Nestlé feels responsible for contributing to the cultural development of the Brazilian people, emphasizing it regional aspects. For this reason, the Nestlé Cultural Foundation has promoted a closer interaction between society and its own history.
This institution sponsors and develops initiatives to disseminate Brazilian literature, develops teachers and encourages reading as a habit among young students.
The Voyage Through Literature Project, supported by the Ministries of Culture and Education, stands as the most relevant initiative of the Nestlé Cultural Foundation. It is and educational and cultural contest aimed at high school teachers and students of public and private schools in Brazil.
As a result of its relevance, this contest, as of 2003, has become part of the teaching curricula of 30% of the 12 thousand participating schools. Nestlé Voyage Through Literature stands as a major effort to reverse the disquieting scenario pointed out by Unesco. In 2000, Unesco conducted an international assessment of 15 year old students of public and private schools in 41 countries, with the purpose of evaluating their reading skills and reading comprehension.
Nestlé Voyage Through Literature: fostering creativity, inventiveness
Brazil ranked 37th place, only ahead of Macedonia, Indonesia, Albania and Peru, revealing that our youth is facing reading comprehension problems. This Nestlé project seeks to encourage students to read and improve their level of criticism and awareness. This task is developed through reading, debate and analysis of relevant Brazilian literary works and, from this point on, essay writing.
Under the coordination of teachers, students gather in groups and develop a theme in prose, poetry or poetic prose, that relates previously studied works to a theme that usually mirrors a real aspect of Brazilian society. Participating schools are given educational kits with the books selected, CD-ROMs and supporting material for monitors / coordinators. In 2003, Nestlé held the fifth edition of its Voyage Through Literature with the theme “Hunger for Solidarity”. About two hundred thousand students took part in the contest, reading and analyzing literary works as "A Hora da Estrela", by Clarice Lispector; "The Best Poems of João Cabral de Mello Neto", selected by Antonio Carlos Secchin; and "Brazilian Contemporary Short Stories”, with works by a number of Brazilian authors organized by Julieta de Godoy Ladeira. Each teacher coordinator of winning teams in the two categories: High School and Eighth Grade – received 10 thousand reais. Winning students in the High School category received 1 thousand reais each, and winners in the Eighth Grade Category received five hundred reais. 110 students and 13 teachers were awarded.