spasiboспаси́бо
Russian · [spa-SEE-ba]
- Thank you.
- From «spasi Bog», “God save you”: wishing good to someone who did good.
Brazil welcomed us. Let’s say thank you in deeds.
Spasibo is a meeting point for Russian-speaking people living in Brazil who want to give back: share ideas and team up on concrete help for schools, NGOs, animal shelters, neighborhoods, beaches and forests. No politics and no selling.
One tile is just a square. The pattern appears when many come together. The empty ones, still showing the pounced outline, are waiting for people who haven’t arrived yet.
What spasibo means
obrigado, obrigada
Portuguese · [o-bree-GAH-doo]
- Thank you.
- Literally “obliged”, from Latin obligatus: bound to someone by a kindness and wanting to return it.
We feel both meanings at once. Someone did us good, and we want to return it.
Why
Many of us came to Brazil recently. Here our kids started school, and we found work, a home and neighbors who say good morning first.
Among us are programmers, doctors, teachers, musicians, engineers, founders and athletes. Each of us has time, a skill or an idea that can be useful here.
On your own it is hard to know where to start and who needs what. Together it gets easier: someone knows the school principal, someone speaks better Portuguese, someone can gather a hundred people for a clean-up day.
Spasibo is a shared place for these people and these ideas.
Mutirão[moo-chee-ROWN]
That is what Brazilians call neighbors working together: raising a house, clearing a river, fixing up the square. This is where we want to start.
Teach
Free after-school clubs in schools and NGOs: coding, math, chess, music, English.
Work with our hands
Cleaning beaches and rivers, planting trees, repairing schools and animal shelters.
Help with our profession
Websites, design, photography, social media and automation for NGOs and small local projects, free of charge.
Open the doors
Concerts, film nights, chess tournaments and training sessions open to the whole neighborhood.
Collect what is needed
Clothes, books and equipment for specific schools and families. Money only once there is a transparent structure. More on that below.
These are ideas to start with. You will bring the rest.
Rules of the tile wall
- We ask first.We help those who ask, in the way they need. We don’t decide for other people.
- Doing beats debating.An idea becomes a project once at least three people take it on.
- No politics, no religious preaching, no selling.In the chat and at our events.
- We show the result.Photos, numbers and the names of those who helped, in the shared chat.
- The door is open.We speak Russian, come from many countries and want to work side by side with Brazilians.
How an idea becomes a deed
1Someone posts an idea in the chat, 2two more people join, 3together we ask the school, NGO or neighborhood what they actually need, 4we set a date, 5we do it, 6we show everyone the photos and the numbers.
What comes next
- Now
- A chat, meetups and the first shared projects.
- Later
- Once there are many projects, register a non-profit association so we can accept donations and report openly.
- Maybe
- A fund or a DAO where members decide together where the money goes. We will work out the details together when we get there.
Lay your tile
If you moved here
Join the chat. Tell us your city, what you can do and how much time you can give. Even two hours a month is a tile.
The chat link will appear here.
If you are from here
Does your school, NGO, shelter or neighborhood have a task volunteers could help with? Tell us. We reply in Portuguese.
The chat link will appear here.