The Projeto Pesquisador Curumim, an iniciative of the award winning Instituto de Arqueologia Brasileira-IAB, – whose present location is in the Favela Santa Tereza, in Belford Roxo, RJ – serving teenagers, between 14 and 18 years of age, with high potential and motivation. The Commumity, besides being very poor, is dominated by drug trafficing and as such becomes a daily risk to the young people that live here,. The Project hás as its directive, to offer them the maintenance of the taste for studies, the opportunity for some income, the reduction of school dropouts – due to the need to work to help support their families – awaken and/or foster the most important and fundamental values and promote real conditions whereby they can be inserted into productive society at the right time.
Founded in 2003, more than 50 young people have already benifited from the project, and as a result, some have become Professionals in the Field of Archaeology and other áreas, others obtained positions in various sectors of the economy.. During their training, the Curumin Researchers acquire theoretical and practical knowledge related to Archaeology ( for example, to recognize an Archeological item and how to control the process of curating them), They are also taught history, the sciences and other subjects, at times they are taught by professors engaged in social issues. The goal is to equip them with resources, both for becoming good citizens and so that they can enter a university.
The selection process for new Curumin Researchers is very rigorous and begins with testing, at the beginning of the school year, at schools around the Institute, aiming to determine the ability to write, with emphasis on synthesis of thought and the correct application of the Portuguese language, in addition, observing the handwriting, because writing is the basis of cataloging of archeological items. The adolescents, who qualify in this first phase, go through a selection process involving group dynamics, in which individual interviews are carried out both with and without the participation of the parents and/or guardians. The commitment of parents and/or guardians to the performance of the young people is one of the determining factors for the success of the Curumins.
During the selection process in 2019, twenty-two adolescents were approved and only five were accepted. The lack of financial resources for the remaining 17, highly qualified candidates, prevented them from being included in that group.
Today, the Projeto Pesquisador Curumim is maintained with IAB resources (stemming from the provision of specialized services in Archaeology contracted by private companies and the government) and private donations from the directors of the Institute. In the past the project benefited from the support of UNESCO- – International Council on Monuments and Sites (2008-2009) and the Caixa Econômica Federal – through its Programa Caixa Cultural Edital 2016.
IAB is now looking for partnerships with companies and individuals whose resources would expand the number of vacancies available for adolescents served by this program.
Donations to the Project are eligible for benefits under the Federal Incentive Law for Culture as well as the Incentive Law of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Would you like to help? Click on the tab at the side and adopt a CURUMIM
