Olivier-Hugues Terreault is preparing Brazilian society to be able to care for their growing elderly population. Through an innovative clowning therapy, he is equipping caregivers and seniors themselves with tools for communication, meanwhile his work with decision makers and the general population...
Read morePaulo Lima founded a low-cost, effective print publication to spark the participation of children and teenagers in civic life and decision-making. He also helps adult readers understand and respect the perspectives of young people on issues of critical importance to the community.
Read moreBased on a profound sense of respect for rural laborers that grew out of his own early experience working side by side with them, Goya Lamartine has designed and implemented the first comprehensive paralegal training course for community advocates in northeast Brazil.
Read moreHarley Henriques do Nascimento
Ashoka Fellow since Dec 1998
Harley Henriques do Nascimento is combatting the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus in the poverty-stricken Brazilian state of Bahia through a network of peer educators based in the region's disenfranchised communities.
Read moreYears before international media showed the world shocking images of Amazon Indians suffering and dying from contact with white invaders, Marcio Santilli, 35, has championed indigenous peoples' rights in Brazil. That is why as a federal deputy he was named to the congressional commission on Indian...
Read moreSonia Coutinho
Ashoka Fellow since Sep 1994
In the state of Bahia, in the northeast of Brazil, Sonia Coutinho has developed a center for arts and alternative education for adolescents with moderate learning disabilities that is remarkably effective in aiding their transition from school to productive employment and facilitating their...
Read moreJoao Claudio has long sought the most effective way to serve the poor: first as a Jesuit, then as a social activist, and now as a doctor developing novel ways of providing first-class health care to Brazil's slum dwellers.
Read moreOscar Arruda has devised a strategy for enabling farmers in Brazil's semi-arid northeast to exploit an abundant local plant as an alternative crop that provides economic self-sufficiency in an otherwise depressed local economy.
Read moreBy teaching practical culinary and social skills, Simone Berti is preparing individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities to assimilate into society and be self-sufficient.
Read more