NGO Commemorates Its 30 Years In the Presence of Nobel Prize Winner
(Photo) Founder Marianne Spiller
On the weekend of November 20 and 21, the Life for All Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) from the metropolitan region of Curitiba, gathered together some of the biggest names on the international scene, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, to celebrate its 30 years of existence. Among the guests were the Argentine 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel; the Belgian missionary Jose Comblin, one of the fathers of liberation theology; and the Bishop Emeritus of Goias, Don Tomas Balduino, co-founder of the Pastoral Land and the Indigenous Missionary Council.
The Life for All Foundation’s story began when the institution was still the Brazilian Association for the Protection of Childhood (ABAI). At the beginning of the 1970s, a Swiss woman, Marianne Spiller, came to Brazil and outlined her plan under the influence of Abbe Pierre, the famous French human rights activist and priest. Soon afterwards, the work with the region’s children and teenagers began.
Forbidden subject
In the 1980s, the organisation decided to invest in a subject that was until then considered taboo in the third world: chemical dependency. Pioneers in the area, the volunteers and employees realised that the abuse of alcohol and drugs was one of the main causes of vulnerability in children and adolescents who suffered at the hands of their parents’ problems. Thus were born the community homes that have become a statewide foundation. Today, world leaders recognize the Mandirituba entity that began treating drug addiction when the subject was still taboo.
The Foundation also works hard in favour of the environment. After leaving the direction of the group, Marianne did not allow her 70 years of age to impede her militancy. Now she dedicates herself to travelling the world to promote dialogue between developed countries and those in development. For all her work, she was nominated as one of Switzerland’s most influential women. “We are discussing how we can help mankind to return to living in balance with the Earth and move away from the naïve, technocratic belief in economic growth. It is a new paradigm”, she explained. “We want balance in the place of growth, and solidarity instead of competition.”
Today, the Life for All Foundation is run by her fellow Swiss countrywoman, Heidi Wyss. All the organisation’s activities are maintained by Swiss volunteers who continue to contribute with financial and material resources and voluntary work. The secret of the Mandirituba-based Life for All Foundation’s success is to coordinate its local work with an international approach towards a better world.
For more information in Portuguese, visit the site Fundação Vida Para Todos.
