Techo: anti-poverty organisation in Brazil and London

25 May, 2014

Read in English below | Leia em Português aqui

By Marina Bertoncello

TECHO, a Latin American non-profit NGO, which works helping poor communities to build sustainable houses, has launched a new office in London. The launch took place on 20 May at the Brazilian Embassy in London.

Founded in Chile in 1997, the organisation’s name “techo” means “roof” in Spanish. The organisation aims to overcome poverty in slums and in deprived communities, helping residents to build houses through sustainable materials and solutions.

TECHO has 65 offices in 19 countries across Latin America and three more agencies in the United States. In Brazil, they can be found in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. Since August 2013, the NGO has opened offices in France, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In London the organization will be known as TECHO UK and like the others European offices, it will work with the 2 double-objective of raising funds and awareness throughout Europe about the need for aid across Latin America. In the future TECHO plans to bring its work to Africa.

Volunteers – TECHO’s bedrock

Larissa Pedroso, a TECHO volunteer, in Sao Paulo –  Brazil.

TECHO exists because of youth volunteers, who contribute to the organisation in diverse ways:  building houses, collecting funds, assisting big events and working alongside community residents to promote development. At this moment, the organisation has more than 500 thousand volunteers across America. Larissa Pedroso, a young Brazilian, is one of the many “drops” in this ocean of solidarity. She studies Architecture at Mackenzie University and started volunteering at TECHO Sao Paulo in 2011.  Last September she came to London with a scholarship for the Brazilian Program “Science without Borders” ( Ciências sem Fronteiras in Portuguese). When she arrived in the UK she quickly realised that TECHO was also in London, allowing her to make a difference and have fun.

In Brazil, she has helped construct nine houses. As she is an Architecture student, her main tasks involve assisting the building project, as well as the examination and preparation of the sites. However, she admits that has already done a little bit of everything; from interacting with community residents to physical labour. In London, she continues working voluntarily, promoting the organization at numerous events and always proud to be working for a cause that she truly believes in.

During the TECHO launch at the Brazilian Embassy, Larissa explained that the sustainable houses normally last up to 3 years. The aim is to give to those families a little push, so they can restructure the space themselves. Living in a safer space teaches them how to manage and take care of their environment, and this in turn, allows them to develop their own education and work skills.

Learn more:   www.techo.org