Miguilim. He explained, “I feel like Miguilim, the boy in Guimarães Rosa’s story, who was born in the middle of Brazil’s backlands and the first in his family who wished to visit other places and learn new things. His family did not understand him at first but he was able to meet people who helped him make the journey into a new world, a new culture.”