Jump, walk, can't stop...

Laughter, loud music, dancing, jokes, tongue twisters... lots of joy. The “child” spirit was present in the courtyard of the Academic Unit Brotas, on the afternoon of October 9th, marking yet another Children's Day at Bahiana. The group of students from various undergraduate courses, who are now driving the Candeal Program, lovingly prepared an afternoon of playful and educational activities for children at the Grupo Guerreiros da Paz day care center.

The institution is one of the entities served by the Candeal Program, an interdisciplinary curricular activity that brings together the undergraduate courses of the Bahiana, in yet another innovative proposal for interaction with society, within disciplines that focus on health education.

According to the coordinator of the crèche, Italo Barreto, the organization has been partnering with the Candeal Program for two years. "Initially, there was a proposal for students from Bahiana, from different courses, were, every six months, to develop recreational activities and also associated with the courses they study. Today, we are celebrating Children's Day, but even so, health-related content is included, in addition to disclosing the importance of the participation of each one of us in the process of maintaining physical, mental and spiritual health”.

According to Ítalo Barreto, the day care center was born almost 20 years ago, from its humanitarian question: “if I have it, why can't the other have it?”. Located on Rua Comendador Pereira da Silva, in Brotas, the entity assists children aged between 3 and 15 who live in the local community and are at risk. The Guerreiros da Paz Group is made up of 25 volunteers who, in addition to dedicating their time, donate part of their income to run the day care center, which does not have any government support. Those interested in participating in the initiative can visit the website http://www.grupoguerreirosdapaz.com.br/pt.

For the medical student, Jhonatas Mascarenhas, who participated in the Candeal Program, in the second semester of 2012, the activity, proposed in the Collective Health - Practice discipline, was transformative. “There was a good reception from the people at the daycare. We were able to organize everything for three weeks before starting to work with them. We did this work with the participation of the professor and students of Nursing, Psychology, Dentistry and Physiotherapy. We initially talked with the parents, with the institution's volunteers and, from there, we started having moments with the children. We work on many issues related to health, from first aid to oral hygiene”.

The innovative aspect of the experience was what caught the attention of the second semester medical student, Jean Paulo Lacerda Araújo. “Initially, I wasn't expecting it to be something so beneficial for professional life. Today, we bring these children with the purpose of putting them in a different context and even to influence them to realize that, in the future, they can also be here”.

Check out the photos.