Local involvement

• The personnel is Bahian, comprising around 30 people almost all of whom were trained at Villa Bahia.
• Villa Bahia sorts all its waste and sends the recyclable waste to a cooperative (a local NGO) that treats and sells the different materials. The money thus earned benefits 15 underprivileged people directly; the cooperative supports nearly 4500 people in all, in various activities. Through this exemplary recycling Villa Bahia is closely involved in a project for introducing waste sorting into the city's entire historic centre. In addition it contributes to various social workshops in the quarter and is developing a number of projects for reintegrating homeless people into society and training the quarter's itinerant street traders.
• The personnel’s uniforms were designed by a group of students in Salvador’s school of fashion, the patterns tailor-made by the school’s workshop. The uniforms as well as the entire line of stationery make reference to the Carta de Pero Vaz de Caminha, the letter sent to the King of Portugal announcing the discovery of Brazil and which constituted the founding of Brazil.
• The metal plumbing fixtures, bathtubs and bathroom sinks, as well as the wrought-iron gates come from the hands of Velhão’s ironmongers. Settled in a favela in the suburbs of São Paulo, they recover, restore and resell metals on the local market. Thanks to the revenues from these sales, 300 people are supported, and a childcare centre and dispensary are financed.
• A women’s association wove most of the bedcovers. The wooden furniture and objects were tailor-made by the Oficina de Agosto workshop, which teaches how to restore worn objects, how to reuse them, as well how to make decorative objects and copies of early pieces; the Oficina de Agosto supports close to 800 people.