PRECE PROGRAM IN BRAZIL

 

Ceará – PRECE – June 2010
One of the great opportunities of June’s East Iowa Presbytery visit to our sister Ceará Presbytery in Brazil was to see and learn more about the PRECE cooperative education work. Translated from the Portuguese, the acronym stands for "Educational Program for the Hearts of Students.” PRECE is the brainchild of Manoel Andrade, who, along with his family, has visited Iowa several times.

 

PRECE is separate from the Independent Presbyterian Church in Ceará. But it is a most important program to open access to higher education, and thus improve life in the area.

 

As background, one must understand that the quality of Ceara’s public primary and secondary schools leaves much to be desired. Some 90% of students are in public schools. Public school graduates are generally poorly prepared to pass college and university entrance exams. Most parents with means send their children to private schools that are higher quality and far more likely to equip them to gain college entry.   Brazil provides free tuition to college and university students. Thus, passing the entrance exams is vitally important.

 

The PRECE program is built on cooperative learning. Students learn together in groups without a teacher. The students teach each other. They are organized into learning cells of three to eight or nine students for each particular subject. One student in each cell is the coordinator and the group meets regularly to study and learn together. About half of the PRECE students are also attending public schools at the same time. It may take them several years to fill the gaps in their public school education. Read more.

A DREAM IS COMING TRUE IN BRASIL
In Davenport, Newcomb Presbyterian Church sent $3,000 to the Aerolandia church in Brasil to help with their expansion project.
 
In Fortaleza, hammers can be heard as a lateral wall is lifted. The smell of solvent lingers in the air from freshly painted fixtures. A mosaic of newly installed tiles gleams in the afternoon sunlight pouring through the windows at Aerolandia.
 
We are living the dream, says Pastor Sinval Israel and we feel the scripture coming alive in Psalm 126:1, When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy.
 
Pastor Sinval refers to the people of Newcomb as his "siblings"; the root being "sibb" meaning kinship which has been the goal of the Brasil campaign - to build relationships between congregations in Brasil and Iowa. 

OUT & ABOUT 
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Lookin' for Life is the newest CD of the Presbyterian musicians known as Steeplechase.  Members of the band include Ely's Joanne Chadima, Greg Mulherin, Barb Horak, Julie Kilberger, Kenny Hofer, and Mike Hamilton and Pastors Bob David (interim at Iowa City St. Andrew) and Al Zimmerman (who recently moved to Kansas from West Liberty). Pastor Howard Chapman painted the CD cover art pictured at the right. A portion of each Steeplechase Lookin' for Life CD sold will support flood relief in Iowa.  For more about Steeplechase, click here.