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The story of Gregory J. Smith and CARF:
Dreaming of the Humming Bird's Nest
In 1971 the British exchange student Gregory John Smith came to Norway. The trip turned out to be more than just an exchange as Smith decided to stay. 21 years later his life would yet again take a different turn.

Smith had an idealistic dream about using his resources and great capacity to help children in another part of the world. His dream eventually brought him to the biggest city in Brazil, São Paulo. 6. November 1992 Children At Risk Foundation - CARF - was founded. In order to secure enough initial capital, he sold his house, a left-behind school building outside Bergen, which he earlier had refurbished in an impressive manner.

Selling the house including all of the interior, created a lot of media buzz at the time and his name quickly became known all across Norway. In 1993 he also raised further capital by inviting close to 60 famous artists to donate a piece of art for his cause.

With the finances well in order, Smith left Norway for Brazil. The versatile Brit, who during his period in Norway worked as a social care worker, production designer and art dealer, was about to make his dream come through. Thanks to a generous lawyer, Smith was offered a property by a lake in a neighbouring borough to São Paulo. The offer was free and Gregory could start building up his motivation center, later called the Eldorado center.

From the very beginning, Gregory J. Smith started working with a small group of kids. Slowly, these kids have formed a core group among the kids and today they live in foster care with Gregory. In addition to Gregory's home, the property consists of more than ten houses with various activities such as a school and a stable. Many of the children who take part inGregory's programme have wished to stay at the center on a permanent basis.

However, Gregory J. Smith is not alone in Brazil. He is accompanied by another Brit, the anthropologist Jonathan Hannay. Together they help street kids from the area in and around the Diadema suburb to have a decent life. Smith's work and ideology has been groundbreaking and has brought new visions within the area of helping street kids. The model is developed through the Hummin Bird Project where the final objective is to put the kids in foster care, something which is still not possible in Brazil. This is the next big objective for CARF.

Together with the Humming Bird Project, an activity center is being buildt, focusing on artistic development and expression. Through art, the kids have an opportunity to express their feelings towards violent social tendencies. This center has been given the name The Humming Bird's Nest.

Gregory Smith's work has gained recognition internationally as well as in Brazil. In 1997 he was officially elected member of the Council for Children - and Youth Rights in the suburb of Diadema. In March 2000, he was elected member of ASHOKA, a global organisation which identifes and supports individuals who are innovative and creative within their respective fields.
In several big cities, streetkids are used as couriers and dealers for drug barons.At the same time, these children are good customers for them. A great number of the kids Gregory has taken into care have a background where drug abuse was normal.
In the São Paulo area alone, where CARF is operating, official estimations tells of approximately 15.000 children living on the streets. Streetkids are very often psychologically down and physically abused. Consequently, regaining trust to adults is very difficult.