Searching for Eldorado took place at ACER (Associação de Apoio à Criança em Risco), an NGO that works with children and young people in the community of Eldorado.

ACER was founded in 1993 as an initiative to help and support children living on the streets in the centre of Sao Paulo and offer them a viable alternative to street life. After some years of working directly with children in the street environment ACER set up a rehabilitation centre for street children in Eldorado when it received a donated property on the edge of Billings Reservoir. As the organisation become more integrated with the community, and as it was apparent that most of these children were originally from communities such as Eldorado, the focus of ACER’s work began to shift towards a preventative approach.

Once children are living on the streets the return journey towards effective social participation, which often is precarious to begin with, is an

extremely challenging one. The street environment is one characterised by violence, severe abuse and, in most cases, early death. Street life does not always involve children sleeping on the streets. It can include situations where children use the street environment to meet their basic requirements, whether for such physical necessities as food and clothing or as a means to fulfil their fundamental emotional needs which are not being met in their family situation. ACER’s belief is that the most valuable approach to the problem is to work with children who are at high risk of entering street life and offer them meaningful opportunities and the support that makes their remaining within the community a viable choice.

ACER’s programs are diverse but the underlying philosophy is that of youth participation and empowerment. ACER believes that children and young people are capable peer and community educators and effective agents of social change.

The aim of all ACER’s programmes and activities is to provide children and youth with the emotional, social and practical skills to meaningfully participate in society, to develop the capacity to solve problems creatively and the abilities to contribute to the improvement of their own community.