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ABBA reaches out to children, adolescents and young people who suffer from poverty and rights violations. We create and coordinate prevention, intervention, protection and training services so that they can have their relationships strengthened and restored, their diverse needs met, and the freedom to grow and develop with dignity and responsibility. 
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Mission

Reaching out to children, adolescents and young people in situations of risk and social vulnerability in order to strengthen and restore their relationships.

Vision

To be part of a national movement, creating and coordinating services in the areas of prevention, intervention, protection and training, in the context of risk and social vulnerability, so that every child, adolescent and young person in our country can develop fully in all dimensions of life, through a family life that meets their material, mental, emotional, social and moral needs, and by walking in closeness and fidelity to Jesus.

Our values

Christian faith
The central foundation of ABBA's identity. The Christian faith, as we find it in the biblical texts, permeates who we are and what we do. The gospel underpins our decisions and is expressed in our words, actions and in the totality of our existence as an organization and as individuals.
Family Life
We believe that the family unit is the best environment for the full development of the human being. The families of our missionaries, employees, volunteers and the people we serve deserve our priority attention. We look at them with grace in the face of the different situations in which they live.
Interdependence
We value established relationships and seek to expand our support network. Individuals, institutions, local churches, ecclesiastical denominations, agencies and missionary funds make up a network of interdependence in carrying out our work.
Community 
Life
We seek to create a common life - a community - which includes all our missionaries, staff, volunteers and the people we serve.
The value of children, 
adolescents and young people
The dignity of each individual is inherent in their existence. We believe in the creation of human beings in the image and likeness of God, conferring rights and responsibilities on each person according to their abilities and capacities.
Social
Justice
We believe that full human development depends on certain material, mental, emotional, social and moral conditions. (Social) justice is essential when various groups in society lack these conditions.

Our History

After working with children, adolescents and young people living on the streets of downtown São Paulo, a group of colleagues committed themselves to the lives and human rights of children, adolescents and young people in similar situations. From this commitment to Christian and voluntary initiative, ABBA was born in 1993 in the city of São Paulo. At that moment, the foundation of ABBA's work was established, the conviction that our work offers children, adolescents and young people in situations of risk and social vulnerability God's paternal care.
With Aramaic origins, the word "ABBA" means "father". It appears in three biblical texts (Gospel of Mark, chapter 14, verse 36; Letter of Paul to the Romans, chapter 8, verse 15; Letter of Paul to the Galatians, chapter 4, verse 6), always followed by the word "father" ("ABBA, father"). In these three occurrences, the word is used as a reference to God as a father, especially in a situation of great need, as a request for care and comfort that only a father or mother can give. 
From this Christian concept, based on the experience of family care, we believe in the restoration of broken relationships, which will ensure that the material, mental, emotional, social, moral and spiritual needs of these children, adolescents and young people are met. Our name also includes the word Aslan. This is the divine figure in the famous Chronicles of Narnia story written by C. S. Lewis. Aslan, a lion, sings a beautiful melody and a new world, full of colors and fantastic animals, emerges: the kingdom of Narnia.
Although beautiful, fertile and harmonious, the kingdom of Narnia, like our world, is fragile and susceptible to the selfish desires of its inhabitants. In the best-known part of the story, because it was the first to be made into a movie, Aslan rescues the dignity of four brothers, previously alienated from their real identity, enabling them to become the kings and queens of Narnia, making it a beautiful, fertile and harmonious kingdom once again. In the same way, ABBA's work aims to contribute to building a world closer to what God intended.
To do this, we reach out to children, adolescents and young people in situations that prevent them from being who they really are and doing what they should be doing. We work to protect their rights based on their dignity as human beings, so that these Brazilian children, adolescents and young people can contribute, like kings and queens, to building a better world. Over the years, ABBA's work has taken on new forms, but it has always maintained the same foundation. Behind each stage of development lies a new perception of
the experience of risk and social vulnerability of children, adolescents and young people, and how to respond to this appropriately from our foundations. Involvement with those living on the streets led to the creation of shelters and a family reception service; the quest to prevent street life led to the creation of community centers on the outskirts of the city; and the attempt to provide better living conditions for those living there led to the creation of a vocational training service. These are the four fronts on which ABBA operates: prevention, intervention, protection and training.
With every step taken and every change made, ABBA seems to get closer to its vision: to see every child, adolescent and young person in our country able to develop fully in all dimensions of life, based on God's fatherly care. Involvement with those living on the streets led to the creation of shelters and family foster care services; the quest to prevent street life led to the creation of community centers on the outskirts of the city; and the attempt to provide better living conditions for those living on the streets. 
who lived there led to the creation of a professional training service. These are the four fronts on which ABBA operates: prevention, intervention, protection and training. With every step taken and every change made, ABBA seems to get closer to its vision: to see every child, adolescent and young person in our country able to develop fully in all dimensions of life, based on God's fatherly care.

Testimonials

  • The hall where Casa Semear started was next door to my house... At first it seemed really cool, because of the handicrafts and I've always liked this manual thing... ABBA is different. Of course, there's the religious aspect, of God. That's very good. But people love what they do, they're not forced to do it. And that brings us the message: 'I'm here because I love your life. I invest in it. I'm here because I love you'. Love. This makes people come back, like it and feel welcomed. I felt very welcomed. You feel safe when you realize that there is love... I felt very loved there. What my family couldn't provide for me, they did. Something more than that. I thought, Alan, you've made a lot of mistakes in your life and these people haven't given up on you. And you came back, like the prodigal son, and these people embraced you. And today they invest in you... I have very fond memories of going out for a walk, going to a square, playing. I felt so happy about something so simple. That was something I didn't have with my family.
    ALAN, 27, JOINED CASA SEMEAR AT THE AGE OF 12 AND IS NOW ONE OF THE SERVICE'S EDUCATORS
  • "The difference with ABBA was the affection they had for the children. It was more affectionate, there were few children... It wasn't like other places I've been... If the person instructing you, educating you, is a good person, you'll follow the right path. Now, if the person is bad, you'll go down the wrong path. One thing I learned at ABBA was to pay more attention to what I was doing. I was always very explosive, so when I joined, I saw how different it was. So I saw that I had to pay more attention to my attitudes, with my uncles, with the boys... So I started to pay more attention to what was going on around me".
    ARLINDO, 30, CAME TO ABBA AT THE AGE OF 10, PASSING THROUGH DIFFERENT SERVICES, AND IS NOW AN EMPLOYEE OF SÓLIDO MÓVEIS, ABBA'S TRAINING SERVICE
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