THIS IS HOW THE PATH IS BUILT - Odebrecht Informa

Sustainable Development
Pitching in to
build better
The Building Better project grooms skilled young professionals
to work in construction
written by Gabriela Vasconcellos photos by Beg Figueiredo
After looking for work for
some time, Camila Silva,
22, has finally found a
job opportunity in the construction
industry. This determined young
woman is now a student in the second
class to take the Building Better
Professional Education course,
where she is learning to become
a bricklayer. “Every day I get more
and more passionate about this. I’m
proud to know that what I do is important.
I don’t see anything getting
in my way,” says Camila, who lives
in Valença, Bahia, in northeastern
Brazil.
Every month, she spends a week
learning theoretical concepts in the
classroom at the Building Better
Professional Education Center. The
rest of the month, she has access to
practical knowledge at a construction
site, under the supervision of
monitors, foremen and engineers.
That is how she is guaranteeing the
income she needs to help support
her mother and get a degree in Civil
Engineering.
As a member of the Construction
Cooperative (Coonstruir) – an umbrella
institution that brings together
the project’s apprentices and graduates
– Camila receives about BRL
500 per month, depending on her
productivity. The only woman in her
class, she argues that bricklaying is
not just a man’s job. “I’ve learned everything
I know through this course.
I’m getting better every day,” she
says. She takes care of her appearance,
always putting on makeup and
paying regular visits to the beauty
salon. “I use a hairnet to keep the
mortar from getting in my hair. Getting
it out is a lot of work.”
84
informa