The joys of my African heritage!

Afro-Brazilian symbolism - VIII, originally uploaded by carf.

13-year old Tutuco, in contrast to the rather static person behind him, has a rapidly changing facial expression so it's best to be quick off the trigger to capture the changes.

Renan, by birth name, is very much aware of his African heritage but not always so happy about the situation for most Afro-Brazilians in this country. His older brother is already serving a longer prison sentence for serious crimes committed and our job is to counterbalance all this negativity with a positive environment and healthy activities, which also helps cultivate the peace necessary in Renan's life.

He spends most of his free time at Hummingbird when he's not at school or at home. He's an intelligent kid but steps out of line pretty often. Gradually though, we are seeing some really positive changes in his mentality and hopefully Hummingbird will guide his flight safely through the difficult period of youth to adulthood.

Photo by Gregory J. Smith, CARF - The Children At Risk Foundation, São Paulo - BRAZIL.