Who We Are
Our History
AIRE (Acolhimento e Integração ao Refugiado | Refugee Reception and Integration) was created during 2020’s pandemic, when we witnessed many people losing their jobs and many families struggling to put food on the table and pay their bills. We saw this mainly affect those who already had little.
One group that has been living at risk and whose situation has been aggravated by the pandemic are the refugees living in Brazil.
With these people in mind, we decided to use our knowledge, resources, and willingness to serve others, to help them take their first steps in their new country.
Through AIRE, WE WANT TO OFFER A PLACE TO BREATHE
Our Mission
Welcome those looking for a new life in a new country with shelter and food.
Our goal is to temporarily provide the basics, such as housing, water, electricity, food, and assistance with the Portuguese language, so that the newly arrived in the country have a basic foundation on which to successfully adapt and start a new life.
We believe that everyone deserves to live with dignity.
We believe that the air we breathe is the same air that everyone is entitled to.
Our Vision
A refuge for anyone in need.
Our dream is to build a supportive structure capable of welcoming anyone in need, offering housing, food, and psychological and educational support so they can start a new life with dignity in a sustainable way.
We picture a network formed with other associations, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and anyone who is willing to help, offering all the necessary support in a place that facilitates these activities.
For this, we dream of a 500m2 land that will house 50 people with a communal kitchen, auditorium, classrooms, space for physical activities, workshop, cafeteria, playground, and a garden.
Understanding that the goal of AIRE is to help socially vulnerable individuals and families take their first steps toward supporting themselves autonomously, the rotation of these 50 people should occur in a matter of months.
AIRE (Acolhimento e Integração ao Refugiado | Refugee Reception and Integration) was created during 2020’s pandemic, when we witnessed many people losing their jobs and many families struggling to put food on the table and pay their bills. We saw this mainly affect those who already had little.
One group that has been living at risk and whose situation has been aggravated by the pandemic are the refugees living in Brazil.
With these people in mind, we decided to use our knowledge, resources, and willingness to serve others, to help them take their first steps in their new country.
Through AIRE, WE WANT TO OFFER A PLACE TO BREATHE
Our Team
Marcos Abe
Hi, my name is Marcos. I’m Ivana’s husband an João’s father. I work as a lawyer specializing in business law. Since I’ve started my professional career, I’ve been donating part of my time and resources in favor of social projects. AIRE emerged from a dream of a group of friends all touched by stories of social vulnerability, abandonment and cultural traumas lived by refugees. We have united our strengths and skills with the dream of making a difference and rescuing the citizenship of people who face great barriers for their social reinsertion, many times without their families, references and necessary living conditions. Come dream with us!
Ivana Abe
My name is Ivana. I’m married to Marcos and I’m João’s mom. I work as a family doctor and I believe that being healthy is not only about treating diseases, but also having a place to live, being able to eat, taking care of the mind and the spirit. Being healthy is also about having dreams, projects and having the opportunity to fight for them. I have joined AIRE’s volunteers team motivated by this generous network, in which the little each person has, multiplies and changes lives. It is great to see that talents and individual skills come together in the collective, creating a new air, full of hope and collaboration.
Marcel Nomoto
I’m Marcel. I’m Brazilian and I was born in Sao Paulo. I’ve graduated in business administration and I’ve been working for 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry. My work has given me and my family the opportunity to live in and know different places around the world, where we learn about new cultures, different approaches to daily life, meet new people and see how diverse the world we live in is, but at the same time we also see more of the world’s inequalities. AIRE was created to help those who are going through a difficult time and need support to rebuild themselves. I believe we all need help at some point: a friendly shoulder to lean on when we are hopeless or a little help to pay the bills at the end of the month. “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before.”- CS Lewis I believe that any kind of help can transform a life and make the world a better place.
Tarsila Nomoto
My name is Tarsila. I’m a Brazilian, born in Sao Paulo, with Japanese heritage. My grandparents immigrated to Brazil in the beginning of the 20th century dreaming of a more prosperous life on the other side of the world, in a land that promised to be rich and full of opportunities. I’m married and the mother of two boys. I graduated as a dentist, but I stopped working after my second son was born. AIRE came up as an opportunity to help a very specific group of people - refugees, mainly Venezuelans at the moment - facing a lot of hardships. So nowadays my time is divided between my family and the NGO. Refugees are people who, for an extreme reason, such as political, religious or human rights causes, have no alternative but to abandon their country. Without any external help, not being able to speak the language, they come to Brazil hoping to live with dignity. My dream is to help them make Brazil their home, their new homeland for future generations, as my grandparents once did.
Alda Julia Matias
I am Alda. I’m married to Matias and mom to Nathalia. I’m a social worker and my path has always been to contribute with social actions trying to make this world full of inequality, injustice and poverty a better place. AIRE came as an opportunity wherein together, we can dream again, soften sufferings and rescue hope. “We need to hold out and dream. We need to feed our dreams and make them happen day by day in the horizon of new times, fairer, more supportive, more human.” Marilda V. Iamamoto
Vanessa Samejima
My name is Vanessa. I’m Brazilian, born in Sao Paulo, married and Davi’s mom. I graduated as an accountant in 2004 and I’ve been working in that area ever since. Years ago, when it was time to choose my major, I thought about being a nurse. I had a dream of working in a career field where I could help people in a more direct way. However, it didn’t work as I soon realized that my legs started trembling just looking at an injury… so I went on with accounting. Still, that strong desire to do more always remained. Now, I can contribute in a more direct way to make the world a better place. It was when I was talking to a friend that he mentioned AIRE, and here I am!
Noemi Kuroda Ushima
My name is Noemi, I'm a psychologist and I've been working in the Human Resources area since I graduated in 2008. I've always enjoyed getting involved in social projects and decided to volunteer at AIRE because I know the impact it has on society and, especially, on the families we help. I also believe that we can all make a difference, whether with donations or dedicating some of our time to help. And every help is always welcome. Sometimes something simple can make great transformations. And that's what motivates me!
Aníbal
I am Anibal, I’m from Venezuela, married to Carolina and we have a daughter, Ana Camila. We are missionaries and we came to Brazil in 2019. Our first home in Brazil was Manaus, where we started a church with Venezuelan immigrants. Through this work we became acquainted with AIRE and now I live in Sao Paulo with my family and dedicate myself to the NGO helping others find the same opportunity I had, to have a new start in Brazil.
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