Rotary Club of Ladner Exchange Student to Japan in 1981-82, Lianna Walden, daughter of club Past President, Chester Walden, who just passed away in March of this year, and sibling of a brother and sister who were both Rotary Exchange Students, lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With her husband, musician, producer and social entrepreneur Fernando Shacka, she founded TROPA (Tropa da Solidariedade), a non-profit organization that brings quality of life to children, families and people in vulnerable situations in Rio de Janeiro. TROPA provides access to food, education, art, and connections.
Created in the first week of lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, the TROPA Troop emerged out of a desire for survival when many organizations suddenly closed, people were confined to their homes, families were struggling in slums and people were trying to survive on the streets and in the hovels of big cities. Many people without access to food and unable to work. That they had no other options than turn to the help and collaboration of those who care. |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Lianna, Fernando and their team set up their TROPA support network through their cell phones. They called entrepreneurs, artists, producers, and entertainment professionals and "made a lot of noise" in the community through local news media. The outcome was food for families in downtown Rio including a support network for homeless people, with weekly delivery of pesticide-free food through donations.
TROPA creates campaigns on the internet. It buys food from small farmers, volunteers prepare it in industrial kitchens and then deliver to homeless people.
As the COVID "storm" passed, TROPA focused on the education, knowledge, and emancipation of the low income and homeless people so, through education, they could earn the right to buy their own food. The Education Troop is TROPA's initiative, "to support, guide and empower children and young people from downtown and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. We fight against institutional racism, poverty and everyday violence experienced in Rio and throughout Brazil."
TROPA also states, "We understand that this next generation is the future of this country and we need to act immediately. Young people get lost in the streets, in drugs, in crime and in the lack of prospects in life. Childhood and adolescence are crucial for the formation of these people's personalities. That is why we act in the now, bringing knowledge of the English language and bringing young people closer to sports and the arts. We are together with the parents, talking to understand the universe of these children and adolescents. We act as a bridge to the future through education."
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Graham Witcher and President Brian Coe thank Lianna Walden with a donation in her name to the Rotary campaign to rid the world of polio |