Corporate Citizenship
At corporate level, virtually every large company has some kind of social responsibility program. Some even have foundations and institutes with full-time professional staff and annual budgets worth millions of dollars. These help educate and look after the health of hundreds of thousands of young people and adults all over the country. One big bank has a foundation which runs 40 schools and educates over 100,000 children. One well-known businessman not only runs Brazil´s biggest industrial conglomerate – which also has its own foundation – but spends several hours every day running a big hospital in São Paulo.

As well as education and health, companies sponsor environmental, cultural and sports initiatives. I will not single out any company but you only need to visit their sites to see the size and scope of their activities. Some companies even publish separate social reports along with their annual business activities report. The social responsibility displayed by domestic and multinational companies in Brazil belies the politically correct view that they are only interested in profits and exploiting people.

This kind of corporate responsibility is very different from western Europe or North America where good corporate citizenship tends to concentrate on other areas, such as the environment or corporate governance.

Hands-On Helpers
However, tens of thousands of charitable organizations do not have a big sponsor and rely on individual donations and voluntary workers. An example of one such body is the Sister Clara Fraternity (Fraternidade Irma Clara or FIC)which looks after cerebral palsy sufferers in São Paulo. This organization operates under conditions which would make most Europeans and North Americans shudder. It is based in cramped, narrow quarters under a viaduct in the Barra Funda region, with traffic thundering by literally above its head. The FIC looks after 36 patients, most of whom are children. The infrastructure is old and inefficient due to the location. However, all the clinical, social and living conditions have been approved by the statutory health and government agencies, as well as by professional bodies representing nurses and doctors. The center spends a huge amount of money to meet all the requirements the government imposes on it even though the authorities do not reciprocate.

The sad truth is that these children would have nowhere else to go if the FIC did not exist. Many have been abandoned by their families who could not look after them while others are wards of court sent there by judicial order. Most are very badly deformed, cannot walk and require intensive treatment. Most cannot speak and communicate in other ways - by smiling, crying, raising their hands or rolling their eyes. Three quarters of the patients require help just to masticate their food since they have little strength to swallow. Others are incapable of any movement and have to be shifted around regularly to prevent bedsores and related conditions.

Some of the children are able to go to a special school nearby. This is a private school and charges around R$1,800 (US$640) a month but the FIC has some full and half-time scholarships. The other children spend their time at the center, taking part in activities and receiving remedial treatment. They are cared for 24 hours a day by a team of 55 professional and auxiliary staff, including doctors and nurses, supported by volunteers.

Those with families receive visitors and sometimes they are even taken to see their families. These visits bring hope to everyone, not just the patient. Albino Campos, communications director, gave one example. “The members of one very poor family put a lot of work into cleaning and tidying up the shack where they lived when the child paid the visit and one of the uncles even stopped drinking for a week. This shows that places like the FIC can help everyone involved.”

It costs R$150,000 (around US$53,000) a month just to keep the center running. Since the FIC receives no financial support from any government body it must raise this money itself. It has no political, religion or corporate links, although it wants to develop corporate partnerships. Money is raised in various ways, through appeals, fund-raising events, bazaars etc. It also receives donations of food, drugs, clothes and other items from well-wishers and supporters, and runs a thrift store. It publishes a magazine, which has a circulation of 7,000 copies, and has a site in Portuguese and English. Most of the funds come from Brazil but it has also received help from people in the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The FIC is planning to build a new center nearby at a cost of at least R$5 million (around US$1.78 million). The land has been donated by the city government but the cost of construction and maintenance will be borne by the center. The aim is to accommodate patients in the new center in more modern conditions and use the existing center for out-patients receiving day treatment. This would allow the FIC to reach more patients at a lower cost.

Kanitz Award for Efficiency
The organization was founded 22 years ago and is run by an elected board of directors. It has won the prestigious Brazilian Kanitz national award for its efficiency and is registered with the US Charity Aid Foundation (CAF). This registration is particularly important since it means that Americans can donate funds to the FIC through the CAF and receive a tax benefit from the US authorities. Non-Americans can also make donations directly through the CAF. Its site is www.cafonline.org.

Every year 40,000 children are born with cerebral palsy in Brazil. That´s why places like the FIC will continue working for a long, long time and take on the burden which is assumed by governments in more developed countries.

February 1, 2005

© John Fitzpatrick 2005