Angola
A friendly smile
Good Kambas, a group of Odebrecht members’ wives in Angola, are bringing hope to needy communities in Luanda
written by: Cláudio Lovato Filho
photos by: Guilherme Afonso
“Everyone contributes her skills,” says Luciana Arce, President of Good Kambas, the wife of Ernesto Baiardi, Odebrecht’s CEO for Angola. “What we’ve found here is an opportunity to become instruments for doing good.” The Kambas’ criteria for supporting a project are the receptivity of the people involved and Odebrecht’s presence in the community. But above all there is one overarching criterion, Luciana observes: “Children.” The struggle to ensure a decent future for children is the main motivating factor for the Good Kambas.
Children like those who live in Mussende, a community of war refugees from Malange Province with a population of 3,500. In April 2008, the Good Kambas arrived in Mussende, in Viana County, part of the metropolitan region of the nation’s capital, where Odebrecht was carrying out the Águas de Luanda water supply project (now the Group is working on an extension of that system called Reforço Águas de Luanda). Company volunteers led by Adalberto Bello and Jorge Preto had been doing humanitarian volunteer work there that included distributing bread and milk.
Their efforts marked the beginning of a project whose main tangible result so far has been the construction of the Mussende School, a primary school that opened in October 2009. Its student body includes 600 children, adolescents and adults taking literacy courses. There are six classrooms, an administrative office, a teachers’ room, a library and three learning centers in the school building, which was built with funds raised by the Good Kambas. Half the funding came from parties and events that the group organized and donations from the partner companies that sponsor the project. Odebrecht provided the remaining 50%.
“We’ve gone from a heap of rubble to a full-fledged facility,” says André Cassenge, known as “Teacher Star,” who has taught at Mussende since 1997. By “heap of rubble” he means the old school, which is not far from where the new one stands today. “Those were hard times. Now the students really want to learn. I feel more fulfilled as a teacher.” Valentino Dukutis, Head of General Studies at the Viana Department of Education, adds: “Many children are back in the classroom because of this new school. The joint efforts of the community, the school and Good Kambas have made a dream come true.”
Carpenter Carlos Júnior Miranda has a daughter enrolled at the Mussende School: Fátima, age 16. He has painful memories of the old school. “My daughter got sick. The hygiene was poor. There was trash in the classroom. This new school is a great joy.” Suzana João Domingos, the mother of another student, Luzia, 17, feels the same way. “Things are getting better in Mussende.” The school is run by the Nossa Senhora do Amparo Congregation of Franciscan Sisters, founded in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, in 1906. Sister Maria das Dores Rodrigues de Moura, a Brazilian nun from Pernambuco who arrived in Angola in 2007, is the school principal, and will be assisted by two other sisters from Brazil, Jovina and Sônia.
The Kambas’ contribution in Mussende includes the installation of a water fountain with 12 taps, in partnership with EPAL (Empresa de Águas de Angola), the state water company. This achievement has had an enormous social impact, considering the local realities. Another Good Kambas program has enabled 30 young people to take professional education classes to become bricklayers, bakers and tailors.
“What we’ve found here is an opportunity to become instruments for doing good”
[ Luciana Arce ]
To accomplish all this and more, the Good Kambas are organized as teams. One is the Young Kambas, the Kambas’ children, who collect donations from their classmates and neighbors. The involvement of their kids ensures that Odebrecht members’ families are fully engaged in the cause, which is a factor that helps them feel a part of the community and the country. That is another aspect of the Kambas’ contribution.
Kambas means “friends” in the Humbundo language
Now, the Kambas are turning their attention to Honga, in Benfica County, Greater Luanda, in the vicinity of the Monte Belo real estate development. Organized by Odebrecht, the initial motivating factor for the Honga Project was the high rate of malaria infections at the jobsite’s accommodations. The root of the problem was found in Honga. Health, recreation, cultural and professional education programs have been planned and executed. On November 18, Odebrecht Informa went along when the Good Kambas paid their first visit to Honga. They talked with the residents, asked a lot of questions, and left with the certainty that they would be back, and often. They truly are good Kambas.
The TLC Luanda deserves
Revitalized roadways, fewer traffic jams and accidents, better sanitation, more green spaces. The Vias de Luanda project, which Construtora Norberto Odebrecht (CNO) is carrying out for the Government of Angola, is changing the landscape and daily life of the city of Luanda. Making the urban space more beautiful and people-friendly are the most obvious hallmarks of a project that is making it possible to revamp 10 urban roadways (seven boulevards and three streets). The city’s residents are perceiving this transformation more and more clearly.
“The streets are better lit, there’s more safety and we have more recreation options,” says Nelson Dias, a 23-year-old student. “I’m very happy about Luanda. I take even more pride in this city,” says his classmate Silvio Simão, 20. “The city is more alive,” says another friend, Milton Gomes, 22, who is clearly thrilled at this metamorphosis.
In the wake of roadworks, an extensive social/environmental program was carried out called “Luanda Deserves Your TLC.” The focus is on sustainability and strengthening civic spirit. The program’s projects include plays and dance performances staged in public spaces; involving graffiti artists, painters, sculptors, poets and singers in the revitalization of the roadways; prime-time videos broadcast on TV to inform local residents about the program; an information center, and environmental education activities in the schools. Odebrecht Project Director Marcos Rabello sums it up this way: “The relationship between citizens and the city is changing as a result of higher self-esteem. The ‘Luanda Deserves Your TLC’ program has been an important tool for achieving that.”