A Discussion with Rubia Mara Pappini, Manager of Projects and International Partnerships, Pastoral da Criança, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil
With: Rubia Mara Pappini Berkley Center Profile
June 23, 2014
Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, undergraduate student Adam Barton interviewed Rubia Mara Pappini, the manager of projects and
international partnerships for Pastoral da Criança. In this interview, Pappini reflects on her work at Pastoral da Criança and the ways the organization supports leadership development among volunteer leaders.
What
is your name and position in Pastoral?
I received my master’s in Economic Engineering and Production Administration, and then went on to get an M.B.A. Dr. Zilda [Arns Neumann] knew the director of my college and, in 1988, called to ask for a student to come work for Pastoral and develop the Income Generation program.
How did you come to work for Pastoral?
The health program has always been incredibly important, but Dr. Zilda was constantly thinking toward the future. You improve health through basic education, but you also need families to have enough money to buy food to eat. At the time, the federal government had a program that provided baskets of basic foods to families, but Dr. Zilda fought for a minimum income program that would give families the power to decide what they wanted to buy.
So I was tapped to be the one to begin that income-generation program for the families that we serve. Today, my management work is in the area of health, but it’s still governed by the basic economic principle of allocating scarce resources among unlimited needs.
What is Pastoral da Criança’s mission?
Pastoral’s mission is, in short, to bring information to families so that they can best care for their children. This information is about basic health, child development, healthy eating—basic ideas and actions being delivered to the nation’s poorest.
Can you talk to me about the evolution of Pastoral and its vision, and what impact that evolution has had on you?
If you look at the first of Dr. Zilda’s projects, you will see that they were to improve the health and emotional-cognitive development of children, based on community needs and scientific research along with the principles of union, fraternity, solidarity, faith, and mysticism. These principles and values have not changed over the years; community needs, however, have.
In the beginning, Pastoral was fighting severe malnutrition and infant mortality, and our actions aligned to those needs. But Dr. Zilda always thought ahead, studying economics and scientific research to spot new trends. Over time, then, our entire process inverted to adapt to the national trend toward obesity.
When thinking of Dr. Zilda, I also have to mention the idea of community. Dr. Zilda pioneered a methodology of community involvement in which those from a community are the ones who are responsible for, who have power over their own transformation. One of the first ever Pastoral testimonials quotes a local nurse as saying: “God is in this work; it is a true example of Christian fraternity.”
Dr. Zilda’s legacy remains strong, reminding us that concrete results that support community needs are what matter. She left the message that it is possible to change the profile of a country completely through simple, voluntary community actions.
Could you tell me about the leadership structure in Pastoral?
Basically, we follow the hierarchy of the Church, but with slightly different names: at the top is the national coordination, then the state coordination, then the diocese coordination, which we call sectors, then the parish coordination, and finally the communities.
Every two years for a sector and every four years for the state, we hold an assembly in which a new coordinator is elected. The coordinators at one level vote for three viable candidates at the level above themselves, and from there the bishop has the final say.
Could you tell me about the system by which you contract and pay your coordinators?
The coordinators in all 27 states are hired with the same pay. In the 300 or so sectors, the basic rule is that they all work as volunteers. But Pastoral’s board of directors decided that that the coordinators for the 20 poorest sectors would also receive a small stipend.
In some states, however, coordinators also receive stipends through the generosity of local partners. Here in Paraná, for example, a local energy company asks for donations through their monthly electricity bills, and gives that money directly to the state coordinator to distribute to sector coordinators.
To what would you attribute the success of Pastoral da Criança?
I think that a big part of it is the calling to improve your own environment. As a leader, I learn not only how to care for a child, but also how to get involved in my community.
This training and development of leaders is something that Dr. Zilda believed in deeply. Our leaders are respected in the community because they are highly trained first, beginning with the Leader’s Guide, with continuing education that picks up from there. This personal development leads to personal transformation that in turn allows our leaders to transform their communities.
I think that Pastoral unites scientific, technical knowledge together with a community, and needs, based approach, which leads to an incredible result.
I received my master’s in Economic Engineering and Production Administration, and then went on to get an M.B.A. Dr. Zilda [Arns Neumann] knew the director of my college and, in 1988, called to ask for a student to come work for Pastoral and develop the Income Generation program.
How did you come to work for Pastoral?
The health program has always been incredibly important, but Dr. Zilda was constantly thinking toward the future. You improve health through basic education, but you also need families to have enough money to buy food to eat. At the time, the federal government had a program that provided baskets of basic foods to families, but Dr. Zilda fought for a minimum income program that would give families the power to decide what they wanted to buy.
So I was tapped to be the one to begin that income-generation program for the families that we serve. Today, my management work is in the area of health, but it’s still governed by the basic economic principle of allocating scarce resources among unlimited needs.
What is Pastoral da Criança’s mission?
Pastoral’s mission is, in short, to bring information to families so that they can best care for their children. This information is about basic health, child development, healthy eating—basic ideas and actions being delivered to the nation’s poorest.
Can you talk to me about the evolution of Pastoral and its vision, and what impact that evolution has had on you?
If you look at the first of Dr. Zilda’s projects, you will see that they were to improve the health and emotional-cognitive development of children, based on community needs and scientific research along with the principles of union, fraternity, solidarity, faith, and mysticism. These principles and values have not changed over the years; community needs, however, have.
In the beginning, Pastoral was fighting severe malnutrition and infant mortality, and our actions aligned to those needs. But Dr. Zilda always thought ahead, studying economics and scientific research to spot new trends. Over time, then, our entire process inverted to adapt to the national trend toward obesity.
When thinking of Dr. Zilda, I also have to mention the idea of community. Dr. Zilda pioneered a methodology of community involvement in which those from a community are the ones who are responsible for, who have power over their own transformation. One of the first ever Pastoral testimonials quotes a local nurse as saying: “God is in this work; it is a true example of Christian fraternity.”
Dr. Zilda’s legacy remains strong, reminding us that concrete results that support community needs are what matter. She left the message that it is possible to change the profile of a country completely through simple, voluntary community actions.
Could you tell me about the leadership structure in Pastoral?
Basically, we follow the hierarchy of the Church, but with slightly different names: at the top is the national coordination, then the state coordination, then the diocese coordination, which we call sectors, then the parish coordination, and finally the communities.
Every two years for a sector and every four years for the state, we hold an assembly in which a new coordinator is elected. The coordinators at one level vote for three viable candidates at the level above themselves, and from there the bishop has the final say.
Could you tell me about the system by which you contract and pay your coordinators?
The coordinators in all 27 states are hired with the same pay. In the 300 or so sectors, the basic rule is that they all work as volunteers. But Pastoral’s board of directors decided that that the coordinators for the 20 poorest sectors would also receive a small stipend.
In some states, however, coordinators also receive stipends through the generosity of local partners. Here in Paraná, for example, a local energy company asks for donations through their monthly electricity bills, and gives that money directly to the state coordinator to distribute to sector coordinators.
To what would you attribute the success of Pastoral da Criança?
I think that a big part of it is the calling to improve your own environment. As a leader, I learn not only how to care for a child, but also how to get involved in my community.
This training and development of leaders is something that Dr. Zilda believed in deeply. Our leaders are respected in the community because they are highly trained first, beginning with the Leader’s Guide, with continuing education that picks up from there. This personal development leads to personal transformation that in turn allows our leaders to transform their communities.
I think that Pastoral unites scientific, technical knowledge together with a community, and needs, based approach, which leads to an incredible result.
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