During her academic exchange in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sara Santos, a student at Universidade Lusófona, participated in a community-based financial literacy initiative involving children from a local favela. The experience provided an opportunity to connect academic learning with the social realities of inequality, citizenship, and access to opportunities, inspiring her to write a reflective article about the role of the state and the challenges of social inclusion.
While delivering a financial literacy session, an unexpected question from one of the children encouraged Sara to reconsider some of the concepts she had studied at university, particularly those concerning public responsibility, social inequality, and the prospects available to young people growing up in disadvantaged communities.
The experience highlighted the importance of international academic mobility as an opportunity for intercultural learning, critical reflection on research and policy building, and engagement with different social contexts. It also encouraged a broader examination of the relationship between public institutions, social protection, and the unequal distribution of opportunities.
In the article accompanying this news, Sara shared her reflections on the experience and explored how direct engagement with local communities could contribute to a deeper understanding of political and social challenges. As she explained, the experience went beyond the knowledge she had intended to share, offering lessons that reshaped her understanding of what it meant to protect citizens and ensure that everyone could envision a future with opportunities.
READ THE ARTICLE HERE
