Quality of electricity service, quality of education for students of the Fraternidade Association in Teresina, Brasil

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By Angélica Roldán Arias

 

In the Ilhotas sector of the city of Teresina, Brasil, there is an association for people in situations of vulnerability called “Fraternidade”, a space for learning and coexisting for the residents of the sector, especially for the children, whose objective is to promote a culture of peace.

 

Fraternidade emerged in 2007 as an initiative of Rita de Cássia Furtado Lisboa, who, moved by her surroundings, decided to dedicate her time and love to bring together the vulnerable residents of the sector in her home with her mother, in order to carry out care activities through strategies based on damage prevention. With the incorporation of other volunteers and her husband Mantovani Lopes, it was possible to bring together a greater number of people who benefited from the initiative, with whom it became more accessible to work, since the help was extended to their sons and daughters.

 

Rita tells us that this initiative was sustained byself-financing, and it wasn’t until 2014 when alliances were generated with local and international entities, which allowed them to have their own place and to formalize the association. With time, the institution began to grow in such a way, that nowadays pedagogical activities such as the reinforcement of school activities are developed in its classrooms, which are complemented by ballet, skate and judo. The contributions of the entities have helped them to give an economic retribution for a reduced number of local people so that they can provide cleaning and meal prep services in the Association. Through volunteering, pedagogy, child psychology and dentistry services are supported, in addition to the repair and sale of second-hand clothes, and in the afternoons the classrooms are used to teach various courses such as basic computing and hardware for people of all ages; many of these courses are taught by Mantovani.


 

Photo 1: Fraternidade’s Association children.

 


Photo 2: Reinforcement classes of mathematics in one of the classrooms.

 

Over time, the association has also developed other activities as a result of the projects generated through voluntary efforts. These include the reception, weighing and classification of solid waste to be sold to local recyclers, a task carried out by Mantovani and the people of Ilhotas, in order to raise funds. This arduous work involves the handling of a diverse amount of waste, including hazardous, as well as the presence of vectors. Rita and Mantovani tell us that preserving this space requires full time, which is why it is currently difficult for them to work to generate their own income.



 

Photo 3: Weighing the material to be sold to the recycler.

 

One of the situations that prevents the normal development of all activities is that when the energy capacity is exceeded when the computers, lights, fans and air conditioning remain on, the classrooms are left without a light. The girls and boys, accustomed to this event, immediately open the windows to allow natural light to enter and thus, continue with their activities. Once the circuit breaker is reactivated, it is possible to resume activities optimally. This time, with greater caution, which means that some activities must be prioritized over others. Through his study, the problem arises because the space, although small, has electrical installations belonging to the year 1972, as Mantovani tells us, plus incandescent, sodium and mercury luminaries are still used in some classrooms.

 

After an analysis of the supply and costs of energy, as well as its use, this problem could be solved through the replacement of inefficient electrical installations and appliances, such as the replacement of single-phase circuit breakers with three-phase ones, traditional incandescent luminaries with LED and type T5 fluorescent tubes, and the modification of the arrangement of the lamps in the classrooms. Spaces such as the ballet classroom and the dental and psychological offices already have LED lights, so no improvement would be necessary for them. In a complementary way, this plan should include a program of awareness and good energy efficiency practices for the people of the association, promoting the proper use of the electrical appliances, and final disposition of lights. In this sense, the importance of energy efficiency lies in improving the performance of the activities, the financial savings of the institution, and having therefore the reduction of environmental impacts due to the reduction of the demand for electricity service and the consequent emission of tons of CO2.

 

These actions imply an unavailable budget, which would allow the adequate development of the activities that represent the result of the effort of Rita and Mantovani to preserve a healthy space for children and vulnerable people in the sector, and that has generated a social impact in the community, since the activities carried out allow to stimulate creativity, academic performance, and sports promotion, all of them developed in a good environment.

 

Although social problems persist, and people’s exposure to scenarios of domestic violence continues to pose a risk to their development and quality of life, Fraternidade has become their second home. That is why improving the conditions for access to a better electricity coverage will allow many children, youth and adults to continue learning in a safe space. Rita tells us “The meaning of association is closely linked to the meaning of our life, I feel that we have a mission: to improve our environment because we are aware of social injustice, so we want to impact the lives of people who do not have the same opportunities. That is why we come together, because we have the common idea of contributing and changing the world”. In the same way, Mantovani affirms that Fraternidade for him is a point of opportunities, a home where people can begin to dream.


 

Photo 4: Mantovani and Rita, founders of Fraternidade.


Would you like to be part? Your contribution is very important. You can help this cause trough the following crowdfunding link for donations, which will allow us to collaborate with the improvement of the electrical system independently. In his way, we can build a better reality with adequate conditions for children in Teresina.

You could make your donation by the following link:

https://vaki.co/es/vaki/fraternidade

“Se pode sonhar, pode fazer” (“If you can dream it, you can do it”).



ANEXO 1

 

Requirements for improving the electric demand for Fraternidade Association

 

Next, the list of components required to improve energy efficiency in Fraternidade Association is attached, together with the total amount required. The unit costs of the components have been obtained from the quotation made to the local shopping center “Hidroeléctrica Center” (see Photo 5). The unit costs for the LED luminaires have been obtained through online offers available for Teresina, Brazil.

Item

Quantity

Unitary Cost (BRL)

Total Cost (BRL)

Total Cost (USD)[1]

Three-phase circuit breaker 80 A (SDD 63 C80) 10 KA Steck

3 units

152.00

456.00

80.91

Three-phase energy meter box CMD3 P7 Equatorial (8292)

2 units

162

324.00

57.49

Distribution Box 36C emb (EZ9E3336) Snheider

1 units

225.54

225.54

39.94

Distribution Center emb 28C 100 A BR (904312N)

1 units

833.14

833.14

147.83

Single phase circuit25 A (SDD61C25) 3KA Steck

15 units

9.42

141.30

25.07

Quadruplex cape 3x1x16+16 AL XLPE 1KV

1 meter

11.39

11.39

2.02

Quadruplex cape 3x1x25+25 AL XLPE 1KV

1 meter

18.05

18.05

3.20

Ground rod 5/8”x2, 40m IH-8580 Intelli 7304

2 units

50.51

101.02

17.92

Grounding connector TH-12 5/8” simple

1 units

7.01

7.01

1.24

Flex cape 4mm 750V negro

3 meters

4.31

12.93

2.29

Flex cape 2,5 mm 750V rojo

3 meters

2.78

8.34

1.48

Tubular LED Lamp 20W T5[2]

17 units

35.95

611.15

108.44

 LED luminaire 24 W[3]

33 units

44.10

1455.30

257.64

LED luminaire W[4]

4 units

58.04

232.16

41.19

Electrical work

-

1200.00

1200.00

212.92

TOTAL

5637.33

999.58

 

The quotation for the electrical components is shown below:



Photo 5. Quotation of electrical components in “Hidroeléctrica Center”.

 

 

About the author:




Angélica Roldán Arias (Cuenca, Ecuador) is an Environmental Engineer from the University of Cuenca. Volunteer in coordination of a socio-environmental project in Teresina, Brazil. Vicepresident of the Female Association of in 2016 – 2017. In her graduate thesis she addressed the topic “Relationship between the water quality of the El Salado stream with the use of urban and peri-urban land in the Baños parish, Cuenca, Ecuador”. She currently works in environmental consulting. She is interested in issues related to environmental education, ecology and gender.





Bibliography:


[1] The conversion from BRL to USD is established on October 30, 2021, where 1 Brazilian real corresponds to 0.18 US dollars.





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