Since our founding in 2013, UmRio has worked in Morro do Castro, a favela community located between the municipalities of Niterói and São Gonçalo in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
An hour and a half away from the city of Rio, Morro do Castro is home to roughly 6,200 people.
Morro do Castro, like many favelas in Brazil, is marked by urban marginalisation, precarity and violence. About 80% of residents live on less than US$2.15 per day – an indicator known as the World Bank International Poverty Line – while 49% of residents live on less than US$1 per day.
Morro do Castro residents also live alongside forms of state and urban violence such as organised crime groups as well as police occupation, brutality and lethality.
Our Partner Schools
In 2013, UmRio began working with Escola Municipal João Brazil, a public secondary school serving the community of Morro do Castro. We started out as a community project hosting rugby practices and trainings once a week.
Today, UmRio works with seven partner schools across the municipalities of São Gonçalo, Niterói, and Rio de Janeiro. We offer over 72 hours of extra-curricular and social service programming, all beginning with the power of rugby.
Escola Municipal João Brasil
Escola Municipal Roberto Silveira
CIEP251 Brasil-Paraguai (formerly, CIEP251 Dona Maria Portugal)
Escola Municipal Altivo César
Escola Municipal Portugal Neves
Escola Municipal Paulo Freire
Escola Municipal Vila Costa Monteiro
Our organisational home remains in Morro do Castro at Escola Municipal João Brazil where we continue to run rugby training on the first place we were ever invited to call a rugby pitch, Campo do Gordu.
UmRio is a registered charity in Brazil (CNPJ: 22.075.882/0001-97). Donations in Brazil are tax deductible through Lei de Incentivo ao Esporte.
Donations from UK taxpayers can be made through OneRio, a UK-registered charity (Charity No. 1172036) eligible to claim Gift Aid.
OneRio supports UmRio’s charitable programmes through grant funding, strategic advice and governance oversight.
