It was with the intention of showing the favela as a powerhouse of talent that businesswoman Aline Fróes, 35, helped create a digital training project in communities in Rio de Janeiro in 2017.
This is Vai na Web, which presents itself as a technology school with free programming classes for young people.
From technical education, the intention is to make students overcome professional barriers and be able to take on jobs in the so-called digital economy.
The first two Vai na Web units were installed in Complexo do Alemão and Morro dos Prazeres, in Rio, five years ago.
The second remains in operation, while the project expands its activities to other regions of the country. Recently, Vai na Web opened a center in the favela of Paraisópolis, in São Paulo.
For those unable to attend face-to-face activities, the project also provides training remotely, a modality intensified by the pandemic. Digital education has made it possible to reach students in 24 states, according to Fróes.
“When the pandemic arrived, we changed physical classes to online. We lent notebooks, classes grew. We had students from Piauí, Minas Gerais, São Paulo”, he says.
The current number of students is around 250. The businesswoman estimates that around 5,000 young people have already passed through the initiative, which has classes given by former students. The course lasts six months.
To put the project on its feet, Fróes works in partnership with his partner, also businessman Igor Couto. Both were born in areas on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and built their careers in the technology sector. The couple works together on Vai na Web with social activist Cris dos Prazeres.
“A young person from a place like Alemão spends hours leaving home and going to a school in search of training, not to mention the costs of transportation and food. There are barriers for these people. What Vai na Web wants is to break barriers”, says Fróes.
The project founded in 2017 has evolved into what she calls a social business. In addition to studying at the programming school, students can also participate in Estúdio Vai na Web, which provides services to companies in different sectors.
All the profit made at the studio with the development of software for the companies is reinvested in the training of young people, according to Fróes.
“When a company hires Vai na Web, it doesn’t just pay for the software. It also invests in social impact. It’s a win-win model.”
One of the goals of the project, says Fróes, is to help reduce unemployment among young people. Traditionally, unemployment is higher for this layer compared to older professionals.
In the second quarter of this year, the unemployment rate was estimated at 33.3% for Brazilians aged between 14 and 17 and at 19.3% for those aged between 18 and 24, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ).
These are the highest rates among the five age groups surveyed by the institute. On average, the unemployment rate at the time was 9.3%.
“If we manage to structure a path for these talented young people, we help to reduce inequalities, to deliver quality education, to reduce poverty”, says Fróes.
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