“Education does not transform the world. Education changes people. People change the world – Paulo Freire”.
It is not only a good quote, it is also the sentence that summarizes a unique experience of one of our students in our Bakery School in Brazil : Patrick Roberto de Oliveira.
He is a young man who faced several challenges to become a dear intern at Feito a Pão.
During the meeting with the parents of the students, Patricks’ mother stated that he might be deaf and might even have a spectral level of autism.
His family had struggled for many years with various difficulties. Patrick had health issues. Also, the youngest daughter suffered from a major condition, which led the family to search for specific medical treatments. Both children suffered from a complex, sometimes violent family environment.
During the pandemic, the situation worsened, and the parents divorced, scattering family members in different homes.
Ariane Oliveira, the elder sister of the family, graduated in the first batch of our Bakery School. She inspired her brother Patrick to join our Bakery School programme following his graduation from SENAI. Ariane now works in a bakery and provides primary financial support for her family.
According to Ariane, Patrick’s life in the public school was quite problematic. He suffered bullying all the time, and outbreaks were frequent. At SENAI, he had a mediocre performance, but he transformed when we invited him to enter Natasha’s School and take the technical course.
Teachers encouraged him to be more participative, understand that his opinion is important, and improve his self-esteem. To help, the Bakery School staff also got him a doctor, who confirmed his severe deafness and the need to wear a hearing aid.
Step by step, he started to transform. And we noticed a major change the week he was “Chef baker” among his fellow students. His demeanor and self-confidence made him exceptionally in control of the situation, showing leadership and focus.
More recently, he was hired as intern at the bakery.
According to the owner, Patrick is sensational, if it were possible she would like to have clones of him with his competence, concentration and hard work!
We are delighted for Patrick, but above we are proud to have seen him develop and becoming more autonomous and self-confident.
This experience comes to underline two important topics of modern society: Education to transform people and the importance of Diversity & Inclusion that make the world a better place for everyone, but above all, give everyone equal chances to be the someone they deserve to be.