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G rowing up in the Amazon rainforest , Luziete Mar Hipy quickly learned that education wasn ’ t a given . There was no school in her town , one of 12 tiny communities built along the 834-square-mile Rio Amapá Sustainable Development Reserve ( SDR ) in northern Brazil . She started kindergarten in a neighboring community , but the long commute proved challenging .
“ I ended up giving up on my studies ,” Hipy , 24 , recalls . She eventually resumed school a few years later when one opened closer to her home . She attended high school in a larger town in the SDR . Hipy ’ s childhood story highlights the struggles that rural communities in the Amazon face in accessing modern services , including schooling , healthcare and job training . Community members are forced to make tough decisions to either travel far distances to get modern services or forgo their studies as Hipy did . These challenges indirectly contribute to deforestation as illegal logging and mining jobs prove easier to come by and more lucrative .
However , the story in the Amazon is changing , thanks to innovative technology and a lot of perseverance from Hipy and others who are dedicated to improving the lives of the people in their community . Hipy is now the director of the Boa Esperança Solar Community Hub ( SCH ), an internet center deployed in July 2021 that ’ s delivering digital education to the Amazon .
“ The project is benefiting many young people with the opportunity to participate in higher education and vocational courses and preparing them for the job market ,” she says . “ In addition , it has been helping many community members , mainly in the educational and employability areas .”
THE AMAZON — AND ITS COMMUNITIES — AT RISK The people who call the Amazon home have long relied on the rainforest to sustain them , harvesting trees , nuts and oils and mining the earth for gold , copper , tin , nickel and other metals . But deforestation and extraction are taking a toll . According to Brazil ’ s space research agency , Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais , deforestation recently hit a 15-year high . The study found that 5,110 square miles of rainforest disappeared during 2020 – 21 — the most since 2006 .
Marilson Silva , an environmental monitoring coordinator for the Foundation for Amazon Sustainability ( FAS ), says that education and employment challenges in the region can make illegal mining and deforestation activities more attractive . “ It ’ s an easy-to-earn alternative for young people ,” he says . The lack of distance learning opportunities , advancement courses and training for new jobs leaves few options for the indigenous communities . There ’ s also limited environmental monitoring and little information about the importance of conservation and sustainable resources .
The FAS is focused on education to improve sustainability . This is where the SCH in Boa Esperança — a central location that serves a dozen outlying communities — has made a big difference .
“ The project is benefiting many young people with the opportunity to participate in higher education and vocational courses and preparing them for the job market .”
— Luziete Mar Hipy , director , Boa Esperança Solar Community Hub
PHOTOS BY SAMARA SOUZA