127 In that environment, the initiative of creating the Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo was undertaken by a group of 20 Rotary Club de São Paulo members, who took responsibility for it, thus avoiding a potentially problematic situation. Even in naming the Fundação, they were careful so that its name, in Portuguese, would reflect that it belonged to all Rotarians and the fact that it was, in principle, a pararotarian initiative by a group of Rotarians. Accordingly, as demonstrated by the very first By-Law, the doors to the Fundação were always open for more Rotarians to get involved. It provided that the successors to the initial members would not be any of their children or family members, but other Rotarians, ensuring the continuity of a spirit of serving. And that was just what happened. As Nórton Batista points out in the commemorative book “Há muito ainda por fazer” (There are still lots to do), those pioneers were soon joined by many others, “who actively collaborated with it by providing relevant services, such as Armando de Arruda Pereira, Adalberto Bueno Netto, Francisco Garcia Bastos and Leandro Dupré.” It was on October 3rd, 1946, in a meeting at Oscar Reynaldo Müller Caravellas’ home, that the final structure was determined for the Fundação, which would be responsible for two major undertakings from its very birth: the Colégio donated by senator José Ermírio de Moraes, and Lar Escola Rotary, which would carry on with the work done by Niso and Genuino Vianna. The minutes of that meeting show that the purpose of the Fundação was to advance in materializing the idea of setting up “a haven or educational home for destitute children”, picking up where the Vianna brothers had left off, and that, as proposed by José Ermírio de Moraes, it would run the Colégio he had donated, with the primary goal of providing “all forms of education for no profit, aiming only at a growing rise in our country’s school standards.” The minutes also reflect that the institution was given a piece of 4,000 sq. m land on Rua do Comércio (district of Indianópolis) by Niso Vianna —which was later replaced by another piece of land in Cotia, as shown further below “for setting up Lar Escola Rotary,” and received cash funds donated by José Ermírio de Moraes, Marcos Gasparian and Oscar Caravellas. Álvaro Machado was elected to be its first president, and Marcos Gasparian and Niso Vianna to be 1st and 2nd vice presidents, respectively. The Board of Directors was complemented by Luiz Lawrie Reid, as 1st secretary, Paulo Reis de Magalhães, as 2nd secretary, Oscar Caravellas, as 1st treasurer, and Francisco da Silva Villela, as 2nd treasurer. The following meeting discussed and approved the Fundação’s By-law, based on a text that had been previously prepared by Marcos Gasparian, who had been charged with that task by president Álvaro Machado. Said By-law provided for the Fundação’s primary goals, the first of which was to create an establishment to “shelter and educate unprotected minors up to fourteen years old, providing them with primary and vocational education, physical education, medical and religious care, and thus putting them on track to become useful citizens for the society and the country.” The second goal —which as early as then revealed how the founders looked far ahead and had a broad view of education— was to maintain the Colégio and provide, “within its means, theoretical and practical education in all subjects and disciplines of kindergarten, primary, middle and high school, conventional, scientific and trade education, as well as university and all other forms of education, whether official or free.” The deed of incorporation was filed a few days later, on November 22nd, 1946. The registration of the Fundação as a legal entity was completed on November 29th —the date when the institution’s anniversary has been celebrated ever since. The years that followed were a time of hard work towards achieving the goals the Fundação had set itself. Results began to show in a very short time. Lar Escola Rotary became a reality and was officially opened in March 1947. The land in the district of Indianópolis, donated by Niso Vianna for setting it up, had been considered not very appropriate to its purpose, whereupon he, in another grand gesture, replaced it with another piece of land he owned in Cotia, at the 24-kilometer marker on the highway Rodovia Raposo Tavares, where he had maintained a school for underprivileged children, as previously mentioned. The land covered an area of nearly 100,000 sq. m and had a few small buildings on it. In a report prepared at the end of his administration as the president of Rotary Club de São Paulo (1946-47), Herbert de Arruda Pereira informed that Lar Escola Rotary had a large building with living accommodations for one teacher, classrooms, a cafeteria, a kitchen and other facilities. “In that building we provide primary education and food for 140 poor children who live in the vicinities and for 40 adults, men and women, who are going to be taught literacy in the evening period,” he reported. Significant investments enabled several improvements to be built quickly, including a space for a doctor’s and dentist’s office that had a strong social impact, where students often had their very first experience with specialized care for their health. Also part of that effort
Livro Comemorativo dos 70 anos da Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo - Uma história de ideias e ideais
To see the actual publication please follow the link above