“People do not realise that we are in a world where what we should have seen, we are not able to see that anymore and the education system plays a major role here,” says J.B Bras.
J.B has been deeply connected with the education system. Having studied in his country in Angola, he also has knowledge of the Indian education system, as he completed his graduation in Goa, and moreover has been following the other schooling systems across the globe.
“If you check my achievements in my curriculum, you will see I didn’t have those crazy marks. But that doesn’t tell me anything,” he says. “In this real life is where you have the proper exams. Our education system does not prepare us for the real life.”
‘It’s very rare that we find unique ideas,’ he says. “We are just replicating other people’s ideas.” He believes that as human beings, each one of us has something in us, i.e. ‘potential’, and that is what our education systems must unleash from students. Following these ideas, he is striving to build a platform where people can feel free to discover themselves.
Thinking this may sound impossible to many, he says, “It may sound crazy, but we may get something out of this. I’m not saying that I’m going to change the education system of the world, all I’m saying is that I want to be a part of something much greater that people can see. Someone told me once, you will know, only when you do it. Hence, here I am, doing it.”
“Something can happen out of all this,” said a crazy guy. “I’m the crazy guy.”
The Education Success:
As mentioned in the previous story (click here to read), J.B continues to devote his time with the education system in Angola. Having received a setback pertaining to the language in India, he came to realise the importance of English, and the vast scope it possessed as compared to Portuguese.
“I decided that once I got back to Angola, I would introduce was the teaching of English. I started teaching the alphabet, and I found that would have been easier for them through music. And since I love music, I tried to incorporate music in my classes. I came up with a tune and then we started singing the letters from A to Z.”
Recounting many wonderful memories that he has had with the children, he recollects; “I was passing by through the streets, and the children were singing the alphabet tune dancing, and as they saw me coming by, they started jumping in joy. I was in awe to see the impact it made on these children.”
“If the beginning was like this, and they were so excited, what will happen if I’m able to teach them more. Something great will happen.”
Building Future Women Entrepreneurs:
“I have got women involved in what I currently do because I believe that in Angola’s scenario, women play a very important role in the development of the community.”
He describes the women as the ones who take care of families, and also unfortunately, the ones most illiterate. “The rate of literacy among the women here is really scary.”
Women mostly have no idea how to read and write in Angola and this is what prompted Bras to do what he currently is doing. He aims to train an army of entrepreneurs, because at the end of the day, it is them who go out and provide for their families.
With a strong determined spirit, he says, “We’re building an academy for women where we are able to teach the ABC… how to read, write and then bring other entrepreneur skills and tools to empower them.”
“Within less than a decade we’re going to have something fantastic, in our community. This can perhaps also spread across the country. That’s what I intend to do through our project. I believe they have enough strength to achieve this,” he believes.
“Something great is happening. In the coming years this community where we are in, things are going to happen in a very different way, where people are going to see the results of what we are doing through the kids and the women.”
Angolan Household:
Narrating about his family, he describes African families as ‘huge’. He has eight siblings, and he is the youngest among them all. Born into a large Angolan family household, Bras proudly recalls his mother’s career as a fantastic one.
“She had one of the craziest careers one could image. She was a fantastic housewife,” he says. Taking care of the house daily is really an incredible task one can imagine, he said.
Refuting claims of belonging to a rich family because of their sheer family strength, J.B claims otherwise. “We are from a family here in Angola one would classify as a poor family. But the reason why we have what we have today, isn’t because of the money or status my family had, but it is because of our attitude.”
Having received numerous setbacks in the past, along with a lot of struggle, he and his siblings learnt from an early age that they needed to do something different if they wanted to change their lives, or their family status.
“We are from a poor family background according to how they classify us here, but today we have a different status due to the work we put into place, for us to get what we have today.”
“Hard work really gets you the results.”
J.B Bras
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