28 December 2018

Women Get Back- A job shadowing experience in Brazil


In an effort to get familiar with the entrepreneurial environment and the situation of women in the work field in Ilheus, Brazil, our colleague, Adelina, finished her job shadowing in the frame of the #WomenGetBack project, hosted by Cooperbom Turismo Ilheus.

By visiting places like Polycarpo Chocolates Tree To Bar and Fazenda Yrerê she got more information about the entrepreneurial environment in Ilheus, business opportunities women have there and how the cocoa market is helping the local community develop seeing how cocoa grows and it's processed till it becomes chocolate.

Visiting the local chocolate factory 

A one of a kind experience and opportunity to notice the perfect example of woman leadership was when she visited an authentic indigenous tribe and and saw how their "casiqui" (head of the tribe) was helping her community grow. She came in contact with key members of the tribe and found out their development plans for the future.


The head of the tribe

After two brief meetings with Rotaract club Ilheus and the head of local Social Services department, Mr. Rubenilton Silva, she found out the struggles of young entrepreneurs in the area and, maybe one of the most marking moments, was meeting the group of  almost 40 determined business women struggling to support their families while making a name for themselves and getting familiar with the strategies they use for the local market.

A part of the women entrepreneurs

Adelina's last days in Brazil were filled with engaging experiences that helped her get a better picture of the opportunities people in the community of Ilheus have to help improve and develop their lives.


At Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz the group discussed with the students about local entrepreneurship and #socialentrepreneurship ideas presenting great tools like the Step by Step Guide on how to become a Social Entrepreneur developed in the frame of the PlayEurope project.

Another productive meeting was with Rotary Club de Ilhéus Jorge Amado the members of which were very welcoming and open minded. Because the club is always getting involved in the community, especially when it comes to creating safe spaces for families, its members wanted to find out good practices from Romania and Bulgaria they could implement in Ilheus in order to better address the needs of women that suffered through any kind of violence.

The members of Rotary Club de Ilhéus Jorge Amado

This experience could not have been followed by a better encounter than that with CRAM- the Regional Council of Assistance to Women where the hosts presented statistics about the abused women that seek help in the area and what tools they use to help them.

After a nicely planned international night where Adelina and the representative of our partners at Alternativi International, Georgi ,presented their cultures and traditional food, the job shaddowing ended with taking part in the Macroregional Forum on Combating Child Labour, one of the most significant problems Ilheus faces.

The international evening

All in all, this job shadowing provided the perfect frame for the participants to collect and share a series of good practices they can later compare and learn from to help their own communities.