Edelvira Goes Ramos

When Edelvira Goes Ramos first moved to a slum area of the Curitiba municipal district, Parana, Brazil, she called herself a simple “carrinheira.” That translates to a person who walks the streets with a little wheelbarrow collecting recycled garbage to sell. Her intent? To support her community and the women of the area in any way she could.

Since 1985, Edelvira has been doing just that. Not only did she found a day care center, “Solidary Mother Support Home,” whose mission is to give community mothers a safe place to leave their children when they go to work, she continues to help women find jobs and to discover their self-esteem and dignity.

For these reasons and more, Edelvira, 52, has been named the recipient of Soroptimist’s 2009 Making a Difference for Women Award, nominated by SI/Curitiba-Batel, Brazil. The award honors women who, through personal or professional activities, work to improve the lives of women and girls. As the federation finalist, Edelvira received $5,000 from Soroptimist to donate to the charitable organization of her choice.

“It’s impossible for me to express how happy I am with this award,” Edelvira said. “Tears are falling from my face and I can’t find the appropriate words. The award came at the exact moment when our community needs a lot of help.”
When Edelvira and her family first moved to the impoverished area, they had no financial help from their town hall or government. With her support, however, the community residents began to petition public agencies for basic living conditions -- paved roads, streetlights, water and electricity. Today, the district is known as Uberaba de Cima and has about 32,000 residents and four associations. Edelvira is president of one of the associations.

At first, she helped the district women by watching their children while they went to work. When the number of children grew, she began to use her own home, keeping only one room for her own family’s use. Eventually founding the “Solidary Mother Support Home,” Edelvira began to see other needs and responded.

She worked with women who stayed at home, teaching them to groom themselves, to read and write, to sew, and to make arts and crafts. “I wanted the women to regain self-esteem and create jobs and income for them,” she says.

Mrs. Maria Aparecida Candido, 58, is one of those women. “She has a very sick husband and now she transforms donated fabric scraps into beautiful bedspreads,” Edelvira says. “The work is sold and the income is divided between the Solidary Mother Support Home and Maria.”

Edelvira also helps Benilda Ramos, 56, to sell her arts and crafts. Today, both Maria and Benilda are supported financially through this work and dream of a cooperative where they can manufacture, store and sell their products. “I have been trying to get a space for many women to sell their products,” she says, “but this work lacks support and orientation is needed to be able to continue and get stronger.”

For the past nine years, she also has provided for Nivea Maria Amorim, 57, whose late alcoholic husband left her with few resources. Edelvira solicited materials and volunteer help from the community to build her a house. Today, Nivea volunteers at the day care center and lives on donations of food and clothing sent to Edelvira.

“Volunteers receive only part of our donations,” she says. “They feel happy and satisfied with their activities. These volunteers understand they are taking children out of the streets and giving them love and passing on values, including spiritual ones.”

With early pregnancy common in the community, Edelvira, as association president, also helps many pregnant, homeless girls living on the streets. “They suffer pains, sickness and hunger,” she says. “I make sure that the girls receive pre-natal care at the community health center and also try to guide the girls about early pregnancy and how to avoid or face this situation.”

Each day, she continues to transform the lives of women in her community, helping them with self-esteem issues, including support of domestic violence victims. She also instructs women about their citizenship rights and finds them jobs, and helps them with needed work documentation and bus passes. Edelvira even supplies clothing and hairdressers so the women look professional for their job interviews. “Appearance is so important when you are looking for a job,” she says.

Today, Edelvira continues to dedicate herself to her volunteer work, maintaining the daycare center with donations, presiding over the community association by having all families registered, and taking care of the community women.

“My life was transformed when I discovered that helping as a volunteer brought immeasurable satisfaction,” she says. “My greatest dream is to have a larger place to do my work and also to set up a sewing cooperative and trade courses dedicated to women. The purpose of my volunteer work is to recover women’s self-esteem and their rights. I thank God and Soroptimist for this award which will allow our work to continue growing, helping women and girls to achieve their best.”