Savana Brito, program manager, visited projects supported by two ELAS Fund programs: the Speak Without Fear Fund, a partnership with the Avon Institute, and ELAS in the Exact Sciences, a partnership with the Unibanco Institute, the Carlos Chagas Foundation and UN Women.

The visits are part of project monitoring, which is part of the ELAS Fund methodology. Program Management maintains systematic communication with the groups via telephone and Skype and with face-to-face visits, as well as participating in activities proposed within the scope of the projects. Throughout the process, the ELAS Fund is guided by valuing the autonomy of the women it supports and has as one of its objectives the institutional strengthening of the groups.

"Visiting the projects gives us a broader view of the different contexts in which they operate and the impact of each project. It also allows us to strengthen the trust between the groups and the ELAS Fund, and from this closer relationship we can learn more about the challenges and strengthen the groups and organizations even more," explains Savana Brito.  

In October, Savana was in Goiânia with the black women Dandara Group in the Cerrado, which runs the "Investigate Girls!" project. From Goiás, she went to Rio Grande do Sul, where she visited two more grantees in ELAS in the Exact Sciences: the Pampa Scientists, who build prototypes for generating electricity with girls in Uruguaiana, and the COMPaz Institute, which with the Akotirene Kilombo Science project promotes workshops, lectures and experiments with medicinal plants and observation of the night sky in Triunfo.

In Rio Grande do Sul, Savana also visited Themis and the Center for the Study of Prostitution (NEP), in Porto Alegre. Both develop projects to end violence against women with the support of the Speak Without Fear Fund, a partnership between the ELAS Fund and the Avon Institute. At NEP, Savana took part in a chat about the workshops run by the Entre Mulheres project, the participation and engagement of women prostitutes in the meetings and the issues raised. With Themis, she visited the Women's Information Service (SIM) in the Restinga neighborhood, the PLP course in Lomba do Pinheiro in Porto Alegre, and took part in an articulation meeting with the delegate in charge of the local DEAM.

The ELAS Fund's Program Manager ended the month in the Northeast, getting to know the project developed by the Papai Institute in Recife. In Pernambuco, she also visited Chã de Alegria, where the project "Sou mulher, sou negra, sererei exatas!!!" encourages local schoolgirls with workshops and stories from black women scientists.