Maria Antonia Sendas
Founder, Director & Lead Volunteer Teacher

Hi! I'm Maria Antonia Sendas, and I am the Founder, Director, and Lead Teacher for Era Uma Vez. I was inspired to start this organization because I believe that one of the most important modern challenges we face today is cultivating a genuine love for writing and reading in young people. I believe that if given the tools, space, and encouragement to do so, anyone can fall in love with sharing their stories through writing. By establishing storytelling as a vehicle for change and connection with others, I hope to share my love for people and literature with students of all backgrounds by showing them that they have the agency to be authors of their own stories -- and of their own futures. Join me and the Era Uma Vez team in changing the trajectory of Brazilian youth through the power of the written word.
Favorite book: Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Isabella Sendas
Vice-Director and Funding Manager

Hello! My name is Isabella Sendas, and I am currently the Vice-Director and the Funding Manager for Projeto Era Uma Vez! The moment I first joined the initiative, I felt inspired by how quickly our students fell in love . Witnessing young adults empowering themselves through writing is what perhaps captivates me the most about the project, and I hope that we can continue helping students cultivate a passion for writing! 


Favourite book: 'Fall of Giants' by Ken Follett

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Pedro Carvalho
Volunteer Teacher

My name is Pedro Carvalho, and I truly believe in the transformative power of education in someone’s life. I am certain that the “Era uma Vez” project will be a fundamental step towards sparking the passion for reading and writing in young Brazilians, two aspects which I believe are essential to a student’s development, and very present in my own life. I hope that, through this project, our students can have an initial access to the vast world of literature, and can also acquire a tool with which they can later tell their own stories. 
Favorite book: 1984, by George Orwell
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Vitor Martignago
Volunteer Teacher

Hello! I’m Vitor and it’s an honour to say that I’m one of the volunteer teachers at the "Era Uma Vez" project. Despite having already read excellent fictions, such genre has never been one of my favourites... well, at least until I joined “Era Uma Vez”. After having the opportunity to partcipate closely in the making of great fictitious works, being able to board in captivating adventures written by our students, I couldn’t help falling in love with the genre. This was just one of the examples of how being a volunteer in this project goes far beyond simply teaching, it is a true lesson. It is extremely gratifying to be able to contribute with what I know to help these students, and in the mean time learning even more from them, experiencing the real power of education.​

Maria Fernanda Pacheco
Volunteer Teacher

Hi! My name is Maria Fernanda Pacheco and I am one of the volunteer teachers at the "Era Uma Vez" project. I have always been an extremely avid reader who has always been profoundly fascinated by literature in all of its forms. For that reason, it will be a great pleasure to be able to transform this passion of mine into something that can be used to help encourage reading habits in young children. Those who read possess an immeasurable wealth of worlds that go beyond all that is tangible and imaginable, which is why I hope that through this project we are able to cultivate a greater appreciation for literature and all of the great wonders it is able to provide us with within the younger generations. I believe that there are many stories out there worth telling, and, through the project, I hope that we can contribute to the development of our next generation of great authors of the future. 
Favorite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez

João G. Fagundes
​Volunteer Teacher

My name is João Guilherme Fagundes, I am seventeen years old and will be graduating at the end of this year. I am really fond of language and literature, and, even though my repertoire is limited, a novel that truly fascinated me was Dom Casmurro, written by Machado de Assis. The project “Era Uma Vez” caught my attention as I see it as an opportunity to aid in the education of those who most need it, therefore I became a volunteer teacher for the project and can´t wait to get started and see the progress.

Maria Eduarda Rudge
Volunteer Teacher

Hi! My name is Duda, I am 18 years old and a teacher in the “Era uma Vez” project. I love reading, especially fiction books, so when I heard about the project I got really excited to participate and to help teach children not only the importance of books, but also how to write their own story. 
Favorite book: Looking for Alaska, by the American author John Green.

Manuela Bomeny
Volunteer Teacher

Hi I’m Manuela! Literature has always been very important to me and I am very glad to be able to share my knowledge with this project! 
Favorite book(s): Harry Potter collection and Stephen King’s horror novels.

Zoe Abbots
Volunteer Teacher

My name is Zoe, I am 18 years old, I am a teacher for the “Era uma Vez” project. It is with great honour and happiness that that I am apart of such a gratifying project and that I am able to share my knowledge about literature with the students. I believe that education is a very important part of children's lives and with this in mind I made sure I was taking part in such a beautiful project. I love to read, romances are my favourite. 
Favorite book: Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes.

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