An example of human advancement
Implemented by the Odebrecht Foundation, the DIS - Southern Lowlands program is showing a viable way to create jobs and income
Emílio Odebrecht – Chairman of the Board of Odebrecht S.A.

Brazil is a nation of contrasts. We all know that. But I am using this cliché to point out that trying to understand the obvious is not one of our favorite mental exercises.

I am opening with these thoughts because our most outstanding qualities and our main problems reside in these contrasts. Our qualities include environmental diversity, which makes Brazil a country extraordinarily rich in natural wealth; a multifaceted ethnicity that sets us apart from all the nations in the world; and cultural diversity, another factor that makes Brazilians unique.

In regard to our main problems, suffice it to recall the vast gulf that dramatically divides Brazilian society and imposes the unacceptable juxtaposition of people that have it all with people that have nothing.

Obviously, resolving this problem has become a cause that involves each and every one of us. So why are we not making progress? After all, Brazil has plenty of resources, land, ideas and plans. Brazilians are creative, talented and determined to progress and build a better life – a feeling that is particularly widespread among our youth.

The conclusion, which is also obvious, is that what is lacking is true leaders endowed with a depoliticized vision who are convinced that Education and Work are the only solutions for our country and future.

The creation of opportunities to let talent blossom and be placed at the service of the common good is part of the role of conscientious entrepreneurs who are aware that their social responsibility is to do the right thing and do it well; to generate wealth for their shareholders and members of their organization and society; to provide excellent services and products to their clients; to use natural resources wisely and responsibly; to qualify, value and motivate their teams and establish constructive partnerships with the communities they serve. In a nutshell, for these entrepreneurs, social responsibility means playing a leading role in a story of corporate responsibility.

In this regard, the Program for the Integrated and Sustainable Regional Development of the Southern Bahia Lowlands (DIS - Southern Lowlands), which is being implemented by the Odebrecht Foundation, is an example of human advancement through education and the creation of work and income opportunities. It is also an intelligent example of agrarian reform, because instead of expropriating land at a high cost to the State, it is tapping the unexplored potential of rural areas and educating and training small farmers.

Brazil’s current model of land distribution has proven inefficient and ineffective because the beneficiaries do not always have an aptitude for farming and the entire cycle is always starting over from the beginning.

All that real farmers need is a helping hand that can give them the support they are denied – even through the government – without any political strings attached. This support should provide the basis for the survival and growth of their small businesses and the future of their successors.

The underlying premises of this program are that each individual can be the agent of his or her own future and that the aim of these actions is to give families the necessary conditions to prepare the next generations for life and work while instilling them with values.

Resources have been mobilized from the private and public sectors and civil society, and the results achieved to date have taught us some basic lessons. They also demonstrate that much more can be done in Brazil than has heretofore been achieved in the field of social action through a more extensive and depoliticized concept that is therefore unlike the current model of agrarian reform.

The first lesson is that this mobilization has to establish links between all the different players involved, who must all share the same vision. It also requires strong leadership that can transform this vision into reality.

Everyone involved must pursue excellence with a passion, because results will only be achieved through enthusiasm and commitment.

Finally, in Brazil actions of this nature cannot be conceived from the top down, with a centralizing spirit. Decentralizing means depoliticizing and sharing the entire decisionmaking process with local governments so the priority for overcoming local communities’ privations can be set by the people who experience those privations first-hand.

That way, it will be possible to identify leaders, adjust the focus on them, join forces and transform intentions into results for the benefit of all.

While keeping our focus on contribution, we at Odebrecht must identify opportunities to practice the pedagogy of presence, offering our time, presence, experience and example to the people who are being mobilized by the cause of social inclusion, a cause we share with them.