That was nearly two years ago.

“I came here because I had nowhere else to go,” says Felipe, now 16. “If it weren’t for Nova Vida, I’d probably be living on the street.”

Founded in 1998, Nova Vida is a home in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, for boys between the ages of 12 and 18 who can no longer live with their families, for reasons ranging from drug addiction to abusive parents.

As one of nine children, Felipe looked to his older brothers and sisters for a place to stay when he could no longer live with his boss’s family, but they refused to take him in.

“When I really needed it, they wouldn’t help me,” he says. “Now I don’t consider them my family anymore.”

Like many of the Nova Vida residents, Felipe has run away a few times, but he always comes back. One time he left to live with his girlfriend, only to return in tears a week later when she went out with another boy.

“It was his first broken heart,” remembers Nova Vida coordinator Marilene Paré Vargas de Souza. “The poor thing.”

Although now Souza and Felipe have a good relationship, it was an argument between them that caused Felipe to leave Nova Vida the second time.

“It was really hard to come back after all the fighting, but it was easier than having to adapt to a new place,” he says. “I had to fight with myself to come back again, but I was able to overcome my pride and ask for help.”

A New Life

Some come from broken homes or abusive parents; others learned violent behavior while living on the streets. Almost all are chemically dependent on drugs ranging from tobacco to paint thinner, which is often inhaled by street children to lessen hunger pains.

Whatever their story, they all come here searching for a Nova Vida – a new life.

Nova Vida took over an existing building previously used for a similar organization, and inherited a few of its residents. In its four-and-a-half years of operation, more than 90 young men have lived here looking for a second chance at life.

Everyone is required to attend school, with most of the older residents choosing to go at night. They fill the rest of their time with arts and crafts, percussion and guitar lessons. The boys also take capoeira, a Brazilian martial art set to music. With a weekly chore schedule, the boys take turns cooking, cleaning, sweeping, gardening and doing laundry.

Looking through a small photo album, Souza explains that some of the boys thrive in the stable, structured environment Nova Vida provides, such as one young man who recently earned a scholarship to Feevale University. But others never really adapt and end up back on the streets – and, unfortunately, back into their old habits.

Her voice softens as she points out two teenage boys who died of AIDS, both contracting the disease by sharing infected needles on the streets. Despite these tragedies, Souza says she and the other monitors will continue to work to improve the lives of some of Rio Grande do Sul’s forgotten children.

“It’s sad when things like this happen,” she says, “but we have to keep on working to help these boys. They need us to be there for them.”        

Spiritual healing

The boys climb out of their bunk beds at 7 each morning, even on weekends. A strict schedule teaches them to replace old behaviors with new ones, says Souza.

By 7:30, everyone is dressed and in the dining room, ready for breakfast. Jorge Luis Coelho Neves, 18, leads the morning’s prayer. All 11 boys join hands as Jorge thanks God for the food, asking that everyone remain healthy.

Airton Luiz Grahl, one of the monitors, comes into the circle as the boys close their eyes to recite the Oração da Serenidade (serenity prayer). The boys say the prayer numerous times a day, and it is central to their recovery.

“God, grant me the serenity necessary to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference,” they say in unison.

The boys sit silently at two long tables, clearing away the brown checkered tablecloths and small, decorative plants to make room for the food. They scarf down a breakfast of homemade bread, butter and hot chocolate, and then quietly take their plates to the kitchen.

Grahl teaches the boys to be disciplined in everything they do, which is why they must remain quiet during mealtimes. Grahl and the boys then go to the meditation room for the morning prayer session.

Felipe starts by reading “Your Project and Your Life,” from the “Start of Happiness” prayer book. After several songs and prayers, the group gathers in a tight circle for the second time that morning to recite the serenity prayer. This time they put their arms around each other’s shoulders, as if in a football huddle, ending with a loud cheer for strength – “Força!”

 One of the family

Emerson do Rosario bounces into the Nova Vida dining room carrying a picture, clearly trying to explain something to the other boys.

After some Charades-like gestures, and a lot of pointing back and forth between himself and the picture, he gets the message across that this is his school.

Deaf since birth, 24-year-old Emerson often has a hard time communicating. Over his eight-and-a-half year stay, the monitors have each learned some sign language to communicate with Emerson, but the boys at Nova Vida find it difficult to understand him.

Emerson was sent here after both his birth mother and adoptive mother died. He has an adoptive sister, but she is also very poor and cannot afford to take care of him. The monitors are working to find Emerson a job training program so he can be independent. They are also trying to get him a hearing aid, but because Nova Vida relies completely on donations, that much extra money is very hard to come by.

Despite not being able to communicate, he is an integral part of the Nova Vida family, says psychologist Bauer Orçina Rodriguez. He is always included in every activity, from therapy sessions to leading the nightly prayer sessions.

“It wouldn’t be the same without him here,” he says. “He’s such a sweet boy.”

 Nontraditional therapy

Peri Brizola, 16, Geferson Roberto Correa de Andrade, 12, Felipe and Emerson lie inches from the floor on torn, mismatched mattresses, ready for their group therapy session.

The brick walls of the therapy room are painted a bright yellow, accentuated by the warm afternoon sun shining through the green and white striped curtains. They lounge on large, brightly colored pillows lining the room.

Rodriguez relaxes the boys by turning off the lights and putting on soothing, New Age meditation music in the background. A small fan purrs in the corner. Rodriguez soundlessly walks across the room in his socks, asking the boys to close their eyes and to visualize a cave, “like playing a movie inside your head.”

While still concentrating on their breathing, the boys visualize a cave with a light at the end the tunnel. Peri breathes deeply and covers his face with a black baseball cap, just as they are to pass the light and enter a room where they will see their true selves.

Geferson says he sees a boy running by houses, while Peri sees himself running through an endless field.

 After completing this exercise, Rodriguez believes they have reached the subconscious state where he can begin to pull out their deeper problems. Rodriguez has worked four days a week since Nova Vida opened, using nontraditional spiritual and relaxation techniques in conjunction with traditional psychoanalysis.

He has studied aromatherapy, cosmotherapy, color therapy, and chakra, which promotes a free flow of energy throughout the major energy and nerve centers in the body. Rodriguez is also a master of Reiki, an ancient Japanese practice of using light touch to transmit healing energy to the participant. He sometimes also incorporates fire, Native South American drums and incense in his therapy sessions.

“I can reach the subconscious faster with the aromas and the music,” Rodriguez says. “All delinquents are very resistant. It’s easier to get around this resistance to reach their deeper problems by using very loving and gentle techniques.”

In addition to meditation and relaxation, Rodriguez has also devised several methods for dealing with chemical addiction. A blue Alcoholics Anonymous keychain with the inscription “Clean and serene for six months” was the inspiration for his use of colored medals for the boys.

Rodriguez created four different types of medals, each corresponding to a different drug: marijuana, tobacco, alcohol and paint thinner. Boys receive a new medal every 15 days until they have been sober for two months, then once a month until they reach the nine-month goal.

Rodriguez emphasizes that although most kids here are also hyperactive, he does not put any of them on Ritalin or any other drug.

“These kids are already chemically dependent,” he says. “We need to show them that there are other ways to get pleasure, for example, love, respect and life.”

After nine months of sobriety, the boys get a diploma and a graduation ceremony. Rodriguez consciously chose nine months as the goal because it symbolizes the gestation period.

“Once they are clean for nine months, it’s like a rebirth into the world,” he says.

Giving back

At 17, Jorge was already heavily into drugs, buying marijuana, crack and cocaine on the streets. He lost his job as a handyman because of his addiction, and started stealing from his family to support his habit.

Jorge would offer to go grocery shopping or pay a bill, and he would always tell his family the bill was a little higher than the actual amount. He’d then pocket the extra money.

Soon even the little he could take from his family wasn’t enough, and Jorge tried to rob a bus for more drug money. He was arrested a year ago and sent to Nova Vida by social services. His transition into the Nova Vida routine was easy – thanks to the extra therapy he received during his first few weeks here.

“I like it a lot here because it’s here that I learned everything I know,” says Jorge.

In late October, Jorge will leave the familiar surroundings of Nova Vida for a 9-month stay at a secluded therapeutic community where he plans conquer his drug addiction for good.

“When I get better for real, I want to go back and show them who I really am,” Jorge says of the family that no longer trusts him.

Jorge will then return to Nova Vida to work as a monitor, disciplining some of the same boys he lives with now.

“I already discipline them now, so it shouldn’t be too hard,” he says. “I know it will be a challenge, but it will also be a pleasure to be the youngest monitor and to help the kids.”