Students from the municipality of Paragominas, in the northeastern region of Pará, had on Wednesday, January 23, their first contact with the iPads they will use throughout this year. They are benefiting from the “iPad CASECA” project, the result of a partnership between the local government, Hydro and Hydro union members in Norway.

The “iPad CASECA” project installed 15 tablets in a room at the Center for Socio-Educational Actions for Children and Adolescents (CASECA). The idea is to stimulate learning, through the use of applications (apps) and a pedagogical plan divided into modules, developed especially for students.

The initiative, which should benefit a thousand students, was launched on the date that the municipality completed 48 years. Eliene Ferro, coordinator of the Child Labor Eradication Program that works within CASECA, highlighted the stimulus that the project provides to children. “We already had music, karate, futsal, the arts that are the themes where each month the teachers develop a theme with these children. And they always want: ‘aunt, are you going to have a computer class? Aunt, I want to see a computer, I want to know how you use it '. Thanks to God, now we had the opportunity to be contemplated with these iPads. They will learn English, work on music, work with texts ... the iPad has a lot of uses for these children, "he said.

Little Maria Eduarda, 10 years old, was very happy during the launch of the project. “When I went to do my re-enrollment, Eliene, who is the coordinator, sent for me, but I didn't know why. I went to ask an English teacher, and she said: ‘Do you know what you’re going to win?’ And I said, ‘what?’ - ‘You are going to win 15 iPads!’ “When I first went to touch it (iPad), I think it gave me a deal. I was afraid to do something wrong. But when it ended, everything went well. I think it was easy, ”he adds.

A better future for everyone

Hydro Paragominas, responsible for mining bauxite in the municipality of Pará, & nbsp; will be the local representative of the company in promoting and monitoring the project, which is a pioneer in the state. “The project is the combination of several important elements: aluminum, which originates from bauxite - which is mined here in Paragominas, technology, the people who are part of the partner institutions, and the children, who represent the future better than all we want ”, stated the director of Hydro Paragominas, Ricardo Lara.

The Paragominas City Hall, through the Social Action Secretariat, is also an important partner of the Project. The municipality installed Wi-Fi internet at CASECA, with the ability to connect to all iPads, which will make it possible to download future applications that will contribute to the development of classes.

Representatives of the Norwegian foundation Africa Startup, which develops a similar project in The Gambia, are in the city to carry out the training of CASECA teachers and technicians who will conduct the learning. The proposal for the first semester is to concentrate the lessons in the following key areas: Introduction to the iPad; Art; Logic, Games, English and Portuguese (writing and reading).

After the inauguration of the project room, the guests also participated in the inauguration of the CASECA multisport court, built with the support of Hydro Paragominas.

Unionists took the initial step towards the project

In 2011, representatives of Hydro's Employees Union in Norway paid a visit to the bauxite mine in Paragominas, an opportunity where they also got to know & nbsp; the support that the company already provides to CASECA, being impressed with the institution's work. Back in Norway, the representatives sought a partnership with Hydro, which from the beginning fully supported the development of the “iPad CASECA” project. From then on, resources were raised and the Norwegian Foundation Africa Startup was invited to carry out in the city of Pará a project similar to the one already developed in the African country.

“The 'CASECA iPads' is a great example of cooperation between the union entities and the top management of Hydro”, highlights Sten Roar Martinsen, who represents the union of employees of the company in Norway that started raising funds for the project in Paragominas.
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