Terere Kids Project is a social project founded by 5x World Champion Fernando “Terere” Da Silva. The project is located in Mestre Terere’s gym at the base of the Cantagalo Favela in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro. The space for the academy was given to Terere free of rent by the government, and the students built the academy by hand alongside Mestre Terere. Since its inauguration in 2012 the academy has been a second home for children from the community that come to learn the Arte Sauve. Donations from abroad allow the project to buy kimonos, pay for competition fees, and provide snacks after the children’s class.

The mission of the project is to provide kids from the Cantagalo community a safe environment where they can play, grow and learn together. Many favelas in Rio lack the infrastructure and the resources to provide safe alternatives to playing on the street amongst the gangs and drug dealers. Terere himself suffered from drug addiction that halted his career in Jiu Jitsu for close to 10 years. Understanding first hand the perils associated with drug addiction, Terere formed the social project as a means to introduce more kids to Gracie Jiu Jitsu, a sport that he attributes to saving his life. Although he is back on the Jiu Jitsu scene, Terere has stepped away from the competition fervor and instead has opted to use his experiences, both on and off the mats, to help form a new generation of athletes.

Everyday more kids join the project and start training and competing thanks to the kimono donations and money sent for competition fees. The athletes that are more dedicated to competing have started developing their own curriculums and are learning to market themselves as athletes.

How to donate: CLICK HERE

Details about the Project

Terere Kids Projects serves 30-40 kids ranging from ages 3-18. The project expenses include:

1. Snack Program

2. Children’s kimonos

3. Tournament Registration fees

4. Transportation fees (for chaperons)

5. English program/ art supplies

1. Snack Program

a. The project provides a small snack everyday after the kid’s 6pm class. Many of the students from the project do not receive proper education on nutrition and maintaining a healthy diet. One of the goals of the project is to teach our athletes how to maintain a healthy diet in order to excel in the sport.

b. Cost: R400 (Euro 123)

2. Children Kimonos

a. The project relies heavily on kimono donations. It is easy to acquire used A1 kimonos for our older athletes; however, the project has about 15 students under the age of 9 that require kids kimonos. We have a deal with Cascagrossa kimonos were we can acquire kids kimonos at the discounted prices of R100.

b. Cost: R100 (32 Euros)

3. Tournament Registration Fees.

a. Students use donations from abroad to pay for the tournament registration fees. Tournaments allow athletes to gain experience and build a jiu jitsu curriculum. The project has a competition team of 10-15 athletes from ages 6-18.

b. Cost (10 athletes)

i. Monthly: 2,620 (394 Euros)

ii. Yearly: 19,855 (10,121 Euro)

4. Transportation Fees

a. Transportation fees are used to pay for metro or bus costs to and from competitions. While we generally do not have enough funds to pay for every athlete’s transportation, we try to reimburse the professors and chaperones.

b. Cost: R7 per athlete (3 Euros)

c. Cost: R70 10 athletes (22 Euros)

5. English Program

a. The project offers and English program to our instructors and our older students. The program is centered on vocabulary for Jiu Jitsu. This has been an extremely effective method since students can practice with international visitors that come to train at the academy. The program requires donations to supply pencils, papers, markers, and other class materials.

b. Cost: R500 (153 Euros)