Facts About Brazil

Olá! That’s “hello” in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil. This country in South America is known for its beautiful landscape. In fact, Brazil is home to the Amazon rainforest! Learn more facts about Brazil here. 

How Dreams Are Born

5 Fast Facts About Brazil

Here are five Brazil facts you might not know: 

Map of South America with Brazil highlighted in blue

Where Is Brazil?

Brazil is a country located on the eastern coast of South America. It shares borders with Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Colombia, just to name a few.

Key Challenges in Brazil & Our Response

It’s true that Brazil is known for its beautiful landscape that features dense rainforests, rolling grasslands and sandy coasts. But Brazil is also home to many children who suffer the consequences of poverty. 

Child Exploitation 

Children living in poverty are especially vulnerable to abuse, violence and exploitation. This can take many forms, from neglect and forced child labor to sexual abuse, child trafficking, gang violence and domestic violence. In Brazil, on average, 6,970 children suffer violence that leads to death each year. 

Our Response: Protecting Children and Their Rights 

At Compassion, child protection is our top priority. To protect these little ones, we provide age-appropriate training to every child we serve, teaching them how to stand up for their rights. We also provide training to our staff, leaders and volunteers so they know the signs of abuse and how to respond quickly. 

Children in the Compassion program spent at least 220 hours per year at their child development centers. Here, they are cared for by safe adults who have the knowledge and resources needed to protect them. 

Dangerous Remote Areas 

Some areas throughout Latin America, including in Brazil, are remote and hard to reach. Children in these areas face the same dangers of poverty, yet they often do so alone, without basic services and support.  

Remote areas near the Amazon, for example, lack access to services like clean water, medical care and nearby schools for education. 

Our Response: Reaching Underserved Children 

We partner with local churches who have hearts for reaching these remote areas. With these churches, we’re reaching children who were previously underserved, providing for their right-now needs (food, medical care and clean water) as well as for their long-term needs (education, mentorship and income generation opportunities). 

69,702

children served (and counting).

223

churches served.

48

years serving.

Silhouette of a woman and girl embracing in front of a stained glass window.

Child Protection Officers Rescue the Vulnerable in Brazil

Every Compassion center in Brazil is equipped with a Child Protection Officer tasked with rescuing children from abuse. These are the stories of these warriors of child protection. 

A mother and son sit together outside. The mother's arms is around her son, in both are smiling into the camera.

The Local Church Helps a Mom Care for Her Son With Autism

Patricia was a child who never received love and care from her parents. But through the local church, she’s providing a different life for her son, Weslley, who has autism. 

How You Can Help Vulnerable Children in Brazil

You can help us fight back against child poverty in Brazil in three key ways: 

Pray

Jeremiah 33:3 says that if we call on God, he will answer us. When we lift up children living in poverty, God hears us, and we can trust he’s working on their behalf. Join us in praying daily for children living in poverty by becoming a prayer partner.

Donate

Children living in poverty face many challenges, from a lack of medical care to dangerous living conditions. You can provide immediate support by donating to fulfill a right-now need.

Sponsor a Child

By sponsoring a child, you empower a local church to share the gospel by meeting the needs of a child’s body, mind and spirit. Through sponsorship, you’ll help deliver medical care, hygiene training, education, malnutrition monitoring and so much more to a child in need.