transcript

BBC documentary series 'Third Agers'

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LISA MULLINS: Our world is getting older fast. More than one in five people will be over 60 by the year 2050. And that is going to be true in Brazil by the year 2030. The trend can't help but put a strain on the country's limited state resources. And so many Brazilians have reason for concern about the quality of life they'll have in what should be their golden years. One Brazilian woman is making a difference for the elderly in Rio de Janeiro. The World's Jane Little takes us to an innovative daycare center in a bad part of town.

JANE LITTLE: I'm just walking alongside a river which could be more accurately described as an open sewer – litter everywhere, discarded furniture on the sides. I'm walking under a mess of telegraph poles and wires that connect haphazardly constructed concrete buildings covered in graffiti and pockmarked with bullet holes. I'm on my way to the Casa de Santa Ana. If you think this sounds like a center for children rather than older people, well, you'd be right and you'd be wrong. At Casa de Santa Ana, the generations converge. Children and their grandmothers sing and dance together. It's the brainchild of Maria Jay-luge Brize. She's a social worker who 17 years ago came up with an idea to help older people in this poor community and, in the process, change young people's views about getting old.

MARIA JAY-LUGE BRIZE: The process of aging starts when you are born. What happens a lot is that young people don't easily accept the idea of getting old. But if they start to have contact with older people, and they learn that getting old also has its good sides and older people can still do lots of things, then their attitude starts to change.

LITTLE: Her idea is that they can learn from each other as well as find a sanctuary here. And it seems to be working.

JAIRO: I like the dance routines we do at the singing classes. It's good to come here. When I play in the street, I'm afraid because if anybody's shooting out there, I might be hit by a bullet.

GRANDMOTHER: It's really nice because the children learn how to respect older people. My relationship with my grandchildren has changed a lot. They care about me much more and don't see me as just an old woman. They see me as someone they can respect.

LITTLE: Many of the older people I spoke to said they had suffered from depression but that it had lifted since coming to Casa de Santa Ana. It provides them with health and social services, as well as companionship and has become a model for similar projects around Brazil. But keeping the center going is a constant struggle. Rodrigo Braz Vieira is the son of the founder. He's also the main fundraiser. He says donors – even local officials – aren't so interested in funding a senior center.

RODRIGO BRAZ VIEIRA: People are more willing to help children and youngsters. That's what is the problem. People don't want to support senior citizens. It has changed a little bit with the aging of the population in Brazil, but it's still like not the priority of most companies, and they prefer assisting more children.

LITTLE: Rodrigo says the Casa de Santa Ana gets financial support from groups and individuals in the US and the Netherlands. He and his mother would like to take the choir abroad to raise money and perhaps inspire the creation of more Casa de Santa Ana's in other countries as well. For The World, this is Jane Little, Rio de Janeiro.

MULLINS: Jane Little's story on the Casa de Santa Ana is part of a BBC documentary series on aging. It's called “Third Agers.” You can find a link to the series at theworld.org.

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