Projeto Arca: A solidariedade fortalecendo sonhos e esperanças em Altaneira-Ceará

Abstract

The book “Arca Project: Solidarity strengthening dreams and hopes in Altaneira-Ceará” describes the history of two Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), known as Associação Raízes Culturais de Altaneira (ARCA) and Fundação Educativa e Cultural Arca (Fundação Arca), linked especially by the spirit of solidarity. While the Association, formed mainly by family farmers, works with income generation and solidarity economy projects, the Arca Foundation develops projects in line with local and regional education and culture. The work begins by portraying the path of Carlos Alberto Tolovi in a social project of struggle for housing in an old favela that was located near the center of São Paulo, when he served as a seminarian and also as a priest, trying to show how much this his path contributed to the formation of the Arca Project. After describing how ARCA has established, the author continues to present the evolution of the work carried out by the Association and the context that subsequently led to the creation of the Arca Foundation. The narrative of the history of these two non-profit entities, known together as Projeto Arca, refers to the discussion of key concepts that inspire collective work, the questioning of the reality of social injustices and inequalities that characterize capitalist society and represents the hope of a culture, where the dignity of human life and social relations are more important than the economic one, aimed mainly at maximizing individual profit.